Sovereignty and Golden Tempo, a pair of Kentucky Derby (G1) winners, will take on defending champion and 2-1 morning-line favorite Forever Young in the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland on Saturday.
Forever Young, Japan's global star who won last year's Classic at Santa Anita, tops a field of eight and drew post 5 Monday at the Breeders' Cup gate draw.
The Breeders' Cup Classic is the final race of the two-day, 14-race, $34 million Breeders' Cup, with a post time of 6:16 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock).
Sovereignty, the 2025 Derby winner and Horse of the Year, is the second choice at 5-2 and drew post 2; Golden Tempo, the 2026 Derby winner, is 5-1 and will break from post 3. It's the first time two Derby winners will compete in the same Classic since 1991.
The rest of the field includes Knightsbridge (9-2, post 7), Magnitude (6-1, post 6), Napoleon Solo (15-1, post 8); The Puma (10-1, post 4) and Japan's T O Password (30-1, post 1).
The field was whittled to eight after Classic pre-entries Further Ado and Forged Steel were entered instead in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
The eight-horse field equals the smallest Classic field since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984 and marks the fourth time in six years it's happened.
Stellar international fields can be found in nearly every race – from Future Stars Friday featuring five Breeders' Cup races through nine races on Championship Saturday, with the Classic ending the day.
Joining Forever Young as returning Breeders' Cup winners are Cy Fair, Shisospicy and Starlust – all entered in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1); Full Serrano entered in the Dirt Mile; Notable Speech entered in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (G2); and Splendora and Super Corredora both entered in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
The Classic field underwent a few last-minute decisions, with Godolphin, Sovereignty's ownership group, also entering Knightsbridge; Preakness winner Napoleon Solo sticking with the Classic and both Forged Steel and Further Ado switching to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
That gives us a Breeders' Cup Classic matching the defending champ (Forever Young) against a pair of Derby and Belmont Stakes winners (Sovereignty, Golden Tempo), a Dubai World Cup (G1) winner (Magnitude), a Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Napoleon Solo; two other Grade 1 winners (Knightsbridge, The Puma) and Japan longshot T O Password.
Forever Young, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, comes into the Classic off an easy victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park on Sept. 18. His incredible resume totals 12 wins in 16 starts and earnings of more than $32 million. His running style fits well here, and he should lay off what could be a quick early pace.
Sovereignty, the 2025 Horse of the Year after victories in the Derby, Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1), comes in off a victory in the Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 8.
Mott is confident that both horses will run well on Saturday.
"I think it's a great opportunity to have two horses in the Breeders' Cup Classic," Mott said. "We'd like to win two races versus one, but I think they both fit and deserve their chance in the Classic. And we (the ownership group) decided this is the right thing to do. And I think both horses are doing well."
Golden Tempo, the Derby and Belmont winner who ran third in the Travers in August, is trained by Cherie DeVaux, and may have a slight edge since his home base is Keeneland. However, this will be his first race over the track. A deep closer, Golden Tempo could also benefit from a fast pace likely to be set by Magnitude, Knightsbridge and Napoleon Solo.
Magnitude, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, defeated Forever Young in the Dubai World Cup; Napoleon Solo finished second twice after the Preakness, in the Haskell Stakes (G1) and in the Travers; The Puma, trained by Gustavo Delgado, comes in off a win in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1); and T O Password, a 5-year-old, comes in without a graded stakes win on his resume.
The only other horse to win the Classic twice was Tiznow in 2000 and 2001.
The post positions were announced for the 12 other Breeders' Cup races, but morning-line odds will be revealed later. Among the highlights:
-- The $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) on Friday drew a field eight led by a pair of Bob Baffert trainer unbeaten colts – Hughes (post 5), 4-0, and Salahudin (post 3), 3-0.
“I don’t know how good they are because they have been winning so easy,” Baffert said. “They are getting better with every out, but they have never been battle-tested. This will be the first time.”
-- The $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) favorite is likely to be Englishman (post 13) for trainer Cherie DeVaux in a field of 13.
-- The $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) betting choice will likely be Nitrogen (post 2) for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, with Baffert's Splendora (post 8) and Brad Cox-trained Immersive (post 1) as top contenders in a field of nine.
-- Defending champion Notable Speech (post 8) for trainer Charlie Appleby should be the top choice in $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (G1).
A total of 156 horses were entered in the 14 Breeders' Cup races on Monday. Last week, a record total of 255 pre-entries were taken (32 were pre-entered in two races), reducing the number of horses to 222.
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
