We're ready, right?
After an eventful week, the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) is upon us with the smallest field ever but featuring defending champion Forever Young and a pair of Kentucky Derby (G1) winners, Sovereignty and Golden Tempo.
The 1 ¼-mile Breeders' Cup Classic is the 14th and final race of the two-day, $34 million Breeders' Cup, and is set for a Saturday post time of 6:16 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock).
Just seven horses are entered, although pre-entries totaled 11 before the recent withdrawal of Magnitude, the earlier withdrawal of Phileas Fogg, and Further Ado and Forged Steel being entered in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) rather than the Classic.
No matter how many runners break from the gate, Japan's superstar Forever Young is the one to beat – the 2-1 morning-line favorite seeking to become the second two-time winner of America's richest race. A year ago, the now 5-year-old sensation defeated Sierra Leone at Del Mar.
"He really is a superstar,” jockey Ryusei Sakai said. “I think he's reached a level that goes beyond human comprehension. He's had his ups and downs in form, but every time, he'smanaged to bounce back. He's never suffered a major injury, and he's never lost two races in a row.”
There have not been many downs. Forever Young comes into the Classic off an easy victory in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park on Sept. 18 – basically a tuneup as trainer Yoshito Yahagi mapped out his champion's path to defend his title.
The opposition is awesome:
-- 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty, the 5-2 second betting choice, is set for the Classic in the final race of his brilliant career a year after missing the race due to a fever. He won the Derby, Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) last year, needed three races to recapture his winning ways before a last victory in the Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 8.
-- Derby and Belmont winner Golden Tempo, who is based at Keeneland but has never raced over the track, is at 5-1 for Cherie DeVaux, the first female trainer to win the Derby. Although he finished third in the Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 29, he's been training lights out at Keeneland. Also, he's going against older horses for the first time.
"We’re just hoping he gets a fair pace to run at," DeVaux said. "Obviously, as we have said along his whole career, he’s going to have to improve. He’s improved a little bit each time he’s run, even in defeat in the Travers. He should step up, the complexity of the race should be in his favor, and Jose (Ortiz) is the one from here on out that has the most important job of timing it correctly.”
On Friday, regular rider Jose Ortiz was unseated at the start of race at Keeneland, but after missing one Breeders' Cup race to receive treatment, he returned later in the day to ride. He may be a little sore, but he, too, is ready for Saturday.
-- Knightsbridge, the Pacific Classic (G1) winner, is 9-2, the third betting choice. The rising star gives Sovereignty's owner Godolphin and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott another solid shot to win.
"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 (Knightsbridge also was pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile).
"We would love to run 1-2 in the Classic."
Also in the field is Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Napoleon Solo (10-1), who along with Knightsbridge are the likely pacesetters, Pennsylvania Derby (G1) winner The Puma (15-1) and a second Japan-bred in T O Password (30-1), who ran a respectable fifth in the 2024 Kentucky Derby.
With Magnitude, the expected early speed out of the race, look for Knightsbridge under Luis Saez to seize the early lead from post 7, with Napoleon Solo, under John Velazquez, in close pursuit.
Forever Young will try to find a comfort zone behind the leaders as will Sovereignty, with Junior Alvarado aboard. Golden Tempo and The Puma, deep closers, will settle behind most of the pack.
T O Password hasn't won a graded stakes race, but he, too, could be among the early leaders.
If the pace is too quick, the closers have a better chance; if the pace is moderate, that could help Forever Young and Sovereignty. Knightsbridge has shown the most speed, won at the Classic distance last out, and gives the Godolphin-Mott team an intimidating 1-2 punch.
The Breeders' Cup Classic is the highlight of the two-day, 14-race, $34 million Breeders' Cup. Here are the morning-line favorites for Saturday's races:
The picks: 1 Forever Young 2 Knightsbridge 3 Sovereignty
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.
