Each week a panel of media members, horseplayers, and Breeders’ Cup World Championships officials release a poll tabulating their votes on the nation's top contenders for the 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. The rankings are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention and are determined by each voter ranking their top 10 horses with points assigned on a descending 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

Week eight of the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic rankings are led by 3-year-old Sovereignty, the winner of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets who was the runaway 10-length winner of the Aug. 23 DraftKings Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. This week's big mover in the Power Rankings was Baeza, the winner of $1 million, Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 20 at Parx Racing, who moved up to No. 7. Pennsylvania Derby runner-up Magnitude joined the rankings for the first time at No. 10. Nysos, the horse formerly ranked No. 8, is out of the newest rankings after his connections announced he would point to either the Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint or the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

The rankings will be updated each week. The results of the latest poll are below.

Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings for Sept. 23, 2025

Sovereignty. (Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire)

1. Sovereignty (33 first-place votes)

Owner: Godolphin

Trainer: Bill Mott

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

2025 record: 6 starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Last race: 1^st, DraftKings Travers Stakes, Aug. 23 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar  

Fierceness. (Richard Steele/Eclipse Sportswire)

2. Fierceness (4 first-place votes)

Owners: Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor, and Susan Magnier

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: John Velazquez

2025 record: 4 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Last race: 1^st, Pacific Classic Stakes, Aug. 30 at Del Mar

Next race: Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar 

Sierra Leone. (John Voorhees/Eclipse Sportswire)

3. Sierra Leone (2 first-place votes)

Owners: Peter Brant, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brooke Smith

Trainer: Chad Brown

Jockey: Flavien Prat

2025 record: 4 starts – 1 win – 2 seconds – 1 third

Last race: 2^nd, Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Mindframe. (Casey Laughter/Eclipse Sportswire)

4. Mindframe 

Owners: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

2025 record: 4 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Last race: DNF, Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Journalism. (Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire)

5. Journalism 

Owners: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, LaPenta, Robert V., Elayne Stables 5, Magnier, Mrs. John, Tabor, Michael B. and Smith, Derrick

Trainer: Michael McCarthy

Jockey: Umberto Rispoli

2025 record: 7 starts – 4 wins – 3 seconds – 0 thirds

Last race: 2^nd, Pacific Classic Stakes, Aug. 30 at Del Mar 

Next race: Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Forever Young. (Kaz Ishida/Eclipe Sportswire)

6. Forever Young (1 first-place vote)

Owner: Susumo Fujita

Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi

Jockey: Ryusei Sakai

2025 record: 2 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third

Last race: 3^rd, Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline, April 5 at Meydan Racecourse

Next race: Nippon TV Hai, Oct. 1 at Funabashi Racecourse in Japan

Baeza. (Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)

7. Baeza

Owners: C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine

Trainer: John Shirreffs

Jockey: Hector Isaac Berrios

2025 record: 7 starts – 2 wins – 3 seconds – 2 thirds

Last race: 1^st, Pennsylvania Derby, Sept. 20 at Parx Racing

Next race: Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Antiquarian. (Gary Johnson/Eclipse Sportswire)

8. Antiquarian

Owner: Centennial Farms

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: TBD

2025 record: 4 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Last race: 1^st, Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Highland Falls. (Gary Johnson/Eclipse Sportswire)

9. Highland Falls

Owner: Godolphin

Trainer: Brad Cox

Jockey: Luis Saez

2025 record: 3 starts – 1 win – 1 second – 1 third

Last race: 3^rd, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Magnitude. (Ben Breland/Eclipse Sportswire)

10. Magnitude

Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Jockey: Ben Curtis

2025 record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 1 third

Last race: 2^nd, Pennsylvania Derby, Sept. 20 at Parx Racing

Next race: TBD, possibly Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar