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 four of the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic rankings are led by Sovereignty, who was a runaway 10-length winner of the Aug. 23 DraftKings Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Sovereignty improved his record to 5-for-6 this season and strengthened his hold on the top spot by boosting his first-place votes from 20 last week to 33 this week.

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

Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings for Aug. 26, 2025

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  

Eclipse Sportswire

2. Sierra Leone (8 first-place votes)

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

Trainer: Chad Brown

Jockey: Flavien Prat

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

Last race: 1^st, Whitney Stakes, Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Jockey Club Gold Cup, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Eclipse Sportswire

3. Mindframe (1 first-place vote)

Owners: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

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

Last race: 1^st, Stephen Foster Stakes, June 28 at Churchill Downs

Next race: Jockey Club Gold Cup, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Eclipse Sportswire

4. 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: 6 starts – 4 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Last race: 1^st, NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes, July 19 at Monmouth Park

Next race: FanDuel Pacific Classic Stakes, Aug. 30 at Del Mar 

Eclipse Sportswire

5. Nysos

Owner: Baoma Corporation

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Jockey: Flavien Prat

2025 record: 3 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Last race: 1^st, San Diego Handicap, July 26 at Del Mar

Next race: FanDuel Pacific Classic Stakes, Aug. 30 at Del Mar

Eclipse 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: TBD, possibly the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Eclipse Sportswire

7. Fierceness

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

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: John Velazquez

2025 record: 3 starts – 1 win – 1 second – 0 thirds

Last race: 5^th, Whitney Stakes, Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: FanDuel Pacific Classic Stakes, Aug. 30 at Del Mar

Eclipse Sportswire

8. Baeza

Owners: C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine

Trainer: John Shirreffs

Jockey: Hector Isaac Berrios

2025 record: 6 starts – 1 win – 3 seconds – 2 thirds

Last race: 2^nd, Jim Dandy Stakes presented by Mohegan Sun, July 26 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Pennsylvania Derby, Sept. 20 at Parx Racing

Coglianese photos

9. Highland Falls

Owner: Godolphin

Trainer: Brad Cox

Jockey: Luis Saez

2025 record: 2 starts – 1 win – 1 second – 0 thirds

Last race: 2^nd, Whitney Stakes, Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Jockey Club Gold Cup, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course

Eclipse Sportswire

10. White Abarrio

Owners: C2 Racing Stable, Barber, Gary and La Milagrosa Stable

Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr.

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

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

Last race: 4^th, Whitney Stakes, Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course

Next race: Jockey Club Gold Cup, Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course