Godolphin’s Cody’s Wish , winner of both of his starts this year, is the No.1-rated horse following the first week of tabulated votes for the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings. They are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), which will be run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., Nov. 4.
Cody’s Wish, a 5-year-old son of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Curlin , topped the list with 287 votes, which included 22 first-place votes. Trained by Bill Mott, Cody’s Wish won the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) and the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park this year. Winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Cody’s Wish is expected to start in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney (G1) at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 5. The Whitney is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In race, which provides the winner with an automatic spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Gary and Mary West’s 6-year-old homebred West Will Power is in second place with 210 votes. Trained by Brad Cox, West Will Power has won two of four starts this year, including a victory last time out in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1), in which he earned a free berth into the Classic.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables’ 3-year-old Forte , winner of the Florida Derby (G1) and second in the Belmont Stakes (G1), is in third with 194 votes. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Forte won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and was voted champion 2-year-old colt.
Defunded , back-to-back winner at Santa Anita in the Californian (G2) and the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1), is in fourth place. The 5-year-old gelding, trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, has 169 votes.
Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo is in fifth place with 151 votes for Blue Rose Farm and trainer Jena Antonucci. Mage , winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1), is in sixth. Owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and CMNWLTH, and trained by Gustavo Delgado, Mage has 149 votes.
Arcangelo wins the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park
Lucky Seven Stable’s 4-year-old Rattle N Roll , winner of three graded stakes this year and runner-up in the Stephen Foster, is in seventh place with 122 votes for trainer Kenny McPeek. Whisper Hill Farm’s Charge It , a 4 3/4-length winner of the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, is eighth with 100 votes. Charge It is also trained by Pletcher.
Bruce Lunsford’s 6-year-old Art Collector , winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), is in ninth place with 46 votes and is followed in 10th by Steve Moger’s 5-year-old gelding Stilleto Boy , winner of the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), with 42 points.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders’ Cup racing directors/secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 10. A list of voting members can be found here.
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.
| Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings – July 18, 2023* | |||
| Rank | Horse | Total Votes | First-Place Votes |
| 1 | Cody’s Wish | 287 | 22 |
| 2 | West Will Power | 210 | 3 |
| 3 | Forte | 194 | 2 |
| 4 | Defunded | 169 | 3 |
| 5 | Arcangelo | 151 | 0 |
| 6 | Mage | 149 | 0 |
| 7 | Rattle N Roll | 122 | 1 |
| 8 | Charge It | 100 | 0 |
| 9 | Art Collector | 46 | 0 |
| 10 | Stilleto Boy | 42 | 0 |
*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles on the main track at Santa Anita, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
