Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s 3-year-old Forte held onto the No. 1 position for the second straight week in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, while the first five spots in the poll remained the same. They are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), to be run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.
Forte, recent winner of the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) for trainer Todd Pletcher, received 294 votes, including 19 first-place votes. C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano’s 4-year-old White Abarrio , dominant winner of the Whitney Stakes (G1), is in second with 226 votes.
Pin Oak Stud’s Geaux Rocket Ride , winner of the Haskell Stakes (G1), is third with 222 votes. Kentucky Derby winner Mage is fourth with 211 votes, and Blue Rose Farm’s Arcangelo , the Belmont Stakes (G1) winner, is fifth with 193.
Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman’s Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1) winner Defunded is sixth with 109 votes. Lucky Seven Stable’s Rattle N Roll , runner-up in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1), is seventh with 106 votes.
Jeff Drown’s 4-year-old Zandon , who finished second in the Whitney, ranks eighth with 71 votes. Bruce Lunsford’s Art Collector , who earlier this season won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), is ninth with 66 votes. Joining the top 10 for the first time is Godolphin’s 5-year-old Proxy , winner of the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and the July 22 Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3). Trained by Mike Stidham, Proxy is 10th with 56 votes.
The Longines 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. Each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.
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Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings – Aug. 15, 2023*
|
Rank
|
Horse
|
Votes
|
First-Place Votes
|
Previous Week
|
|
1
|
Forte
|
294
|
19
|
1
|
|
2
|
White Abarrio
|
226
|
1
|
2
|
|
3
|
Geaux Rocket Ride
|
222
|
3
|
3
|
|
4
|
Mage
|
211
|
1
|
4
|
|
5
|
Arcangelo
|
193
|
1
|
5
|
|
6
|
Defunded
|
109
|
2
|
7
|
|
7
|
Rattle N Roll
|
106
|
3
|
8
|
|
8
|
Zandon
|
71
|
0
|
9
|
|
9
|
Art Collector
|
66
|
0
|
10
|
|
10
|
Proxy
|
56
|
0
|
11
|
Horses also receiving first-place votes this week were Ushba Tesoro (JPN) (2) and King of Steel (1).
*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles and is limited to 14 starters.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
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