Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Sovereignty, Preakness winner Journalism, and defending champion Sierra Leone head a loaded field pre-entered Wednesday for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.
The Classic field is among the 207 horses, including 58 from overseas, pre-entered for the over $34 million, 14-race world championships taking place October 31-November 1 at the seaside track north of San Diego, which is hosting for the fourth time.
The 11-horse Classic field includes Fierceness and Forever Young, last year’s second- and third-place finishers. Other horses pre-entered Wednesday include Antiquarian, Baeza, Contrary Thinking, Locked, Mindframe, and Nevada Beach, the latter trained by Bob Baffert, who has won the Classic four times. Trainer Todd Pletcher has four entries, while trainer Chad Brown has two.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic has produced 16 Horse of the Year honorees, underscoring its importance in the racing calendar.
In addition to the Classic, nine horses were pre-entered for the $2 million Juvenile, whose winner often emerges as the winter favorite for next year’s Kentucky Derby. Bob Baffert has three entries in this race — Brant, Desert Gate, and Litmus Test — while Todd Pletcher has entered Ted Noffey.
Eight previous Breeders’ Cup winners will be returning, including 2024 Juvenile champion Citizen Bull, 2024 Dirt Mile champion Full Serrano, 2023 Turf Sprint winner Nobals, 2022 and 2024 Turf winner Rebel’s Romance, 2024 Sprint winner Straight No Chaser, and 2023 Classic winner White Abarrio.
Final entries and the post-position draw are scheduled for Monday.
The world championships will kick off with five races for 2-year-olds on Future Stars Friday, October 31, followed by nine races on November 1 at Del Mar.
https://timesofsandiego.com/sports/2025/10/23/sovereignty-journalism-more-to-duke-it-out-in-del-mar/
