Fierceness continues to lead the Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings for the fourth straight week, holding off fellow 3-year-olds City of Troy and Forever Young after the eighth week of voting.
The weekly rankings highlight the top 10 contenders for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, set for Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Owned by Repole Stable and trained by Todd Pletcher, Fierceness ascended to the No. 1 spot following his thrilling victory in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on Aug. 24 at Saratoga. Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old male garnered 322 points.
City of Troy, a two-time Group 1 winner in England, sits in second with 282 points for Coolmore and trainer Aidan O’Brien. Japan-based Forever Young, winner of the UAE Derby (G2) and third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, holds third place with 223 points for trainer Yoshito Yahagi.
Dornoch, the Belmont Stakes and Haskell (G1) champion trained by Danny Gargan, climbed from sixth to fourth with 163 points.
Chad Brown’s Sierra Leone, third in the Travers and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby, stays in fifth with 162 points, while Highland Falls, winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), dropped to sixth with 154 points.
Japan-based Ushba Tesoro, runner-up in both the Saudi Cup (G1) and Dubai World Cup (G1), remains seventh with 121 points. Whitney (G1) winner Arthur’s Ride, trained by Bill Mott, holds eighth with 94 points.
Derma Sotogake, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up from Japan, is ninth with 86 points, while Saudi Cup winner Señor Buscador rounds out the top 10 with 85 points.
The rankings are determined by a panel of Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and Breeders’ Cup officials, with each voter assigning points on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale. Weekly updates will continue through Oct. 8.