Breeders' Cup Classic: Might not be best to sleep on Magnitude

Magnitude was the toast of the racing world for most of the year until one bad race this summer at Saratoga.

Now, having not run since his sixth-place finish behind Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 8, the buzz around Magnitude has faded some. It will be interesting to see how Magnitude gets bet when he runs in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

On the one hand, Magnitude defeated defending BC Classic winner and presumptive 2026 Classic favorite Forever Young in the Dubai World Cup in March. Upon returning to the United States, Magnitude then beat a solid group of older dirt males such as Baeza, Sovereignty, and White Abarrio in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster in June.

“The horse, on his best day, is capable of beating Forever Young,” Asmussen said. “The past performances speak for themselves.”

Magnitude has run his two worst races over Saratoga’s main track. Last year, he was beaten 20 3/4 lengths by Sovereignty in the Travers. This year, the margin of defeat was 15 1/4 lengths to Sovereignty in the Whitney.

Asmussen gave Magnitude a bit of freshening after the Whitney, not working him for four weeks. Magnitude had three workouts at Saratoga before Asmussen shipped him to Keeneland, where he has already worked twice. On Sunday, he went five furlongs in 1:02.60.

Magnitude has never raced at Keeneland, and Asmussen doesn’t discount the significance of that.

“Anybody who’s ever bet two races there knows that not everybody shows their best side at Keeneland,” Asmussen said. “Everybody knows how relevant Keeneland form is to Keeneland performance. That is why I chose to get him there as soon as we did and get as much time over the racetrack as possible.”

Jose Ortiz has ridden Magnitude in his last five starts, winning four including the Dubai World Cup and Stephen Foster. In the Classic, Ortiz will ride Golden Tempo, the 3-year-old he rode to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont.

Steve Rushing, Ortiz’s agent, said it was a difficult decision but noted that he anticipates Golden Tempo to run in 2027, while Magnitude is likely going to be retired following the Breeders’ Cup.

Flavien Prat, who won the Classic in 2024 on Sierra Leone and in 2022 on Flightline, will ride Magnitude in the Breeders’ Cup. Asmussen said he planned to have Prat work the horse on Sunday at Keeneland.

Asmussen said he did have Ortiz work the horse last Sunday at Keeneland, just to get his opinion on how he’s handling the track compared to others that Ortiz has worked him on. Ortiz was “very positive with how he felt over the Keeneland track,” Asmussen said.

The Classic field did pick up a new name last weekend with Phileas Fogg, the 10-length winner of the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes on July 4, joining the field. Phileas Fogg is coming out of a last-place finish in the four-horse Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 18, his connections saying he didn’t handle the deep surface on opening day of the new Belmont Park.

Napoleon Solo, the Preakness winner, and Forged Steel, the Goodwood winner, are both expected to run in the Classic. Napoleon Solo will likely be pre-entered in the Dirt Mile, whereas Forged Steel will only be pre-entered in the Classic, according to part-owner Mark Cornett.

Forged Steel is trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., who also trains Skippylongstocking. Joseph said he was hoping to get Skippylongstocking back on the work tab this weekend and give him three works before the Classic. A hind foot abscess has kept Skippylongstocking off work tab since his third-place finish in the Charles Town Classic on Aug. 28.

The Puma, winner of the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, shipped from Saratoga to Keeneland over the weekend. He will be pre-entered in both the Classic and Dirt Mile, with his connections wanting to see how each race shapes up before making a decision.

Further Ado, who finished second in the Pennsylvania Derby, also will be pre-entered in each race, with his connections also wanting to evaluate each race before making a final call. Further Ado is trained by Brad Cox, who does have Bishops Bay pointing to the Dirt Mile.

Sovereignty works slowly

Trainer Bill Mott admitted he was not happy with Sovereignty’s most recent workout, a half-mile move timed in 51.51 seconds over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track on Oct. 2. However, Mott said he is still preparing the 2025 Horse of the Year for the Classic.

“I got three weeks to go. I’ll fight the battle up to the end as long as the horse is okay,” Mott said Tuesday. “I wasn’t happy with his work last time. I’ve never said that about him before.”

The Oct. 2 work was Sovereignty’s second move since he resumed training after missing some time due to a foot abscess that knocked him out of the Sept. 18 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Mott said Sovereignty has a patch on his left hind foot and is training in a bar shoe, but he said an examination of the foot following the Oct. 2 work revealed nothing amiss.

“The coronet band was good, the bulb of the heel feels fine. There was no heat, no pain, no pulse in the foot,” Mott said. “We did examine everything as well as we could and we didn’t see a problem with the foot. For the time being, I have a bar shoe on that foot, but just for protection. He would not run in that.”

Mott said Sovereignty would work again either over the weekend or the beginning of next week.

Conversely, Knightsbridge, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic winner, had a strong workout Monday in Saratoga that officially was recorded as six furlongs in 1:12.96. Saratoga clockers timed Knightsbridge in splits of 12.48 seconds, 24.29, 35.72, and 59.76 from the five-furlong pole to the wire.

“He worked fantastic,” Mott said. “He looked good [Tuesday] morning. He’s a pretty cool little horse.”

Both Sovereignty and Knightsbridge are owned by Godolphin. Representatives of Godolphin have said that Knightsbridge would be pre-entered in the Classic and Dirt Mile but likely go in the Dirt Mile if Sovereignty runs in the Classic.

Knightsbridge would almost certainly be favored in the Dirt Mile, a race that figures to have a lot of crossover at least as far as pre-entries are concerned. The Puma, Napoleon Solo, and Further Ado, all of whom would be contenders in the Dirt Mile, are being cross pre-entered in the Classic. Iron Man Cal, winner of the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien, is being cross pre-entered in the Sprint, where he most likely would have to face the formidable Englishman.

Those considered definite for the Dirt Mile include Bishops Bay, Bracket Buster, Chunk of Gold, Coal Battle, Full Serrano, Lord Fons, Owen Almighty, and T O Password.