Breeders' Cup Clocker: Plenty of stars on the track

Keeneland
Thursday, Oct. 22
Weather: Clear
Temperature: 52°
Track: Fast

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Anybody who decided to drop in on training hours between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Thursday at Keeneland certainly picked the right time to show up. It was a star-studded half-hour immediately after the first renovation break, during which many of the marquee names of this year’s Breeders’ Cup card came out to train.

The A-list group of horses included 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty and his Grade 1-winning stablemate Knightsbridge,; 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and reigning older champion male Forever Young; 2026 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo,; Dubai World Cup and Stephen Foster winner Magnitude; and the freakishly fast Englishman, the prohibitive favorite for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

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Sovereignty and Knightsbridge had a routine morning while given the opportunity by trainer Bill Mott to get acquainted with their local surroundings for the first time since shipping from their home base at the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga earlier this week.

Forever Young cranked up his training routine a bit Thursday morning, jogging nearly a mile and then reversing direction and galloping another easy mile on Day 2 in Kentucky for this year’s likely Classic favorite.

Magnitude looked terrific several days removed from a razor-sharp five-furlong workout here Saturday. He was full of run to and through the wire at the tail end of his morning gallop while giving every indication he is poised to bounce back in a big way from his disappointing performance in the Grade 1 Whitney.

Englishman and Golden Tempo continue to make a solid impression over their home grounds, both exiting big works of their own here last week and scheduled to get in one more maintenance breeze, likely on Friday.

Dirt Mile contender Coal Battle was the only potential Breeders’ Cup starter to turn in an official workout Thursday, completing five furlongs in 1:00 flat, his final half in 23.87 seconds and 47.94, per Daily Racing Form, without being set down for his best before being eased up some on the gallop-out into the clubhouse turn. Although winless in nine tries since capturing the Rebel Stakes during the spring of 2025, Coal Battle is coming off a big effort and near miss in the Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs in his most recent start.

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