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Essential Quality Retains Top Spot In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings

Essential Quality, the Belmont Stakes (G1) and the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) winner, retained the No. 1 position for the third consecutive week in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, a weekly poll of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). This year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will be run at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 6 as the final race of the 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships.

Owned by Godolphin and trained by Brad Cox, the 3-year-old Essential Quality accumulated 273 votes, and leads stablemate Knicks Go, who is in second place with 270 votes. Also trained by Cox, the 5-year-old Knicks Go has won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park and the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga this year.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, stayed in third place with 221 votes. A three-time winner in 2020, Maxfield secured an automatic berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he captured the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in June. Belmont Stakes runner-up Hot Rod Charlie, trained by Doug O'Neill, is in fourth place with 178 votes. Owned by Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss, Hot Rod Charlie has been entered in Saturday's Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at Parx Racing.

George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds Corp's Max Player has won two Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races in the Longines Classic Division this year, scoring victories in the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park in July and The Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga earlier this month. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Max Player is in fifth place with 163 votes.

Hronis Racing's 4-year-old Tripoli, who gained a free berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar in August, is in sixth place. Trained by John Sadler, Tripoli has 96 votes.

There was some juggling in the standings from places seven through 10 this week. Winchell Thoroughbreds' 3-year-old Midnight Bourbon rose two positions from ninth to seventh place with 90 points. Also trained by Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon finished a close second to Essential Quality in the Runhappy Travers Stakes. Midnight Bourbon is also entered in the Pennsylvania Derby. Prince A A Faisal's 4-year-old Mishriff (IRE) improved from 10^th place to eighth with 64 votes. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Mishriff earned an automatic starting position in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) at York Racecourse in England on Aug. 18.

Zedan Racing Stable's 3-year-old Medina Spirit, winner of the listed Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar, slipped one spot to ninth place with 61 votes. St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska dropped from seventh place to 10^th with 53 votes. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska has won three Grade 1 races this year, including last month's Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga.

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Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – Sept. 21, 2021*

Rank	Horse	Votes	First-Place Votes	Previous Week
1	Essential Quality	273	8	1
2	Knicks Go	270	16	2
3	Maxfield	221	3	3
4	Hot Rod Charlie	178	1	4
5	Max Player	163	0	5
6	Tripoli	96	0	6
7	Midnight Bourbon	90	0	9
8	Mishriff (IRE)	64	2	10
9	Medina Spirit	61	0	8
10	Letruska	53	0	7

*Note – The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles on the main track, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

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. 11. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

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Trio Of ‘Heavyweights’ Among 10-Strong Lineup For Saturday’s Pennsylvania Derby

Three of the top contenders in Saturday's $1 million, Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing will be able to keep an eye on each other.

Hot Rod Charlie, Midnight Bourbon and Medina Spirit will line up side-by-side-by-side when the gates open for the 1 1/8 mile race, the centerpiece of the 13-race card.

Road Runner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing and Gainesway Stables' Hot Rod Charlie was assigned post position seven at the Monday afternoon draw, which attracted 10 3-year-olds. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon is right next door in post position eight and Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit drew the nine.

Those are the top three choices on the Pennsylvania Derby morning line. Medina Spirit, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, is the 2-1 morning line favorite and is coming off a win in the $100,000 Shared Belief at Del Mar on Aug. 29. Earlier this year, the son of Protonico won the Kentucky Derby and was third in the Preakness.

“They have all the heavyweights right next to each other,” Baffert said. “Once they draw, we don't worry about it. The break is important no matter what post they have.”

Hot Rod Charlie, the 5-2 second choice on the morning line, crossed the finish line first in the Grade I, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth in his last start on July 17, but was disqualified and placed last after Midnight Bourbon clipped heels with him.

“It's a lucky number. I like seven,” Hot Rod Charlie's trainer Doug O'Neill said about his post. “With a mile and an eighth race on a mile track like that, there is probably not real bad post. No matter where we are, everyone just wants to get in those doors and get a good, clean break.”

Midnight Bourbon is third on the morning line at 5-1. He is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. When last seen Midnight Bourbon finished second in the Grade I, $1 million Travers at Saratoga, beaten by a neck by Essential Quality, the leader of the 3-year-old division

Keepmeinmind, owned by Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith and Spendthrift Farm LLC, will be coming to Parx after running against Essential Quality twice at Saratoga. He was second to him in the Grade II, $600,000 Jim Dandy on July 31 and fourth in the Travers. Trained by Robertino Diodoro and ridden by Joel Rosario, Keepmeinmind will be looking for his second career win in his 12th start. He is 8-1 on the morning line.

Four horses are coming into the race with morning line odds of 12-1: Calumet Farm's Bourbonic, third in the Grade III, $500,000 West Virginia Derby in his last start, Juddmonte Farm's Fulsome, winner of the Grade III Smarty Jones at Parx on Aug. 24, Godolphin LLC's Speaker's Corner, an allowance winner at Saratoga in his first start of 2021 at Saratoga on Aug. 14 and Chiefswood Stables Limited's Weyburn, fourth in the Jim Dandy when last seen.

The other two horses in the field are WinStar Farms and China Horse Club Inc's Americanrevolution, winner of three straight races against New York-breds, including the $250,000 Albany Stakes on Saratoga on Aug. 27 and the locally based I Am Redeemed, owned by Lawrence A. Rebbecchi Jr. He has won three of four career starts at Parx.

Here is the Pennsylvania Derby field, in post-position order, with trainer, jockey and morning line odds: 1. Fulsome, Brad Cox, Florent Geroux, 12-1; 2. Keepmeinmind, Robertino Diodoro, Joel Rosario, 8-1; 3. Speaker's Corner, Bill Mott, Jose Ortiz, 12-1; 4. Weyburn, Jimmy Jerkens, Paco Lopez, 12-1; 5. I Am Redeemed, Penny Pearce, Abner Adorno, 20-1; 6. Bourbonic, Todd Pletcher, Kendrick Carmouche, 12-1; 7. Hot Rod Charlie, Doug O'Neill, Flavien Prat, 5-2; 8. Midnight Bourbon, Steve Asmussen, Ricardo Santana Jr., 5-1; 9. Medina Spirit, Bob Baffert, John Velazquez, 2-1; 10. Americanrevolution, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez, 15-1.

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Consignor James Herbener Jr. Dies At Age 69

Consignor James Herbener Jr. died Sunday of an apparent heart attack at his home in Georgetown, Ky., Thoroughbred Daily News reports. He was 69.

A Virginia native, Herbener is best known in recent history as the consignor of Hot Rod Charlie, who he offered as a short yearling at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale and sold for $17,000. The Oxbow colt has gone on to become a Grade 2 winner and finish in the money in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Herbener's death came in the middle of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he had seven horses on offer over the course of the two-week sale. The remaining horses left to sell at the auction will be managed by his daughter Heather and longtime friend John Williams.

Essential Quality Leads Knicks Go In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings

Godolphin's Essential Quality, the Belmont Stakes (G1) and the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) winner, maintained a two-vote advantage over stablemate Knicks Go for the lead in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, a weekly poll of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). This year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will be run at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 6 as the final race of the 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships.

Trained by Brad Cox, the 3-year-old Essential Quality received 282 votes in his second week at No. 1. Just behind Essential Quality with 280 votes is the Cox-trained 5-year-old Knicks Go, who won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park and the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga this year.

The next five places in the rankings remained the same from last week. Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, who earned an automatic berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in June, has 228 votes. Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss's Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and second in the Belmont Stakes, is in fourth place with 184 votes for trainer Doug O'Neill.

George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds Corp's Max Player is in fifth place with 153 votes. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the 4-year-old Max Player has won two Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races this year in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Division, taking the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park in July and The Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga earlier this month.

Hronis Racing's 4-year-old Tripoli, who triumphed in the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar and gained a free starting position into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, is in sixth place. Trained by John Sadler, Tripoli has 153 votes. St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska is in seventh place with 70 votes. Letruska, trained by Fausto Gutierrez, won her third Grade 1 race this year when she captured last month's Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga.

Zedan Racing Stable's 3-year-old Medina Spirit, winner of the listed Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar, rose from 10^th place to eighth with 68 votes. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon dropped from eighth place to ninth this week with 67 votes. Also trained by Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon finished second to Essential Quality in the Runhappy Travers Stakes. Prince A A Faisal's 4-year-old Mishriff (IRE) drops one spot to 10^th place with 65 votes. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Mishriff secured a free berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) at York Racecourse in England on Aug. 18.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – Sept. 14, 2021*

Rank	Horse	Votes	First-Place Votes	Previous Week
1	Essential Quality	282	9	1
2	Knicks Go	280	15	2
3	Maxfield	228	3	3
4	Hot Rod Charlie	184	1	4
5	Max Player	153	0	5
6	Tripoli	101	0	6
7	Letruska	70	0	7
8	Medina Spirit	68	0	10
9	Midnight Bourbon	67	0	8
10	Mishriff (IRE)	65	3	9

*Note – The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles on the main track, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

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