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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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Max Player, Yaupon Already In Southern California To Prepare For Breeders’ Cup Runs

Trainer Steve Asmussen has shipped two of his Breeders' Cup contenders, Max Player and Yaupon, to Southern California to begin preparations for the World Championships at Del Mar in November, reports bloodhorse.com. Both have begun training at Santa Anita Park, and will remain there approximately a month before heading to Del Mar.

Max Player won the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Sept. 4 and is being pointed to the Breeders' Cup Classic. Yaupon won the G1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 28 and is being pointed to the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

“Max Player is going to train straight up to the Classic,” Asmussen told bloodhorse.com. “The spacing in his races has proved extremely effective with his Suburban (G2) win and his Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“Yaupon, the same thing. Spacing in his races has been key to getting them both back running at the top of their game.”

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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Ricardo Santana’s Grade 1 Triple Nets Jockey Of The Week Title

The Labor Day Weekend always signals the end of the prestigious Saratoga meet and the 2021 meet at the Spa is one jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. is likely to remember for a long time. His three Grade 1 wins closing weekend earned Jockey of the Week honors for Aug. 30 through Sept. 6. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 875 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

On Saturday, trainer Steve Asmussen called on Santana, Jr. to pilot Max Player in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Max Player broke from post position two and settled back and to the outside of Forza Di Oro. Advancing down the backstretch and reaching the top of the stretch, Max Player took command and drew off to win by four lengths in 2:02.49 for the 1 1/4-mile prestigious test for 3-year-olds and up.

“I was happy with him,” said Santana, Jr. “Today, he broke good so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the work.”

In the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sunday, Asmussen again gave a leg up to Santana, Jr. on Echo Zulu. Off a step slow from post position three, race favorite Echo Zulu went straight to the front, leading the nine-horse field gate to wire to power home in a final time of 1:22.51 for the seven furlong test for 2-year-old fillies.

“I had so much confidence that I only wore two goggles for seven furlongs,” Santana, Jr, said. “She was working real nice and today she improved a lot. I had plenty in the tank.”

The Asmussen/Santana, Jr. combination struck again with Gunite in the Grade 1 Hopeful, the traditional Closing Day feature on Monday. Breaking from post position three in the field of 11, Gunite bumped with Kitodan but was rushed into contention. He opened up a ½-length advantage at the stretch and continued to find more, drawing off to win impressively by 5-3/4 lengths in 1:23.08 for seven furlongs. Santana, Jr. rode Gunite for his fifth Grade 1 of the meet – four for Asmussen and the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks earlier in the meet for trainer Rob Atras.

“I love Saratoga, it's one of the best tracks in North America,” said Santana, Jr., who won a personal-best 35 races at Saratoga. “To win five Grade 1s at one meet is unreal.”

Santana, Jr.'s weekly statistics were 49-8-5-8 for an in-the-money percentage of 42.8% and total purse earnings of $1,329,686.

Santana, Jr. out-polled fellow riders Julien Leparoux who won the Grade 1 Flower Bowl, Flavien Prat who won the Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante and his third straight leading jockey title at Del Mar, Joel Rosario who put on a riding clinic at Kentucky Downs with 10 wins over two days and John Velazquez who won the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch.

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