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The Breeders’ Cup will be without two major names from horse racing.
Sovereignty and Mystik Dan, the last two winners of the Kentucky Derby, have been scratched from competing at Del Mar Fairgrounds in California.
Sovereignty, the winner of this year’s Run for the Roses and Belmont Stakes, was officially withdrawn on Wednesday after developing a fever. He was the early 6-5 favorite for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
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Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, wins the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. (Michael Clevenger and Christopher Granger/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that last year’s winner, Mystik Dan, would not compete in the Dirt Mile, where the purse is $1 million, due to a flexion in his left ankle.
Last year’s Classic champion, Sierra Leone, who finished just behind Mystik Dan in the 2024 Derby, is set to run again. Sierra Leone also secured third place in that year’s Belmont Stakes and claimed victory at the Whitney Stakes this August in Saratoga. He aims to become the first horse to win the Classic in consecutive years since Tiznow in 2000 and 2001.
Mystik Dan #3, with jockey Brian J. Hernandez Jr., wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
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The Classic lineup includes Journalism, the runner-up in the 2025 Derby (who won the Preakness and came in second at Belmont), as well as Mindframe, last year’s Belmont and Haskell Stakes runner-up.
The Dirt Mile features White Abarrio, who triumphed in both the Classic and Whitney in 2023.
Jockey Junior Alvarado reacts while riding Sovereignty (2) after winning the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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The post time for the Classic is set for 6:25 p.m. ET, with the Dirt Mile following about an hour and 20 minutes later.
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