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The Breeders’ Cup will be missing two of the biggest names in horse racing.
Sovereignty and Mystik Dan, the last two Kentucky Derby winners, have been barred from the Del Mar Fairgrounds in California.
Sovereignty, winner of this year’s Run of the Roses and Belmont Stakes, was officially scratched Wednesday after coming down with a fever. He had been the 6-5 early favorite to win the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
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Sovereignty, with Junior Alvarado in place, wins the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. (Michael Clevenger and Christopher Granger/Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
It was announced earlier Saturday that last year’s race winner, Mystik Dan, would no longer race in the Dirt Mile, where the purse is $1 million, due to a strained left ankle.
Last year’s Classic was won by Sierra Leone, who lost to Mystik Dan by a nose in the 2024 Derby. Sierra Leone finished third in that year’s Belmont Stakes and won the Whitney Stakes last August at Saratoga. Sierra Leone will race again on Saturday, aiming to become the first horse to win the Classic two years in a row since Tiznow in 2000 and 2001.
Mystik Dan #3, ridden by jockey Brian J. Hernandez Jr., crosses the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
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The classic field includes 2025 Derby runner-up Journalism (who won the Preakness and finished second at Belmont) and Mindframe, who was runner-up in last year’s Belmont and Haskell Stakes.
The Dirt Mile field includes White Abarrio, who won the Classic, and Whitney in 2023.
Junior jockey Alvarado reacts aboard Sovereignty (2), after winning the 157th Belmont Stakes horse race, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, NY (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Start time for the Classic is 6:25 p.m. ET, and the dirt mile takes place one hour and 20 minutes later.
