Royal Ship Moves Into Seventh in BC Classic Rankings

Following his impressive victory in the July 30 San Diego Handicap (G2) at Del Mar, Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm's 6-year-old gelding Royal Ship  has gone from unranked to No. 7 in the latest Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, with top-rated Flightline  holding a 38-point edge of Olympiad .

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings is a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland Nov. 5 in Lexington. 

Royal Ship, trained by Richard Mandella, came from off the pace in the San Diego Handicap to score a 2 1/4-length win over 2-1 favorite Country Grammer . A son of Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Midshipman  , Royal Ship received 100 votes.

Flightline, trained by John Sadler, remains on top through the first six weeks of the rankings. The Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner has 323 votes. Owned by Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing, Flightline is slated to start next Sept. 3 in the TVG Pacific Classic (G1), a Win and You're In for the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, and LNJ Foxwoods' 4-year-old Olympiad is in second place with 279 votes. Undefeated in five starts this year for trainer Bill Mott, Olympiad, Life Is Good , Hot Rod Charlie , and Americanrevolution , are all expected to start in this Saturday's Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, a Win and You're In for the Breeders' Cup Classic. The Whitney will be broadcast live on NBC and Peacock (5 p.m. ET) as a part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In—presented by America's Best Racing.

CHC and WinStar Farm's 4-year-old Life Is Good, winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by 1/ST BET (G1) and the John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) for trainer Todd Pletcher, remains in third place with 259 votes.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' 3-year-old Epicenter , a 1 1/2-length winner of last Saturday's Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga, has jumped from sixth place to fourth this week. Epicenter (202 votes) is trained by Steve Asmussen, who saddled both Curlin   and Gun Runner   to victories in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Country Grammer, owned by Commonwealth Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, and Zedan Racing Stables, and trained by Bob Baffert, drops from fourth place to fifth with 197 votes.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss' 4-year-old Hot Rod Charlie, second in the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1), slips one spot to sixth place with 154 votes.

Following seventh-place Royal Ship is Gold Square's 3-year-old Cyberknife , winner of the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) on July 23. Trained by Brad Cox, who saddled last year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go, Cyberknife drops one position to eighth place with 79 votes.

The third 3-year-old in the top 10 is Whisper Hill Farm's Charge It . Trained by Pletcher, Charge It, a 23-length winner of the Dwyer Stakes (G3), is in ninth place with 55 votes.

CHC and WinStar Farm's 4-year-old Americanrevolution, the third Pletcher-trained horse in the Top 10, is in 10th place with 37 votes.