The past Saturday at Saratoga showcased four top-tier races, each carrying Grade 1 status, collectively offering a substantial $3 million in prize money. Notably, the Whitney Stakes and FanDuel Fourstardave Stakes were designated as “Win and You’re In” qualifiers for the Breeders’ Cup. Simultaneously, on the West Coast, Del Mar hosted another Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series event, the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes Presented by Oak Tree Racing Association. The outcomes of these contests, along with other races during an eventful weekend, led to significant shifts in the Equibase standings, tracking earnings for 2025 in North America.
Deterministic overshadowed Johannes in the Fourstardave Stakes, securing an automatic entry into the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF in November. The 4-year-old Liam’s Map offspring triumphed in the Fourstardave by 1 ¼ lengths, marking his third consecutive stakes victory and his second Grade 1 win in a row. With a significant portion of the $750,000 purse, Deterministic boosted his 2025 earnings to $1,102,125, ascending 18 positions on the Equibase leaderboard. He now holds the ninth spot overall and ranks fourth among 4-year-olds and older.
Saturday’s main attraction at Saratoga was the esteemed $1 million Whitney Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile dirt competition for seasoned horses. Uniquely, this race featured two previous Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic victors: 2023 champion White Abarrio and 2024 victor Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone emerged as the winner, adding another Grade 1 accolade to his achievements and becoming the eighth horse to win both the Whitney and the Classic (earning an automatic spot in the Classic through this victory). Under the guidance of trainer Chad Brown, Sierra Leone made a significant leap into the top 100, currently standing at 23rd overall and 10th in the 4-year-old and up category with $798,200.
About 3,000 miles away in southern California, Seismic Beauty, a 4-year-old filly sired by Uncle Mo, led from start to finish to claim victory in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes by 1 ½ lengths with jockey Juan Hernandez aboard. The Maryland-bred entered the top 100 in Equibase’s overall rankings and is now positioned at 64th. She also secured an automatic qualification for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The top five jockeys in the standings remained unchanged from the previous week, and Brad Cox continues to lead the trainer standings with over $16.9 million in earnings, with Steve Asmussen in second place by more than $2 million. However, Mark Casse and Chad Brown were the only two trainers to exceed $1 million in earnings last week, both surpassing $13 million for the year. Brown maintains his third-place position with $13,806,855 in earnings, but Casse is closing in, trailing by just $211,913.
North American leaders lists for horses, jockeys, trainers and owners are accessible on equibase.com and users can refine the data to display various categories like age, gender, surface, and race classification.
