Knightsbridge is among the horses expected to run in the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
The post-position draw for the Breeders’ Cup is set for Monday, Oct. 26. Post time for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic is set for 6:16 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
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Knightsbridge will enter the Breeders’ Cup Classic off a victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 22 at Del Mar.
Knightsbridge
Age: 5.
Color: Dark bay/brown.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Nyquist.
Dam: Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini.
Price tag: Homebred.
Owner: Godolphin (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum).
Trainer: Bill Mott.
Jockey: Junior Alvarado.
Record: 8-2-1 in 12 starts.
Career earnings: $1,523,155.
Record at Keeneland: Third in one career start, Grade 3 Perryville on Oct. 19, 2024.
Previous Breeders’ Cup races: None.
Last race: Won Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 22 at Del Mar.
Running style: On or near the front early.
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Notes: Alvarado will have a choice to make if Knightsbridge and Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner, also trained by Mott, enter the Classic. … Before winning the Pacific Classic, Knightsbridge answered questions about his distance limitations by winning the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup by 10¼ lengths. It was his first career race at two turns and earned him a Beyer Speed Figure of 122, the top number for any thoroughbred this year. … Knightsbridge raced just once as a 2-year-old (breaking his maiden at Churchill Downs in November of 2023) and twice as a 3-year-old. He also had a nine-month break from racing as a 4-year old but has raced consistently since November of last year.
What they’re saying: “I had my hopes that when I asked him he would give me his best right when we turned for home,” Alvarado said after the Pacific Classic. “It was all heart there. In the gallop out I couldn’t even pull him up he was going so strong. He’s a horse that has a lot of talent.”
Jason Frakes: (502) 582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Knightsbridge horse, trainer, jockey for 2026 Breeders’ Cup Classic
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