Not This Time Leads Sires in Breeders’ Cup Pre-Entries
With seven 2-year-olds leading the way, Not This Time tops all sires with 10 horses pre-entered in this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
The most accomplished pre-entered runner by Not This Time is grade 1 winner Rhetorical , who landed a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In bid to the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) with a victory earlier this month in the Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. Not This Time, who currently ranks second on the general sires’ list, will stand the 2026 season for $250,000 at Taylor Made Stallions near Nicholasville, Ky.
Behind a group that includes juveniles and older horses, turf runners and dirt runners, connections hope Not This Time can this year secure the first Breeders’ Cup victory of his fast-rising career. From 13 previous Breeders’ Cup starts, Not This Time’s previous best finish as a sire is the runner-up showing by Up to the Mark in the in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T)-—an effort that helped earn that runner champion turf male honors.
Besides Rhetorical, other Not This Time runners pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup are predominantly 2-year-olds. They include Breeders’ Futurity (G1) runner-up Blackout Time in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1); stakes winner Schwarzenegger and stakes-winning fillies Cy Fair and Should’ve in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T); and the top three finishers in the Jessamine Stakes (G2T) in winner Imaginationthelady , runner-up Infinite Sky , and third-place Time to Dream pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T).
Other older horses representing Not This Time include stakes winner Way to Be Marie in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) and grade 1-placed Goal Oriented in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
Ranking just behind Not This Time in horses pre-entered to this year’s World Championships are Into Mischief and Gun Runner , who each have eight. Into Mischief currently sits atop the general sires’ list as he looks to finish as the leading sire for a seventh straight season while Gun Runner ranks third on that list.
Into Mischief enters this Breeders’ Cup in a tie with Curlin , Dubawi , and More Than Ready for most Breeders’ Cup wins by a sire at 8. He’ll stand the 2026 season for $250,000 at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington. He is led by dual classic winner Sovereignty , entered in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), as well as a pair of dual grade 1-winning juveniles in Ted Noffey , entered in the Juvenile; and Tommy Jo , entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Other Into Mischief runners pre-entered this year include group 3-placed American Stage and two-time grade 2 winner Imagination in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), grade 2 winner Bring Theband Home in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), last year’s Juvenile winner Citizen Bull in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), and Contrary Thinking in the Classic.
Gun Runner, who will stand for $250,000 in 2026 at Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Ky., is led by Sierra Leone , who will try to defend his title in the Classic. The 4-year-old added a victory in this year’s Whitney Stakes (G1) and enters off a runner-up finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1).
Other pre-entered runners for Gun Runner include Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Brant in the Juvenile, grade 1-placed Dry Powder and two-time grade 2 winner Gun Song in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), two-time grade 1 winner Locked in the Classic, winners Meaning and Super Corredora in the Juvenile Fillies, and grade 1 winner Vahva in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).
