NOTE: Today is Whitney Stakes Day at Saratoga Race Course. In today’s main event, Magnitude, Sovereignty and Nitrogen face off. Follow along with our LIVE, on-the-grounds coverage of the event
All the stars are here
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Outside of Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup, or overseas races promising purses of $10-20 million, it’s hard to find a field more accomplished than the group of eight that’s been assembled for Saturday’s 99th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney at Saratoga Race Course
The reigning Horse of the Year? That’s Sovereignty, and he’s here
So, too, is Magnitude, the current top-ranked horse in the country, plus White Abarrio, a former Breeders’ Cup Classic — and Whitney — winner.
There’s also the small matter of the top filly in training stepping up to challenge the boys and trying to become the first female horse to win Saratoga’s most prestigious race for older horses in nearly 40 years
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The end result? Eight horses, with combined career earnings of nearly $33 million, make up one of the most star-studded fields that Saratoga has seen in a long, long time
“It’s some extremely accomplished horses targeting the Whitney,” said Magnitude’s trainer Steve Asmussen. “Unbelievable opportunity for everybody involved.”
The entrants for the Whitney include five of the top 10 in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Top Thoroughbred Poll. Magnitude is the current No. 1, Sovereignty is fifth, Baeza and White Abarrio are tied for seventh, and Nitrogen is ninth
According to an NTRA spokesperson, the only races in recent years to feature at least five horses ranked in the top 10 were the 2022 and 2025 editions of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, each of which featured six
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Four of those current top-10 horses met in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 27 at Churchill Downs when Magnitude scored an impressive win over Baeza, Sovereignty and White Abarrio
Now Nitrogen, a 4-year-old filly coming off a 12 ¾-length romp in the Ogden Phipps at Saratoga in early June, is added to the equation.
“If it’s possible, I would love to see Nitrogen in the Hall of Fame — but, in order to do that, she can’t just beat up on the girls,” Nitrogen’s trainer, Mark Casse, told the New York Racing Association. “I think Nitrogen deserves the chance at it. A Whitney win puts her in the Hall of Fame, and puts her in consideration for Horse of the Year.”
It’s a field that conjures up memories of some of the most-hyped days of the Saratoga summer meet in recent memory, like when 47,844 fans turned out in 2024 to watch star filly Thorpedo Anna challenge the boys in the Travers, or when attendance was capped at 50,000 for the first time ever in 2015 when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah showed up for the Midsummer Derby
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Beyond the quintet of top-10 horses, the rest of the field has pedigree, too. Todd Pletcher’s Antiquarian won the 2025 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga, Asmussen’s second entry Tiztastic has more than $1.7 million in lifetime earnings and Forged Steel crushed his competition in the prestigious Hollywood Gold Cup back in May
Of the eight horses in the Whitney, Magnitude has the top resume this year, having beaten 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Forever Young in the Dubai World Cup before topping the heavyweight Stephen Foster field
Sovereignty, the reigning Horse of the Year, is winless in his two starts as a 4-year-old, but trainer Bill Mott will hope he can rekindle his 2025 form that saw him win the Kentucky Derby before cementing his legacy at Saratoga with wins in the Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy and Travers
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Baeza — who came to Mott’s barn earlier this year following the death of his former trainer, John Shirreffs — was third behind White Abarrio and Sovereignty in the Oaklawn Handicap during the spring, and was second to Magnitude in the Stephen Foster despite poor starts in both races
The addition of Nitrogen to the Whitney field led to a decision for star jockey Jose Ortiz, the regular rider for both Magnitude and Nitrogen. Ortiz opted to ride Magnitude for the Whitney, and Casse drafted Hall of Famer John Velazquez for the mount on Nitrogen
For Nitrogen, the Whitney — which was last won by a filly when Personal Ensign was victorious in 1988 — is a potential legacy-defining moment coming off her dominant Ogden Phipps win
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“If she can repeat that performance,” Casse said, “she’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the Whitney. Can she repeat that? I guess we’ll find out. It’s quite a Whitney.”
Whitney Stakes field
(Trainer, jockey and morning-line odds in parentheses)
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- Magnitude (Steve Asmussen, Jose Ortiz, 9-5)
- Nitrogen (Mark Casse, John Velazquez, 4-1)
- Antiquarian (Todd Pletcher, Manny Franco, 10-1)
- Forged Steel (Saffie Joseph Jr., Micah Husbands, 20-1)
- White Abarrio (Saffie Joseph Jr., Irad Ortiz Jr., 8-1)
- Sovereignty (Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado, 3-1)
- Tiztastic (Steve Asmussen, Tyler Gaffalione, 30-1)
- Baeza (Bill Mott, Flavien Prat, 7-2)
