Contact: Joan Lawrence, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
ARROGATE REMAINS IN FIRST, NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
(receives 35 out of 41 first-place votes)
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, July 24, 2017) – Week 26 of The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll of all ages gets mixed reaction from the NTRA media voters following this past weekend of racing which results were released today.
Arrogate ( 35 first-place votes; 402 points) who had been dominating the poll for the last 25 weeks as the unanimous top choice received 35 out of 41 first-place votes after coming up flat in the San Diego Handicap (G2) at Del Mar when defeated by Accelerate by 15 1/4 lengths. The leading earner in North American racing history is trained by Bob Baffert for owner Juddmonte Farm. The Dubai World Cup winner and Eclipse Award winner at this writing remains on target for the Grade 1 $1million TVG Pacific Classic on August 19 at Del Mar Race Course.
Gun Runner (4 first-place votes, 363 points) ranked second since his win in the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) at Churchill Downs for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm. The Stephen Foster is a Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In Classic Division” series, which awards winners of its races an automatic berth in Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 4 at Del Mar, California. Trained by Steve Asumussen, the Hall of Famer is pointing the son of Candy Ride to the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 5 for his start.
Two-time Eclipse Award winner Songbird (2 first-place votes, 295 points) remains in third after her victory in the Delaware Handicap (G1) at Delaware Park this past month. Her previous start was the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps “Win and You’re In Breeders’ Cup Distaff Division,” on June 10 at Belmont Park. Songbird, owned by Richard Porter’s Fox Hill Farm and trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, is being considered for the Personal Ensign on Aug. 26 at Saratoga.
Ranked fourth is Mor Spirit (200) followed by Sheep Pond Partners’ Lady Eli (195) in fifth after her win in the Grade 1, Diana for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on Saturday at Saratoga.
The remaining top-ten in descending order are: Stellar Wind (169); Mind Your Biscuits (130); Shaman Ghost (113); Abel Tasman (95) and Lady Aurelia (82).
The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 6 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup.
The full results for the NTRA weekly Thoroughbred poll can be found on the NTRA website at:
http://ntra.kinsta.cloud/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-july-24-2017/
About the NTRA
The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horseplayers, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing through consensus-based leadership, legislative advocacy, safety and integrity initiatives, fan engagement and corporate partner development. The NTRA, Based in Lexington, Ky., owns and manages the NTRA Safety & Integrity Alliance; NTRA.com; the NTRA Top Thoroughbred and NTRA Top 3-Year-Old weekly media polls; the Eclipse Awards; the National Handicapping Championship; NTRA Advantage, a corporate partner sales and sponsorship program; and Horse PAC, a federal political action committee. NTRA press releases appear on NTRA.com, Twitter (@ntra) and Facebook (facebook.com/1NTRA).
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