Contact: Joan Lawrence, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
ARROGATE REMAINS IN FIRST, NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
(Receives all 41 first-place votes)
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, July 10, 2017) – Week 24 of The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll of all ages shows slight shuffling in the top-ten after the conclusion of the Stars & Stripes Festival of Racing this weekend which results were released today.
Arrogate ( 41 first-place votes; 410 points) remains the unanimous top choice. 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 is in training with the possibility of making his first start in the TVG San Diego Handicap. (G2) on July 22 at Del Mar or the G1 $1million TVG Pacific Classic on August 19 at Del Mar Race Course.
Gun Runner (359) 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 considering the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 5 for the son of Candy Ride’s next possible start.
Two-time Eclipse Award winner Songbird (306) remains in third after her first start of the year in 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, headlines the 80th renewal of the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park this Saturday. The mile-and-a-quarter filly and mare summer classic has attracted a field of six. Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Jerry Hollendorfer, Songbird will break from the fifth post-position with her regular rider and Hall of Famer Mike Smith.
Two horses climbing up the ladder from the Stars and Striped Racing Festival at Belmont Park is the multiple New York bred Grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits (158) moving up from the ninth slot to sixth after his 3 ½ length victory in the Belmont Sprint Championship (G2) for Chad Summers. The Belmont Sprint carries an all-fees-paid berth into the $1.5 million TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint on November 4 at Del Mar.
Five-year old Keen Ice (30) breaks into the top-ten from 30th in tenth after his 3-length victory for trainer Todd Pletcher over the favorite Shaman Ghost (150) who drops down three notches to seventh after coming in second to Keen Ice in the Suburban Stakes (G2), as part of the Stars & Stripes Racing Festival.
The top-ten in descending order are: Arrogate ( 41 first place votes; 410 points); Gun Runner (359); Songbird (306 ); Mor Spirit (239); Stellar Wind (164); Mind Your Biscuits (158); Shaman Ghost (150 ); Lady Eli (100); Lady Aurelia (91); and Keen Ice (41).
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-10-2017/
Preview of vote by voters can be viewed at:
http://ntra.kinsta.cloud/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week24-by_voter-2017.pdf
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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