Contact: Joan Lawrence, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
ARROGATE RETAINS FIRST POSITION, NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
(receives 31 out of 36 first-place votes)
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, July 31, 2017) – Week 27 of The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll of all ages shows little change in either direction from the previous week by the NTRA media voters which results were released today.
Arrogate (31 first-place votes, 353 points) remains in first position. 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 (3 first-place votes, 307 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. Trainer Steve Asumussen, is expected to enter the son of Candy Ride in the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga on this Saturday, August 5.
Two-time Eclipse Award winner Songbird (2 first-place votes, 251 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.
Moving up the ranks from sixth to fourth is the five-year-old mare, Stellar Wind (207 ) after her win this Sunday over Vale Dori in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes a “Win and You’re In” qualifying race for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff, set for Friday, Nov. 3 at Del Mar.
Grade 1 Diana winner Lady Eli (173) takes the fifth berth for Sheep Pond Partners with Mor Spirit (167) in sixth.
Rounding out the remaining top-ten in descending order are: Mind Your Biscuits (118); Shaman Ghost (93); Abel Tasman (78) and Lady Aurelia (70).
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-thoroug…oll-july-31-2017/
Preview of vote by voters can be viewed at:
http://ntra.kinsta.cloud/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week27-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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