FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joan Lawrence, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
BOLT D’ORO RETAINS FIRST PLACE ON THE NTRA TOP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL;
WEST COAST REMAINS IN FIRST-PLACE FOR OLDER HORSES IN TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, March 26, 2018) – The two featured Kentucky Derby prep races this past weekend, the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby presented by Twinspires.com at the Fair Grounds and the Sunland Derby (G3) at Sunland Park, offered a significant amount of Derby qualifying points to each winner, most notably to Noble Indy the Louisiana Derby winner, getting a step-up on the top-ten ladder to seventh position in week nine of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll, results of which were released today as the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” continues.
Holding their position for another week in first and second on the ladder are Bold d’Oro (31 first-place votes; 446 points) and McKinzie (13 first-place 416 votes; points) respectively. Trained and owned by Mick Ruis, Bolt d’Oro has 64 qualifying points and is in second place on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard. The son of Medaglia d’Oro and Bob Baffert trainee McKinzie are both being pointed towards the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 7 where a much anticipated rematch is expected between these two sophomores after a controversially outcome in the San Felipe States where Bolt d’Oro who was placed first after the Santa Anita stewards declared him the official winner due to interference from McKinzie. McKinzie currently is tenth on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 40 qualifying points. The 20 horses with the most points will earn a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.
Last week’s Rebel Stakes winner, Magnum Moon (1 first-place-vote; 275 votes), remains in third place for trainer Todd Pletcher with 50 qualifying points and fifth on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard. Magnum Moon, trained by Todd Pletcher, has 50 qualifying points and is fifth of the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard.
In fourth and fifth, respectively, are Audible (228) and Good Magic (224). Audible, another trainee of Todd Pletcher for owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing Stable, has 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and is in 28th place on the Leaderboard. His next start is the $1 million Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park March 31, where the qualifying points are worth 100-40-20-10 to the first four finishers. Eclipse Award-winning Champion Two-Year-Old Male Good Magic is trained by Chad Brown for owner Stonestreet Stables LLC. The 2017 Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner could go in either the Wood Memorial or the Blue Grass Stakes on April 7. Good Magic has 34 points on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard and is eleventh in the rankings.
Rounding out the top 10 are: Justify (166); Noble Indy (157); Promises Fulfilled (149); Solomini (116) and Enticed (115).
The NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll is the sport’s most comprehensive survey of experts ranking the generation of Thoroughbreds that includes all Triple Crown contenders. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The Top 3-Year-Old Poll concludes June 11 after the Belmont Stakes.
The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses four and up shows slight changes as most of the top 10 are still gearing up for the 2018 season.
Eclipse Award-winning Champion Three-Year-Old Male West Coast (31 first-place votes; 443 points) retains first place for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Gary and Mary West. In his most recent start the son of Flatter finished second to Gun Runner in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. West Coast will be making his 2018 career debut this Saturday, March 31 in the $10 million Dubai World Cup Invitational at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.
Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinter Unique Bella (2 first-place vote; 327points) remains in second on the ladder. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, the daughter of Tapit did not race in the Santa Margarita Invitational (G1) as expected due to of cough and is now being pointed towards the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 13 for her next start, according to her Hall of Fame trainer.
Rounding out the top-ten are: Roy H (1 first-place vote; 296 points); Forever Unbridled (1 first-place vote; 254 votes); Accelerate (227); World Approval (161); Gun Runner (11 first-place votes; 137 points); Gunnevera (124); Abel Tasman (123); and Sharp Azteca (87).
The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 5 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup.
The full results for both NTRA weekly Thoroughbred polls can be found on the NTRA website at:
http://ntra.kinsta.cloud/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-march-26-2018/
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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