FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joan Lawrence, NTRA Communications, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
CALIFORNIA CHROME REMAINS IN THE LEAD IN NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL; CATCH A GLIMPSE & EFFINEX JOIN TOP-TEN
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, July 11, 2016) – California Chrome remains the leading Thoroughbred in North America in this week’s NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. The all-time leading money earner in the U.S., California Chrome has led the poll for all 19 weeks of 2016 voting, clinching this week’s tally with 29 first-place votes and 388 points overall.
The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll is the sport’s most comprehensive survey of experts ranking active North American-based Thoroughbreds. Every week 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 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes Monday, November 7, following the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
Tepin (10 first-place votes; 347 points) held second in the rankings, ahead of three-time Eclipse Award champion Beholder (269). Four-year-old Frosted (1 first place vote; 263 points) remains in fourth.
Stars & Stripes Day at Belmont Park this past Saturday resulted with two horses climbing into the top-ten. Ranked ninth is Catch A Glimpse (102) after capturing the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies. The Mark Casse-trained bay filly set the pace for a half-length victory on the firm turf and automatically clinched a spot in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Division. The New York bred Effinex (66) moved into the 10th slot after winning the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap for the second consecutive year for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.
The top 10 was rounded out by: Nyquist (190); Songbird (174); Melatonin (155) and Flintshire (132).