LEXINGTON, Ky. (September 3, 2019) – Just over a week after earning his third win in as many starts this year and fifth career graded stakes victory, Hronis Racing’s Catalina Cruiser has worked his way into the top 10 of the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Catalina Cruiser captured the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar on August 24 to complete the unprecedented double of winning the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap and Pat O’Brien Stakes two years in a row. The 5-year-old chestnut trained by John Sadler slid into the tenth spot of this week’s poll by earning 72 points among voters, one point behind Grade 1 Travers Stakes winner Code of Honor in ninth.

The presence of Catalina Cruiser knocked multiple Grade 1 winner Maximum Security out of the top 10, leaving Code of Honor as the lone 3-year-old in that mix.

That shift was the only new one as leading Horse of the Year candidate Bricks and Mortar concludes yet another month as the clear leader. The Chad Brown-trained son of Giant’s Causeway garnered 33 first-place votes and 384 points to maintain the No. 1 position with top distaffer Midnight Bisou (3 first-place votes, 322 points) holding in second.

Bob Baffert trainee McKinzie, who most recently prevailed in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes, remains third with 3 first-place votes and 303 points while the Steve Asmussen-trained Mitole is fourth with 260 points.

Champion Sistercharlie (IRE) remains fifth with 241 points while multi-surface standout World of Trouble (97 points) holds in the sixth position. The Bill Mott-trained distaffer Elate is seventh with 77 points followed by Imperial Hint (75 points), Code of Honor (73), and Catalina Cruiser.

The Top Thoroughbred Poll wraps up November 4 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup. 

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport’s most comprehensive surveys of experts. 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. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll can be found on the NTRA website at:

https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-september-3-2019/

Full accounting of top 10 votes by voter can be found at:

https://www.ntra.com/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week32-by_voter-2019.pdf