LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 2, 2020) – As he forged his way to the front in the $20 million Saudi Cup on February 29, Maximum Security left no doubt who the most superior handicap horse on the day was. The results of this week’s National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll further confirmed the son of New Year’s Day as the consensus the top older horse in training when he earned 42 first-place votes and 422 total points to again lead a pack of contemporaries.

In his first start of 2020, Maximum Security delivered one of his best efforts to date when he worked his way past a drifting Mucho Gusto, then held off champion mare Midnight Bisou to prevail in the inaugural running of The Saudi Cup. The 2019 Eclipse Award winner for champion 3-year-old male bolstered his record to eight wins from 10 career outings with a bankroll of $11,801,900, which ranks sixth all-time in earnings.

“Really, that horse has got a lot of heart, he is some horse, he is amazing,” trainer Jason Servis said after the race.

Midnight Bisou’s brave runner-up finish in her first try against male rivals earned her 1 first-place vote and 369 points to put her second in the Top Thoroughbred Poll while Mucho Gusto – who led the poll the previous two weeks – earned 311 points to drop to third.

Zulu Alpha followed up his win in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes on January 25 with a victory in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Stakes this past Saturday, good enough to land him in fourth overall with 276 points. Mr Freeze, winner of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes, joined the top ten in fifth with 161 points followed by Grade 1 winners Code of Honor (114 points) and Firenze Fire (101).

Hard Not to Love (63 points), McKinzie (61), and Silver Dust (58) complete the top ten.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 9 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup.

Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law continues to lead the NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll with 33 first-place votes and 406 points, and the son of Constitution was further flattered by the exploits of the newest member of the top ten. Ete Indien, second to Tiz the Law in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes on February 1, scored an 8 ½-length victory in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes this past weekend to enter the poll in third with 1 first-place vote and 264 points.

Undefeated Thousand Words continues to hold in second with 4 first-place votes and 328 points while stablemate Nadal (2 first-place votes, 226 points) is fourth. Sole Volante, winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes, is fifth with 193 points followed by Authentic (1 first-place vote, 187 points) and Silver Prospector (2 first-place votes, 140 points).

Independence Hall (98 points), Maxfield (1 first-place vote, 84 points), and Mr. Monomoy (77) round out the top ten.

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 Top 3-Year-Old Poll concludes June 8 after the Belmont Stakes. 

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

https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-march-2-2020/

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

https://mk0ntrauj6jy9vera.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week3-by_voter-2020.pdf

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