Contact: Joan Lawrence, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
Gun Runner Remains in First Place in NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll
(receives 35 out of 40 first-place votes)
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, October 2, 2017) – Week 36 of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses of all ages brings in a new recruit and West Coast moves up the ladder in the top ten, results of which were released today.
Coming off a five length win in the Grade I Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park this Saturday, Beach Patrol (95) climbs onto the top-ten taking the seventh slot for owners James Covello, Sheep Pond Partners and Head of Plains Partners and securing an all-expenses paid entry to the Grade 1, $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf on November 4 at Del Mar.
Remaining in first is Grade I Woodward Stakes winner Gun Runner (35 first-place votes, 394 points. Trained by Steve Asmussen for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm the Candy Ride colt is at Del Mar preparing for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar.
Arrogate (4 first-place votes, 341 points), who had dominated the poll the first 29 weeks this year for trainer Bob Baffert and Juddmonte Farms, remains in second after his runner-up finish behind stablemate Collected ranked third with (252) in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, a “Win and You’re In” contest for a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Arrogate, the leading earner in North American racing history, remains on target for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
West Coast (1 place vote; 218 points) moves up from sixth to the fourth for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Gary and Mary West.
Lady Eli (217) drops down a notch to fifth for Sheep Pond Partners followed by Stellar Wind (215) in sixth for trainer John Sadler.
Rounding out the top-ten in descending order: Beach Patrol (95); Drefong (88); Mor Spirit (86) and World Approval (59).
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-thoroughbred-poll-october-2-2017/
Preview of vote by voters can be viewed at:
http://ntra.kinsta.cloud/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week36-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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