Contact: Joan Lawrence, (646) 335-6833, jlawrence@ntra.com
McCRAKEN REMAINS IN FIRST, NTRA TOP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL
ARROGATE REMAINS UNANIMOUS CHOICE, NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
(Receives all 36 first-place votes)
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, March 27, 2017) – One major race took place this past weekend for the three-year-old division with the running of the G3 Sunland Derby. Steve Asmussen trainee Hence won by 3 ¾ lengths and earned 50 qualifying points on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard. Big weekend coming up with the G1 Xpressbet.com Florida Derby and the G2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby as the “Road to the Kentucky Derby “continues in week nine of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll, which results were released today.
McCraken (17 first-place votes, 322 points) for Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC’s and trainer Ian Wilkes is sitting chilly in first place currently on the top-ten. With 20 qualifying points, the G3 Sam F. Davis S. winner is ranked fifteenth on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard for a starting berth in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6. The undefeated graded stakes winner is at Keeneland where he is preparing for the $1 million Toyota Blue Grass (G2) on April 8.
Remaining in second for Peacock Racing Stable is Gunnevera (9 first-place votes, 291 points) after his 5 ¾ lengths victory in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) at Gulfstream Park. The Dialed In colt sits in second on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 64 points for trainer Antonio Sanos. Gunnevera is expected to run in the G1 Florida Derby.
The Jerry Hollendorfer and Don Alberto Stable filly Unique Bella (3 first-place votes, 227 points) remains in third. The Santa Ysabel S. (G3) winner at Santa Anita is tied for first on the Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard along with Farrell.
The South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) winner Tapwrit (1 first-place vote; 198 points) ranked fourth and is third on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 54 points for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Rounding out the field is: Malagacy (166); Mastery (4 first place votes; 122 points); Classic Empire (1 place vote; 116 points); One Liner (100); Practical Joke (95) and Girvin (93).
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 12 after the Belmont Stakes.
NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses four and up muscled through the desert as all eyes were on the number one ranked horse and Eclipse Award winner Arrogate (36 first place votes; 360 points) who won the Group 1 $10 million Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, Dubai by two and a quarter lengths with earnings of $17,084,600 for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Juddmonte Farms.
Standing in second in the top-ten is the second place finisher from the Dubai World Cup, Gun Runner (302) for trainer Steve Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm.
Grade I Santa Anita Handicapped winner Shaman Ghost (249) drops down a notch to third for trainer Jimmy Jerkens and Stronach Stables.
2016 Eclipse Champion Female Songbird (221) remains in fourth for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer followed by the Mark Casse trainee Eclipse Award Turf Champion Tepin (173) in fifth respectively.
Neolithic (125) ranked sixth, gave the United States a winning Triple having finished third to Arrogate and Gun Runner in Saturday’s Dubai World Cup.
New York bred, Mind Your Biscuits (85) jumps into the top-ten to seventh place after winning the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen for the 32-year-old trainer Chad Summers.
Rounding out the top-ten are: Vale Dori (79); Midnight Storm (71) and Lady Eli (50).
The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 6 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup.
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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