FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Joan Lawrence, NTRA Communications, (646) 335-6833

MOHAYMEN, NYQUIST REMAIN ONE, TWO IN 3-YEAR-OLD POLL;

CALIFORNIA CHROME LEADS TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL 

Saratoga Springs, NY (Monday, March 21, 2016) – The “Road to the Triple Crown” National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll showed little movement this past weekend with the exception of the Bob Baffert-trained three-year-old Cupid, who moves into the top-ten in seventh place with (172 points) after winning the (G2) Rebel Stakes this past Saturday at Oaklawn Park.  Unbeaten standouts Mohaymen (412 points and 24 first-place votes) and Nyquist (364 points and 9 first-place votes) – expected to clash in the April 2 Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park – remained the leading sophomores, respectively.  

Songbird (281 points and 8 first-place votes), the leading 3-year-old filly with two easy wins this year and undefeated in six starts overall, remains in third.  Dropping out of the top ten after a disappointing fifth place showing in the Rebel Stakes is Suddenbreakingnews, leaving the remaining top-ten status quo from last week’s polling.

Danzing Candy (218 points and 1 first-place vote); Destin (207 points and 1 first-place vote); Mor Spirit (173 points and 1 first-place vote); Gun Runner (148); Shagaf (140) and Cathryn Sophia (65).

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 as many as 50 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 NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll concludes on Monday, June 12 following the Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of the Triple Crown. 

In the Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses four and up, California Chrome (416 points and 28 first-place votes) remains the leader on the basis of one minor stakes win this year. That race, however, set up the 5-year-old for a much tougher test to come Saturday in the world’s richest race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup, where he is expected to face NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll second Mshawish (311 and 5 first-place votes), winner of Gulfstream’s Donn Handicap (G1) in his last start, and Frosted (243 and 3 first-place votes), winner of his last start, the Al Maktoum Challenge (Group 2) on February 4 at Meydan Racecourse.

Rounding out the top older horses are the 5-year-old mare Tepin (280), Beholder (229 points and 3 first-place votes); Songbird (190 points and 2 first-place votes); Mohaymen (170 points and 3 first-place votes); Runhappy (104); Nyquist (94) and Melatonin (77).

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes Monday, November 7 following the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5 at Santa Anita Race Course, Arcadia, California.

The full results for both NTRA weekly Thoroughbred polls can be found on the NTRA website at: http://ntra.kinsta.cloud/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-march-21-2016/

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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