Undefeated Essential Quality retains the No. 1 ranking in this week’s National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll, with post positions to be drawn at Churchill Downs on Tuesday for the Grade 1 147th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on May 1.

Essential Quality, the 2020 Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male, owned by Godolphin and trained by Brad Cox, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. Among his five career wins are last year’s Grade 1 TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and the April 3 Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. Essential Quality received 31 first-place votes and 363 points in this week’s poll. Hronis Racing and Talla Racing’s Rock Your World, winner of the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3, retained second place with two first-place votes and 282 points.  The only change in order in the top 10 occurred next as Grade 2 TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie has hopped over St. Elias Stable’s Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby winner Known Agenda, from fourth to third place. Trained by two-time Kentucky Derby-winner Doug O’Neill, Hot Rod Charlie has one first-place vote and 266 points. Known Agenda, trained by Todd Pletcher, also a two-time Derby-winning trainer, has two first-place votes and 263 points. Klaravich Stables’ Highly Motivated, second to Essential Quality in the Blue Grass for trainer Chad Brown, rounds out the top five with 158 points.

Keith Asmussen and Erv Woolsey’s Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Super Stock is in sixth place with 128 points for trainer Steve Asmussen. Zedan Racing Stables Medina Spirit, second in the Santa Anita Derby, is in seventh place with 107 points. Gary and Mary West’s homebred Concert Tour is in eighth place with 101 points. Life is Good, who is sidelined with an injury and will miss the Triple Crown, is in ninth place with one first-place vote and 80 points.  Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Midnight Bourbon, second in the Louisiana Derby, is in 10th place with 57 points.

There were no changes in the top 10 in this week’s National Thoroughbred Poll as Godolphin’s 4-year-old Mystic Guide, winner of the Group 1 Dubai World Cup, maintains the No. 1 ranking with 30 first-place votes and 349 points. Charlatan, second in the Group 1 Saudi Cup, retains second place with seven first-place votes and 324 points. Last year’s older dirt female Eclipse-Award winner, Monomoy Girl (246 points), remains in third place, followed by Korea Racing Authority’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner Knicks Go in fourth (231 points).  Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf winner Colonel Liam is in fifth place (186 points), and is followed by Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap winner Letruska (176 points) in sixth. Last year’s Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter, Gamine, is in seventh place (95 points) followed by Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap winner Idol in eighth (87 points). The 2020 Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old filly, Swiss Skydiver, is in ninth place (72 points).  Grade 3 Count Fleet Handicap winner C Z Rocket, trained by Peter Miller, is in 10th place (47 points).

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. Voting in the Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll concludes following the Belmont Stakes on June 5 and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through November 6.

TOP THREE-YEAR OLD POLL

Week 11 of the 2021 NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through April 25. Current rankings of the Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis with first place votes in parentheses, 2021 record and total points. The three-year-old poll represents horses competing up and through the Triple Crown Championships. Poll concludes June 5 (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes). A-S: Age-Sex, Sex: C-colt, G-gelding, H-horse, F-filly, M-mare, R-ridgling.

HORSEA-SSTATSPOINTSPVS
1ESSENTIAL QUALITY (31)3-C2-2-0-03631
2ROCK YOUR WORLD (2)3-C3-3-0-02822
3HOT ROD CHARLIE (1)3-C2-1-0-12664
4KNOWN AGENDA (2)3-C3-2-0-02633
5HIGHLY MOTIVATED3-C2-0-1-11585
6SUPER STOCK3-C2-1-0-01286
7MEDINA SPIRIT3-C4-1-3-01077
8CONCERT TOUR3-C4-3-0-11018
9LIFE IS GOOD (1)3-C2-2-0-0809
10MIDNIGHT BOURBON3-C3-1-1-15710

Other horses receiving votes: GREATEST HONOUR (51), MANDALOUN (29), KING FURY (25), HELIUM (19), HELLO HOT ROD (16), TRAVEL COLUMN (15), BOURBONIC (14), CADDO RIVER (12), DYNAMIC ONE (9), MALATHAAT (9), O BESOS (7), DRAIN THE CLOCK (5), RISK TAKING (4), SCARLETT SKY (4), SOUP AND SANDWICH (3), FLIGHTLINE (3), TRIPLE TAP (2), HIDDEN STASH (1), SAINTHOOD (1), FIRST CAPTAIN (1)

TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL

Week 11 of the 2021 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through April 25. Current Horse of the Year ranking of the Top Thoroughbred on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-1 basis with first place votes in parentheses, 2021 record and total points. Poll Concludes Monday, Nov. 6. A-S: Age-Sex, Sex: C-colt, G-gelding, H-horse, F-filly, M-mare, R-ridgling.

HORSEA-SSTATSPOINTSPVS
1MYSTIC GUIDE (30)4-C2-2-0-03491
2CHARLATAN (7)4-C1-0-1-03242
3MONOMOY GIRL6-M2-1-1-02463
4KNICKS GO5-H2-1-0-02314
5COLONEL LIAM4-C2-2-0-01865
6LETRUSKA5-M3-2-1-01766
7GAMINE4-F1-1-0-0957
8IDOL4-C2-1-0-1878
9SWISS SKYDIVER4-F2-1-0-1729
10C Z ROCKET7-G2-2-0-04710

Other horses receiving votes: SILVER STATE (39), MAXFIELD (37), ESSENTIAL QUALITY (28), SHEDARESTHEDEVIL (22), RAGING BULL (16), MISCHEVIOUS ALEX (15), UNITED (11), BY MY STANDARDS (11), ROCK YOUR WORLD (7), GOT STORMY (6), LIFE IS GOOD (5), CHANNEL MAKER (4), CHURN N BURN (3), AS TIME GOES BY (3), WHITMORE (2), SAY THE WORD (2), EXTRAVAGANT KID (2), ROYAL SHIP (2), JULIET FOXTROT (2), CEZANNE (2), HIT THE ROAD (2), KIMARI (1)