St. George Stable’s 5-year-old mare Letruska has ascended to the No. 1 position in the latest NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll, ending the 14-week reign of Godolphin’s 4-year-old Mystic Guide, who was defeated Saturday in Belmont’s Grade 2 Suburban.
Letruska, trained by Fausto Gutierrez, has won four of five starts this year. She made a big name for herself when defeating last year’s older dirt female champion Monomoy Girl in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park in April, and then swept the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park on June 5 and the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs by 5 ¾ lengths on June 26. A bay daughter of 2010 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, Letruska has 11 first-place votes and 302 points, moving up from second place last week.
Godolphin’s 4-year-old Maxfied is now in second place with six first-place votes and 266 points. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield dominated the June 26 Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs with a powerful 3 ¼-length win to improve his overall record to seven wins in eight starts. Fellow Godolphin runner Mystic Guide lost a hard-fought battle to Max Player by a neck in the Suburban over a sloppy track in his first start since winning the Dubai World Cup on March 27. Trained by Mike Stidham, Mystic Guide received nine first-place votes and 260 points while falling to third place in this week’s poll. Klaravich Stables’ 4-year-old gelding Domestic Spending, the only turf horse in the top 10, rose from fifth to fourth place this week with seven first-place votes and 224 points. Trained by Chad Brown, Domestic Spending won the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes at Belmont on June 5. Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing’s 4-year-old Silver State, unbeaten in four starts this year, dropped from fourth to fifth place. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Silver State, winner of the Grade 1 Hill ‘N’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont on June 5, has one first-place vote and 222 points.
Godolphin’s third star in the top 10 is the 3-year-old Essential Quality, winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. Trained by Brad Cox, Essential Quality is in sixth place with two first-place votes and 197 points. Korea Racing Authority’s Knicks Go, also trained by Cox, turned in one of the top performances of the year last Friday evening when he won the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap by 10 ¼ lengths. Winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January, Knicks Go (129 points) rose from ninth to seventh place. The 4-year-old Gamine (83 points), last year’s champion female sprinter, was another sparkling winner over the holiday weekend. Owned by Michael Lund Petersen and trained by Bob Baffert, Gamine captured Monday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos by 10 lengths, improving her record to three for three this year, and remaining in eighth place in the poll.
George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds Corp’s Max Player rose from 23rd to No. 9 following his determined win in the Suburban at 11-1. Trained by Asmussen, the 4-year-old Max Player (69 points) won his first race of the year in three starts.
Spendthrift Farm LLC and Madaket Stables’ 6-year-old Monomoy Girl rounds out the top 10 with 58 points. A two-time winner of the Grade 1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Monomoy Girl, also trained by Cox, won this year’s Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn.
TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
Week 21 of the 2021 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through July 5. 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.
| HORSE | A-S | STATS | POINTS | PVS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LETRUSKA (11) | 5-M | 5-4-1-0 | 302 | 2 |
| 2 | MAXFIELD (6) | 4-C | 4-3-0-1 | 266 | 3 |
| 3 | MYSTIC GUIDE (9) | 4-C | 3-2-1-0 | 260 | 1 |
| 4 | DOMESTIC SPENDING (7) | 4-G | 2-2-0-0 | 224 | 5 |
| 5 | SILVER STATE (1) | 4-C | 4-4-0-0 | 222 | 4 |
| 6 | ESSENTIAL QUALITY (2) | 3-C | 4-3-0-0 | 197 | 6 |
| 7 | KNICKS GO | 5-H | 4-2-0-0 | 129 | 9 |
| 8 | GAMINE | 4-F | 3-3-0-0 | 83 | 8 |
| 9 | MAX PLAYER | 4-C | 3-1-0-0 | 69 | 23 |
| 10 | MONOMOY GIRL | 6-M | 2-1-1-0 | 58 | 7 |
Other horses receiving votes: HOT ROD CHARLIE (23), COLONEL LIAM (18), MALATHAAT (16), CHARLATAN (12), MEDINA SPIRIT (11), SMOOTH LIKE STRAIT (10), HAPPY SAVER (10), IDOL (9), C Z ROCKET (7), SWISS SKYDIVER (7), SHEDARESTHEDEVIL (6), MANDALOUN (6), BY MY STANDARDS (6), RAGING BULL (5), COUNTRY GRAMMER (4), OLEKSANDRA (3), SEARCH RESULTS (3), SET PIECE (3), CE CE (2), MIND CONTROL (2), AWARD WINNER (2), FOLLOWING SEA (2), FIRST CAPTAIN (1), MISCHEVIOUS ALEX (1), CAMPANELLE (1)