Knicks Go, Letruska and Essential Quality, all leading contenders for divisional championships as well as Horse of the Year honors heading into this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar, continued their stranglehold on the top three positions in this week’s penultimate NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.
Korea Racing Stable’s 5-year-old horse Knicks Go, trained by 2019 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox and a leading contender for the Grade 1, $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, held the top ranking for the thirteenth consecutive week with 21 first place votes and 302 points.
St. George Stable’s 5-year-old mare Letruska remained in second place in the poll with five first place votes and 279 points. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska is being pointed for the Grade 1, $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Godolphin’s 3-year-old standout colt Essential Quality, who like Knicks Go is trained by Cox, remained in third place in this week’s poll with six first place votes and 265 points. Essential Quality also is being pointed for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing and Gainesway Stable’s Hot Rod Charlie, another leading Classic contender, jump one spot to fourth place in this week’s poll with 145 points. Kirk and Judy Robison’s Jackie’s Warrior, who is being pointed for Grade 1, $2,000,000 Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint, held fifth place with 141 points.
Michael Lund Petersen’s Gamine, who is being pointed for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, was sixth in the poll with 118 points. Zedan Racing Stable’s Breeders’ Cup Classic hopeful, Medina Spirit (110 points), remained in seventh-place, followed by Bruce Lunsford’s Classic contender, Art Collector (81 points).
The lone change in this week’s poll saw Klaravich Stable’s Domestic Spending (66 points) move up one spot to ninth place while George Hall’s Max Player (65 points) fell one place to tenth.
The final NTRA Top 10 poll of 2021 will be announced next Monday.
TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
Week 38 of the 2021 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through October 31. 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 | KNICKS GO (21) | 5-H | 6-4-0-0 | 302 | 1 |
| 2 | LETRUSKA (5) | 5-M | 7-6-1-0 | 279 | 2 |
| 3 | ESSENTIAL QUALITY (6) | 3-C | 6-5-0-0 | 265 | 3 |
| 4 | HOT ROD CHARLIE | 3-C | 6-2-1-2 | 145 | 4 |
| 5 | JACKIE'S WARRIOR | 3-C | 6-4-1-1 | 141 | 5 |
| 6 | GAMINE | 4-F | 4-4-0-0 | 118 | 6 |
| 7 | MEDINA SPIRIT | 3-C | 8-4-3-1 | 110 | 7 |
| 8 | ART COLLECTOR | 4-C | 4-3-0-0 | 81 | 8 |
| 9 | DOMESTIC SPENDING | 4-G | 3-2-1-0 | 66 | 10 |
| 10 | MAX PLAYER | 4-C | 4-2-0-0 | 65 | 9 |
Other horses receiving votes: MALATHAAT (45), LIFE IS GOOD (34), SHEDARESTHEDEVIL (25), MAXFIELD (24), WAR LIKE GODDESS (13), MONOMOY GIRL (7), SILVER STATE (6), GOLDEN PAL (6), MYSTIC GUIDE (4), DR. SCHIVEL (4), MO FORZA (4), COLONEL LIAM (4), HELLO HOT ROD (3), WAR GODDESS (3), ALTHIQA (3), GUFO (2), JACK CHRISTOPHER (1)