May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Rombauer Retains Tops Spot In NTRA 3-Year-Old Poll

John and Diane Fradkin's Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer has retained the No. 1 ranking in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Three-Year-Old Poll over last year's 2-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Essential Quality. There were no changes in the order of the top 10 horses from last week.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, Rombauer, a bay son of Twirling Candy, received 12 first-place votes and 300 points. He is expected to start in the final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, on June 5. Godolphin's Essential Quality, the 5-2 Kentucky Derby favorite, also has 12 first-place votes, but is eight points shy of first place with 292 points. Mandaloun, also trained by Cox, is in third place with four first-place votes and 262 points. Owned by Godolphin, Mandaloun finished second in the Kentucky Derby. Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing, Strauss Bros Racing and Gainesway Thoroughbreds' Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby, is in fourth place. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie has 221 points. Zedan Racing's Medina Spirit, third in the Preakness after winning the Kentucky Derby, is in fourth place. Trained by Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit has seven first-place votes and 210 points.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, second in the Preakness, is in sixth place. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon has 186 points. Shadwell Stable's undefeated bay filly, Malathaat, winner of the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, is in seventh place. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Malathaat has 171 points. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior remains in eighth place. Winner of the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile presented by LG&E and KU, Jackie's Warrior, trained by Asmussen, has 72 points. WinStar Farm and CHC's Life Is Good, off the Triple Crown trail due to injury, is in ninth place. Life Is Good has one first-place vote and 57 points. Hronis Racing and Talla Racing's Rock Your World, winner of the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, rounds out the top 10 with 52 points.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Mystic Guide remains on top of the NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll for older horses. Winner of the Group 1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 27, Mystic Guide returned to the work tab on May 19 with a 4-furlong breeze at Fair Hill in Maryland in preparation for a summer campaign. Trained by Mike Stidham, Mystic Guide received 31 first-place votes and 334 points. The 4-year-old Charlatan, runner-up in the Group 1 Saudi Cup, is in second place with one first-place vote and 219 points. Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go, winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup, is now in third place. Trained by Cox, Knicks Go has two first-place votes and 218 points. Robert and Lawana Low's 4-year-old Colonel Liam (217 points), who finished in a dead heat for first with Domestic Spending in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs, drops one spot to fourth place.

Places five through 10 in the poll remain the same as last week. My Racehorse, Spendthrift Farm LLC and Madaket Stables' Monomoy Girl, the reigning older dirt female Eclipse Award-winner, is in fifth place with 189 points. St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska (148 points), winner of Oaklawn's Grade 1 Grade Apple Blossom, is in sixth place. The 4-year-old Gamine (142 points), last year's champion female sprinter, has one first-place vote and 142 points, and is in seventh place. Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, is in eighth place with one first-place vote and 141 points. The Cox-trained 4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil (96 points), winner of Churchill's Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes, is in ninth place. Completing the top 10 is Klaravich Stable's 4-year-old Domestic Spending (55 points), for trainer Chad Brown.

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 Nov. 6.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Polls can be found on the NTRA website at: https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-may-24-2021/

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TRF’s Chestnut Hall Added To Horse Country Tours

The board of directors of Horse Country voted unanimously to add the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Chestnut Hall facility in Prospect, Ky. to its membership roster.

“Since our first tours in 2015, the members of our not-for-profit organization have opened their gates to more than 150,000 leisure travelers, fans, clubs and schools in service of our mission of fan development for racing and equine sport,” said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of Horse Country. “Aftercare is a critical part of the story of racing and experiential storytelling is an effective and compelling way to share our love of the horse, land and people. While we've supported TRF in previous endeavors, we're happy this new program allows us to welcome them to membership.”

Chestnut Hall represents the realization of a dream of local businessman, Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. to preserve the historic farmland. Carstanjen oversaw the restoration of the 25+ acre property to an active horse farm and sought out the TRF as his partner to provide a home for retired racehorses.

Among the small herd of retired Thoroughbreds who will welcome tour guests at Chestnut Hall is graded stakes winner Warrior's Club (Warrior's Reward). The 7-year-old, who won the 2018 G3 Commonwealth S. for the Churchill Downs Racing Club, will retire to the facility thanks to a grant from the club.

Chestnut Hall is the fourth TAA-accredited aftercare organization to join Horse Country. Tours are now offered at https://visithorsecountry.com/trf-chestnut-hall/ or https://www.trfinc.org/trf-sanctuary-farm-at-chestnut-hall/.

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Knicks Go Re-Routed To Met Mile

Multiple Grade 1 winner Knicks Go had been targeting the May 31 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park for his first start back after finishing fourth in the Saudi Cup in February, but the 5-year-old son of Paynter has been re-routed to the Grade 1 Met Mile on June 5 at Belmont Park.

Trainer Brad Cox told the Daily Racing Form the reason behind the change is that Charlatan, second-place finisher in the Saudi Cup, will not appear in the Met Mile entry box. The Bob Baffert-trained colt was taken out of training for an unspecified issue earlier this month, and his trainer is currently banned from entering horses at NYRA racetracks.

Other likely entrants in the G1 Met Mile include: Mischevious Alex, Dr Post, Silver State, and Lexitonian. Possibles include Ny Traffic and Rushie.

Cox has several other contenders for the loaded Belmont Stakes Festival, including juvenile champion Essential Quality in the marquee event. Shedaresthedevil and Bonny South are pointing to the Ogden Phipps, Travel Column the Acorn, Caddo River the Woody Stephens, and Kinenos the Belmont Gold Cup.

True Self Pointed to International Campaign

Trainer Willie Mullins's True Self (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}), who ran a brave third in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh on May 23, is eyeing international targets. Owned by Three Mile House and OTI Partnership, the mare sports wins under both codes, and has captured the 2019 and 2020 editions of the G3 Queen Elizabeth S. at Flemington. A winner of the Neom Turf Cup at Riyadh on Feb. 20, she will resume later in the summer and is targeting the GI Mister D S., formerly the Arlington Million, as well as the G1 Cox Plate.

“She's a remarkable mare,” said OTI Racing CEO Terry Henderson to Racing Pulse. “She'll arrive back over here in Australia as a 9-year-old and she just seems to be getting better with age.

“We'll most likely take her to a race in America like the Arlington Million and then we will come across here for the spring, where she may be more aimed at the Cox Plate. So, hopefully, those lovely people at Moonee Valley might send her an invitation.”

“We've got no reason to change what we normally do,” he added regarding the new strict entry regulations for Northern Hemisphere horses competing in Australia recently announced by Racing Victoria. “If we can't get past the Racing Victoria regulations with her [True Self], we'd simply go to the Breeders Cup in America and she'd be a very good bet in that 2000-metre mares' race. However, she's a very sound mare and we have no reason to suggest that she won't pass Racing Victoria's regulations.”

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