After a sloppy victory in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park, Confidence Game was voted into fourth position for the fifth week of the NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll. Trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden to victory by James Graham, Confidence Game (Candy Ride) is out of Eblouissante, the half-sister to Hall of Fame racemare Zenyatta.
Desormeaux purchased the Summer Wind Equine-bred colt for just $25,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling sale. With three wins from seven career starts thus far, Confidence Game has earned $785,525 on the racetrack.
The Top 3-Year-Old Poll of 2023 continues to be led by Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Forte, a son of Violence trained by Todd Pletcher. The colt has not yet started this year, but is entered in Saturday's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
In second position is remains G3 Southwest winner Arabian Knight (formerly trained by Bob Baffert, recently transferred to former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen), while G3 Lecomte winner Instant Coffee sits in third (Brad Cox).
The 3-Year-Old poll represents horses competing up and through the Triple Crown.
TOP THREE-YEAR OLD POLL
Week Five of the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll provided a big change in second position when Taiba (now in seventh) failed to fire in the Saudi Cup. Instead, it was his stablemate Country Grammer who came up just short of a victory in the $20 million race for a second year in a row. That performance boosted Country Grammer from third to second in this week's poll.
Pegasus World Cup winner Art Collector remains atop the bunch. The Bill Mott trainee kicked off his 6-year-old season with the biggest win of his career, drawing away to win the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup by 4 1/2 lengths. Art Collector, sired by Bernardini, now owns 11 wins from 21 starts with earnings over $4 million.
Elite Power, Breeders' Cup winner and Champion Sprinter, also proved a powerful force in Saudi Arabia when he captured the Riyadh Dirt Sprint under Frankie Dettori. As a result, the Mott trainee was voted into third in this week's poll. Another Mott-trained stablemate, Cody's Wish, remains in fifth with his most recent start a win in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
Another Baffert trainee, Pegasus runner-up Defunded sits in fourth ahead of Saturday's Big 'Cap at Santa Anita.
TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
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