No Changes At The Top of NTRA Thoroughbred Racing Polls

A quiet weekend in both the handicap and sophomore ranks resulted in relatively little movement in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll and NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll.

Champion Maximum Security continues to head up the Top Thoroughbred Poll ahead of his expected run in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita Park on September 26. The 4-year-old son of New Year's Day earned 26 first-place votes and 349 points this week and will bring a six-race win streak into Saturday's Awesome Again.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Vekoma remains in second with 9 first-place votes and 272 points followed by fellow top-level victor Tom's d'Etat (3 first-place votes, 240 points) in third.

Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, holds in fourth with 209 points while Grade 1 winner Improbable (193 points) ranks fifth. By My Standards, who captured the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, remains sixth with 159 points followed by champion Midnight Bisou (153 points) and Tiz the Law (134). Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (122 points) and multiple Grade 1 winner Rushing Fall (85) round out the top 10.

Authentic looms a potential favorite for the October 3 Preakness Stakes on the heels of his gate-to-wire triumph in the 10-furlong classic. The son of Into Mischief garnered 23 first-place votes and 365 points to once again lead the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and recently returned the worktab with a bullet five-furlong breeze at Churchill Downs on September 19.

Belmont and Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law ranks second with 15 first-place votes and 357 points. The son of Constitution remains under consideration for the Preakness Stakes but has not posted a workout since finishing as the runner-up behind Authentic in the September 5 Kentucky Derby.

Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector is confirmed to be Preakness bound and remains third with 272 points. Grade 1 winner Honor A. P., who was retired to stand stud at Lane's End Farm last week, is fourth with 191 points followed by Kentucky Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver (161 points) and
Thousand Words (146).

Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil sits seventh with 107 points, ahead of beaten Oaks favorite Gamine (90 points). Max Player (83 points) and King Guillermo (74) complete the top 10.

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 both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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Grade 1 Winner Volatile Retired To Three Chimneys For 2021 Breeding Season

Three Chimneys Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbreds announced today that Grade 1 winner and stakes record setter Volatile, winner last time out in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap against a field comprised of all Grade 1 winners at Saratoga, has been retired due to a hairline fracture of his right front cannon bone. He will take up stud duty at Three Chimneys for the 2021 breeding season.

By Violence (Medaglia d'Oro), who ranks first in 2020 by Grade 1 winners, Volatile was his sire's most expensive yearling sold at public auction when hammered down for $850,000 at Keeneland September in 2017.

The ultra-talented and stunningly-gorgeous gray, was the model of consistency, compiling a record of five wins and a second from six starts. Undefeated this year, he rose to the top of the sprint division with dominant victories culminating in a Grade 1 win in the Vanderbilt where he clocked a final quarter :22.94, the fastest in the race's history.

His two starts prior to that saw a combined margin of victory of nearly 16 lengths, including a stakes record and near-track record performance in the listed Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs which earned him the highest Beyer Speed Figure of the year, a 112. His final time of 1:07.57 while being throttled down, was just .02 seconds off the track record, running the final eighth mile in :11 and change.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, a winner of over 9,000 races, said of Volatile, “He reminds me very much of Mitole in his championship season. Volatile is as fast as any horse I have ever trained. His brilliant performances this year would have made him the likely favorite for the Breeders' Cup Sprint and a tough horse to beat. I trained his mother and his grandmother, the incredible Lady Tak who won multiple Grade 1 races for us. You will not find a better looking individual than Volatile, nor one with as much speed and raw talent.”

“Volatile is a beautiful horse that breeders will like when they see him. He exudes class and is a great physical. He was brilliant and that is what can make a stallion special,” said farm owner Gonçalo Torrealba, adding, “Three Chimneys will proudly support him with plenty of quality mares, I can guarantee that.”

A stud fee has not yet been announced. The farm will send a release informing breeders as to when he will be available for inspection.

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Full-Brother to Tsar Unveiled at Newcastle

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Tuesday’s Insights features a full-brother to the talented Tsar (GB).

5.40 Newcastle, Novice, £6,300, 2yo, 8f 5y (AWT)
ALPHA KING (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is a full-brother to the talented 3-year-old Tsar (GB) who also occupies the John Gosden stable, and a half to the GIII Modesty H. winner and triple Grade I-placed Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Khalid Abdullah’s newcomer takes to Newcastle’s Tapeta which has served the stable so well in recent times.

The post Full-Brother to Tsar Unveiled at Newcastle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Record-Priced Colt Tops First Session Of Relocated Tattersalls Ireland September Sale

It proved to be a record-breaking first session for the relocated two-day Tattersalls Ireland September Sale when Boherguy Stud's colt by Teofilo (Lot 165) fetched €351,000 (US$413,063), a new record price for the sale.

He was bought by Mick Kinane, signing on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the day's leading buyer by aggregate spend.

The colt, bred by trainer Jim Bolger, is a full-brother to two Group 3 winners – the Group 3 Eyrefield Stakes winner Guaranteed and this year's G3 Acomb Stakes winner Gear Up, whose success is an update on the catalog page.

The March-born yearling was sold by Bolger's grand-daughter Clare Manning of Boherguy Stud in just her second season consigning yearlings.

“He has been a superstar since he has been here,” Manning said. “He has the pedigree and the physique, he was busy and had a number of vettings, but it was difficult in this climate to gauge what he would fetch.

“He came to prep eight weeks ago and has always been straightforward, he is one of those that just have got something about them. I have had a brief chat with grand-dad and he is absolutely delighted.”

Kinane, standing outside the ring, said: “He is a lovely horse, and we didn't think we'd be pushed that hard. He was a stand-out, he could have been sold here in a few weeks at the October Sale. Hopefully, he can run like his brother, he was a good horse.”

The sale was the highlight on a day which produced a strong clearance rate of 83 percent (206 horses offered and 172 sold), an average price of €25,706 (US$30,251), a slight increase of 1 percent on the same session in 2019, a median of €20,330 (US$23,924), a drop of just 3 percent. The day's aggregate sales totaled €4,421,441 (US$5,203,244).

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