After each posted handy victories this past weekend, unbeaten sophomore Concert Tour and champion filly Swiss Skydiver both advanced up to third in this week's National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll and NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, respectively.
Concert Tour earned his third win from as many career starts when he captured the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes by 4 ¼ lengths on March 13. The son of Street Sense previously won the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes on Feb. 6 and earned 2 first-place votes and 306 points this week to rank just behind poll leader Essential Quality (20 first-place votes, 372 points) and Life Is Good (14 first-place votes, 365 points).
“He was doing it with ease, with plenty left,” trainer Bob Baffert told the Oaklawn Park notes team of Concert Tour.
Greatest Honour, winner of the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, dips one spot to fourth with 2 first-place votes and 290 points. Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes winner Mandaloun (1 first-place vote and 239 points) sits fifth ahead of his expected run in Saturday's $1 million Louisiana Derby followed by Medina Spirit (156 points), Helium (77) and Risk Taking (73).
Proxy, who is also set to start in the Louisiana Derby, ranks ninth with 57 points while Hot Rod Charlie (38 points) rounds out the top 10.
While Grade 1 winner Charlatan continues to lead the way on the Top Thoroughbred Poll with 22 first-place votes and 362 points followed by two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (13 first-place votes, 348 points), Swiss Skydiver closed the gap on the top two following her victory in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Park March 13. The daughter of Daredevil earned 2 first-place votes and 288 points to jump up to third, just ahead of multiple Grade 1 winner Knicks Go (1 first-place vote, 275 points).
The Richard Baltas-trained Idol, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, sits fifth with 169 points. Graded stakes winner Mystic Guide (1 first-place vote, 159 points) ranks sixth followed by Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes winner Colonel Liam (123 points) and Maxfield (110).
Shedaresthedevil, winner of the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, joins the top 10 in ninth with 58 points in the wake of her victory in the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes. Champion female sprinter Gamine (57 points) completes the order.
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 November 6.
The post Concert Tour, Swiss Skydiver Moving Up In NTRA Polls appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
