John and Diane Fradkin's homebred Rombauer, a 3 ½-length winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, has risen to No. 1 in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Three-Year-Old Poll, taking over from Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve runner-up Mandaloun.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Rombauer, a bay son of Twirling Candy, received seven first-place votes and 311 points, rocketing from 30th place last week to the top spot. In February, Rombauer won the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, and was third in the Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes in April before the Preakness.
Godolphin's Essential Quality, who finished fourth in the Derby as the 5-2 favorite, moved from third to second place. Trained by Brad Cox, Essential Quality has 13 first-place votes and 298 points. Juddmonte's Mandaloun, also trained by Cox, is now in third place with seven first-place votes and 281 points. Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing, Strauss Bros Racing and Gainesway Thoroughbreds' Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Derby, drops one spot to fourth place. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie has 236 points. Zedan Racing's Medina Spirit, third in the Preakness, following his front-running win in the Kentucky Derby, slides from fourth to fifth place. Trained by Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit has eight first-place votes and 221 points.
Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, who finished second in the Preakness, rises from seventh to sixth place. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon has 204 points. Shadwell Stable's undefeated bay filly, Malathaat, winner of the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, drops from fifth to seventh place. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Malathaat has two first-place votes and 202 points. The Asmussen-trained Jackie's Warrior, owned by Kirk and Judy Robison, remains in eighth place. Winner of the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile presented by LG&E and KU at Churchill Downs, Jackie's Warrior has 74 points. WinStar Farm and CHC's Life Is Good, off the Triple Crown trail due to injury, rises from 10th to ninth place. Life Is Good has one first-place vote and 55 points. Hronis Racing and Talla Racing's Rock Your World, winner of the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, falls to 10th place with 54 points.
Godolphin's 4-year-old Mystic Guide, has been atop the NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll for older horses for eight consecutive weeks since winning the Group 1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 27. Trained by Mike Stidham, Mystic Guide received 31 first-place votes and 350 points.
The 4-year-old Charlatan, runner-up in the Group 1 Saudi Cup, is in second place with five first-place votes and 283 points. Robert and Lawana Low's 4-year-old Colonel Liam (224 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, rises from fourth to third place.
Two Cox-trained runners ― Knicks Go and Monomoy Girl ― are in fourth and fifth, respectively. Korea Racing Authority's Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner Knicks Go has one first-place vote and 220 points, while My Racehorse, Spendthrift Farm LLC and Madaket Stables' Monomoy Girl, the reigning older dirt female Eclipse Award-winner, has 199 points.
St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska (153 points), winner of Oaklawn's Grade 1 Grade Apple Blossom, is now in sixth place, switching positions with Michael Lund Peterson's Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter Gamine (145 points), who drops to seventh. Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, remains in eighth place with one first-place vote and 139 points. The Cox-trained 4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil (91 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 (64 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-17-2021/
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