Essential Quality | Horse Racing Free Tips

Essential Quality Overtakes Knicks Go In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings

Godolphin's Essential Quality, winner of the Belmont Stakes (G1) and the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), has overtaken stablemate Knicks Go for the No. 1 spot in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, a weekly poll of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). This year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will be run at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California, on Nov. 6 as the final race of the 38th Breeders' Cup World Championships.

The 3-year-old Essential Quality, trained by Brad Cox, received 278 votes, which was three votes higher than Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go, who has 275 votes in second place after being No. 1 for four consecutive weeks. Also trained by Cox, Knicks Go has won three races this year, including the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park and the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga.

Godolphin's Maxfield remained in third place with 226 votes.

Trained by Brendan Walsh, the 4-year-old Maxfield captured the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in June, in which he earned an automatic berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss's Hot Rod Charlie is in fourth place with 189 votes. Hot Rod Charlie, trained by Doug O'Neill, finished third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and second in the Belmont Stakes. He crossed the wire first in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) on July 17, but was disqualified for interference in the stretch and was placed seventh.

The big mover in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings this week was 4-year-old Max Player, who jumped from 13th to fifth place with 155 votes after winning Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga by 4 lengths. Owned by George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds Corp, the Jockey Club Gold Cup win was Max Player's second Breeders' Cup Challenge Series triumph in the Longines Classic Division this year. Max Player earned a free berth into the Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park on July 3.

Hronis Racing's 4-year-old Tripoli dropped one position to sixth place with 96 votes. Trained by John Sadler, Tripoli won the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar on Aug. 21 and gained a “Win and You're In” berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska, winner of three Grade 1 stakes races this year, including the Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga, slips one spot to seventh place with 86 votes.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon dropped from seventh to eighth place this week with 76 votes. Also trained by Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon finished just a neck behind Essential Quality in the Runhappy Travers Stakes. Prince A A Faisal's 4-year-old Mishriff (IRE), who earned an automatic starting position into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the Juddmonte International (G1) on turf at York Racecourse on Aug. 18, drops one spot to ninth place. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Mishriff has 71 votes. Zedan Racing Stable's 3-year-old Medina Spirit, who captured the listed Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 29, remained in 10th place with 60 votes.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – Sept. 7, 2021*

Rank	Horse	Votes	First-Place Votes	Previous Week
1	Essential Quality	278	7	2
2	Knicks Go	275	15	1
3	Maxfield	226	4	3
4	Hot Rod Charlie	189	1	4
5	Max Player	155	1	13
6	Tripoli	96	0	5
7	Letruska	86	0	6
8	Midnight Bourbon	76	0	7
9	Mishriff (IRE)	71	3	8
10	Medina Spirit	60	0	10

*Note – The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 2021 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles on the main track, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.

The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 11. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

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Knicks Go Solidly Atop NTRA Poll; Max Player Jumps Into Top 10

Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go kept his No. 1 rating in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for the fifth straight week, while the 4-year-old colt Max Player catapulted from sixteenth into the top 10 off an impressive score in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga over the Labor Day weekend.

Knicks Go, trained by Brad Cox, received 19 first-place votes and 323 points. A winner three times in five starts this year, Knicks Go captured the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap in July, and scored a dominant, front-running victory in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 7.

St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska is in second place with six first-place votes and 306 points. Letruska has won five races this year for trainer Fausto Gutierrez, including the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga and the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park. Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality, who won the Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga on August 28, remained in third place with 10 first-place votes and 294 points. Also trained by Cox, Essential Quality, last year's Eclipse Award winner as Champion Two-Year-Old Male, captured the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5.

Michael Lund Petersen's 4-year-old filly Gamine, winner of the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 28, remained in fourth place for the second consecutive week with 159 points.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, winner of the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs and second in the Whitney, is in fifth. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield has 137 points. Max Player, who earlier this year captured the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park, moved into sixth place with 135 points off his strong performance in the Gold Cup. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Max Player is owned by George Hall.

Klaravich Stables' 4-year-old gelding Domestic Spending, the only turf horse in the top 10, is in seventh place with 110 points. Domestic Spending is trained by Chad Brown.

The speedy Jackie's Warrior, also trained by Asmussen and owned by Kirk and Judy Robison, most recently captured the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 and is in eighth place with 107 points.

Shadwell Stable's Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat, trained by Todd Pletcher and a winner of three races in four starts this year, is in ninth place with 91 points. Rounding out the top 10 is Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State, winner of four races in 2021 including the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. Silver State has 50 points.

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Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit Among Early PA Derby Noms

GSW Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) heads the early nominations for the Sept 25 GI Pennsylvania Derby. The nine-furlong marquee race for 3-year-olds highlights a stacked card which features eight stakes races, including five at the graded level. The Pennsylvania Derby was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

“We're still a few works away, but we're real optimistic about Charlie's next stop, the Pennsylvania Derby,” said trainer Doug O'Neill. “The race looks to be coming up tough, which one would expect with a million dollars on the line.”

Winner of the GII Louisiana Derby earlier this spring, the colt finished third in the GI Kentucky Derby before placing second in the GI Belmont S. In his latest start, he crossed the wire first in the July 17 GI Haskell Invitational S. at Momouth, but was demoted to seventh after interfering with eventual winner Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), who is also among early nominees.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who has already registered a trio of Pennsylvania Derby wins with McKinzie (2018), West Coast (2017) and Bayern (2014), has a trio nominated for 2021. Medina Spirit (Protonico), winner of this year's GI Kentucky Derby, subsequently finished third in the GI Preakness S. He most recently returned to action with a win in Del Mar's Shared Belief S. Aug. 29. Other possibilities from the Baffert barn are MGSP Defunded (Dialed In) and SP Bobby Bo (Speightster).

“I like to see how they are doing and how they are training,” said Baffert. “Whoever is doing well, great. Then they will go. I'll let them tell me, how they're training. They are going to have to show me in the mornings. I have had a lot of luck there because I have brought really good horses up there.”

Also among early nominees: GI Runhappy Traver S. scorer Essential Quality (Tapit); GIII Dwyer S. winner First Captain (Curlin), third for trainer Shug McGaughey in his latest start in the Curlin S. at Saratoga; and Life Is Good (Into Mischief), runner-up in the Aug. 28 GI H. Allen Jerkens S.

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Brennan: Essential Quality ‘The Total Package’ From Day One

Niall Brennan has prepared young horses for their racing careers long enough to know a potential star when he sees one. When he broke Grade 1 Runhappy Travers winner Essential Quality at his training center in Ocala, Fla., he said he saw a bright future ahead of the sensational Tapit colt.

Trained by Eclipse Award winning conditioner Brad Cox, Godolphin's Essential Quality added a fourth Grade 1 triumph to his stellar ledger on Saturday by winning the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers.

Essential Quality earned Champion 2-Year-Old honors last season with victories in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, both at Keeneland.

Following his lone defeat when fourth in the Kentucky Derby, Essential Quality racked up meaningful wins in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on June 5 and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 30 at Saratoga. In doing so, he became the first horse since Arts and Letters in 1969 to take down all three races.

“We had a few Godolphin colts and he was one that you could really see the light going on,” Brennan recalled. “Especially for a Tapit colt, many of them can be unfocused. They can be a little tough, but this lad wasn't. He was a good feeling colt but always very professional and smart.”

Brennan said that progeny of multiple champion producing sire Tapit can be tough to handle, but Essential Quality carried himself in a professional manner.

“Tapits are tough. They're hardy,” Brennan said. “The ones that are good are very good. He was never a bad actor, and was always a smart horse. He played around like all colts do. They get turned out every day in the paddock. He always showed that he would go to the racetrack, love his job and train well. Every day he would catch your eye.”

Brennan described Essential Quality as the “total package” because he had many attributes that great horses display early on in their development.

“You know they have talent when they have a good frame of mind, demeanor and conformation. He was the total package,” Brennan said. “When he went on to Brad, he just kept going and stepping forward. He was easy to be around. He was one of those colts. You can't ever say for sure how good a horse will be until they go out there on the track and do it, but he had done everything right.”

Brennan said Essential Quality really started flaunting his excellence early on in his 2-year-old year.

“You could tell he had that ability and had taken better shape physically and putting it all together,” Brennan said. “It was a nice progression from February to March and March to April, The good ones keep progressing and focus on their work. He did show talent and that he really loved his job.”

Brennan's sentiments were echoed by Godolphin USA president Jimmy Bell.

“I remember the comments from him early on. Niall said, 'You can go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do with him',” Bell recalled. “He was very, very forward. All you had to do was ask him and he would deliver whatever it is you might be wanting. When he came in to Brad as a 2-year-old, in his second or third breeze he had Brad scratching his head because he was doing things a little differently than the rest of them. The talent isn't a surprise, the surprise is how much he's done with it in the afternoon.”

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