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Medina Spirit Drops To Fourth In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

Following the report of a failed drug test by race winner Medina Spirit after the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs on May 1, there has been a shake up in the top five positions in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll. Juddmonte's Mandaloun, runner-up to Medina Spirit by a half-length in the Derby, has risen to No. 1 in the poll, with Zedan Racing's Medina Spirit dropping to No. 4.

Trained by Brad Cox, Mandaloun, who was third in last week's poll, received six first-place votes and 277 points. Mandaloun's stablemate, Godolphin's Essential Quality, who finished fourth in the Derby as the 5-2 favorite and is also trained by Cox, remains in second place with eight first-place votes and 275 points. Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing, Strauss Bros Racing and Gainesway Thoroughbreds' Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Derby, moves up one place to third. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie has 250 points. Medina Spirit, trained by Bob Baffert, is next with 18 first-place votes and 215 points. Shadwell Stable's undefeated bay filly, Malathaat, winner of the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, stays in fifth place with one first-place vote and 184 points for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Gary and Mary West's homebred, Concert Tour, winner of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, holds onto sixth place. Also trained by Baffert, Concert Tour has 99 points. Two Steve Asmussen-trained horses are next. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, who finished sixth in the Derby, has 80 points and moves from 10th to seventh place in this week's poll. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, who captured Churchill's Grade 2 Pat Day Mile presented by LG&E and KU, is in an eighth-place tie with Hronis Racing and Talla Racing's Rock Your World, winner of the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. Both Jackie's Warrior and Rock Your World, the latter trained by John Sadler, have 77 points. WinStar Farm and CHC's Life Is Good, off the Triple Crown trail due to injury, drops from seventh to 10th place, registering one first-place vote and 74 points.

Godolphin's 4-year-old Mystic Guide, winner of the Group 1 Dubai World Cup, retains the top position in this week's National Thoroughbred Poll. Trained by Mike Stidham, Mystic Guide received 27 first-place votes and 310 points. The Baffert-trained 4-year-old Charlatan, runner-up in the Group 1 Saudi Cup, is in second place with five first-place votes and 250 points. Two Cox-trained runners have switched positions this week. Korea Racing Authority's Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner Knicks Go rises from fifth to third place with one first-place vote and 187 points, while Monomoy Girl, the reigning older dirt female Eclipse Award-winner, is now in fifth place. Monomoy Girl, owned by My Racehorse, Spendthrift Farm LLC and Madaket Stables, has 181 points. Sandwiched in between Knicks Go and Monomoy Girl, in fourth place, is Robert and Lawana Low's 4-year-old Colonel Liam (184 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.

The next five positions in the poll remain unchanged. Michael Lund Peterson's Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter Gamine (138 points) is in sixth place. St. George Stable's 5-year-old mare Letruska (132 points), winner of Oaklawn's Grade 1 Grade Apple Blossom, is in seventh place. Godolphin's 4-year-old Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, is in eighth place with one first-place vote and 116 points. The Cox-trained 4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil (84 points) is in ninth place. Completing the Top 10 is Klaravich Stable's 4-year-old Domestic Spending (51 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.

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Malathaat Could Enter Belmont Stakes, If Velazquez Is Available

Undefeated Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat is under consideration for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The 3-year-old daughter of Curlin is best suited by longer distances, explained Shadwell Farms' Vice President and General Manager Rick Nichols, and there aren't any other two-turn Grade 1 races for fillies and mares until July.

“It has crossed our minds,” Nichols told the TDN. “One issue would be whether or not we could get John Velazquez. If Medina Spirit wins the Preakness Stakes., obviously John will have to choose him for the Belmont. No one would blame him for choosing that horse.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher already has experience with successfully sending a filly from the Kentucky Oaks to win the Belmont Stakes, having accomplished the feat in 2007 with Rags to Riches. A total of three fillies have won the Belmont.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Belmont Stakes Under Consideration for Malathaat

Malathaat (Curlin), the undefeated filly who is coming off a win in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, could go next in the June 5 GI Belmont S.

“It has crossed our minds,” Shadwell Farms Vice President and General Manager Rick Nichols said of the Belmont. “One issue would be whether or not we could get John Velazquez. If Medina Spirit (Protonico) wins the [GI] Preakness Stakes., obviously John will have to choose him for the Belmont. No one would blame him for choosing that horse.”

Nichols said a final decision will be made in “about a week.”

“We'll talk some more about it and talk with Sheikh Hamdan's family and get their input,” Nichols said

The filly's trainer, Todd Pletcher, is no stranger to the Kentucky Oaks-Belmont route. In 2007, Pletcher went in the Belmont with Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy) after winning the Oaks. She is the last filly to win the Belmont and was the first to do so since 1905. Three fillies have won the Belmont.

Nichols admitted that there are not a lot of options right now for Malathaat against fillies. She will pass the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. at Pimlico. The Belmont Stakes card includes the GI Acorn S. for 3-year-old fillies, but the race is at one-mile around one turn and is not a good fit for the filly. The next Grade I race around two turns for 3-year-old fillies is the July 24 GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

“The further they go the better,” Nichols said. “There are not a lot of good choices for her. We could go in the [GII] Mother Goose Stakes, but it's only a Grade II race.”

Nichols said Malathaat returned to the track Thursday morning and galloped for Pletcher.

“Told loves her. He absolutely loves her,” Nichols said. “She's such a sweet filly around the barn. She's got so much class and has everything you'd want in a top filly.”

Malathaat kicked off her 3-year-old campaign with a win in the GI Central Bank Ashland and followed that up with a hard fought win over Search Results (Flatter) in the Oaks. A $1,050,000 purchase at Keeneland September, Malathaat is five-for-five lifetime.

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Fresh Off Derby/Oaks Double, John Velazquez Joins Writers’ Room

There's been a lot of attention, rightfully so, on Bob Baffert in the wake of his record-breaking seventh GI Kentucky Derby conquest Saturday. But John Velazquez made a little history of his own under the Twin Spires this weekend, becoming just the eighth jockey ever to win both the GI Kentucky Oaks and Derby in the same year. Wednesday, the Hall of Fame rider joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by J.P. Morgan Private Banking and Keeneland to talk Malathaat (Curlin), Medina Spirit (Protonico), his approach to race-riding, potential plans for when he retires and much more.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Velazquez spoke about the winning Derby strategy to put Medina Spirit on the lead, saying, “He's pretty quick from the gate, so we had talked about it, but I got a text from Bob like five days before the race. He said, 'Man, the horse is doing well. He worked really good. I think you should come out of there running and go all or nothing.' I said, wait a minute Bob, I haven't studied the race yet. I had it in the back of my head [Rock Your World] would be on the lead. We talked that night and went through every horse and all their races … I'm inside of Rock Your World, he's far out [in the 14-post]. I'm going to come out running and if he wants to go to the lead, he's going to have to run much faster than me and use his horse going into the first turn. Obviously, he didn't break well, we got to the lead and the rest was history.”

As successful as Velazquez's Derby strategy was, he may have had even more to do with Malathaat's Oaks triumph. Not away all that well, he hustled his filly early to get into striking position in anticipation of a slow pace. Then, in a stretch battle with Search Results (Flatter), Velazquez moved his mount in just enough to intimidate her foe without knocking her off stride, locking up a narrow decision in the closing strides.

“Right out of the gate, it was not what I was expecting,” he said. “She didn't really jump out of there and kind of got squeezed from the first jump. I changed my mind right away. The horses that I don't want to be behind are in front of me, so I had to make a decision and try to get a position that I'm going to be comfortable with. My mind works so quickly and you have less than a second to think. I went all the way back to when I rode her mom [Dreaming of Julia, fourth as the favorite in the 2013 Oaks] and I got squeezed out of the gate and never recuperated. But she responded right away and got me to the position I wanted. Then coming down the lane, it was funny, because I thought it was going to be much tougher to get to Irad [Ortiz, on Search Results], but she got to him so quickly that when she put her head in front, she started waiting and wanting to lean on top of them. So now it's my job to control her and keep it as tight as I can, keep it competitive, but without bothering the other horse. She did everything I asked her to do. It's incredible when you ride these kinds of horses and on top of [their talent], they're giving you everything you ask for and being competitive.”

Elsewhere in the show, the writers broke down all the action from a loaded Derby weekend and asked cohost Jon Green about DJ Stable's experience with their first Derby starter. Then, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, they reacted to federal attorneys' response to anti-HISA lawsuits and, in the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project Story of the Week, discussed the impact of Mattress Mack's $2.4-million Derby bet. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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