Maximum Security | Horse Racing Free Tips

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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Maximum Security, Improbable Both Being Pointed to Awesome Again

Stablemates Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) and ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Improbable (City Zip) will face one another in Saturday’s GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert has confirmed.

Baffert had earlier discussed shipping Maximum Security to New York for the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, but instead will race him this weekend in his own backyard.

Via text, Baffert said he thought the race was a good fit for both horses because he likes the spacing and the fact that no one has to ship. The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be run Oct. 10, two weeks after the Awesome Again.

With the two Baffert stars set to meet one another, the Awesome Again could decide who will be the favorite in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Coming off wins in the GII San Diego H. and the GI TVG Pacific Classic, Maximum Security will be favored in the Awesome Again, but Improbable has strong credentials, as well. He has won two in a row, the GI Hollywood Gold Cup and the GI Whitney S.

The list of possible starters for the $300,000 race also includes Higher Power (Medaglia d’Oro), Midcourt (Midnight Lute), Sharp Samurai (First Samurai), Sleepy Eyes Todd (Paddy o’Prdao) and Take the One O One (Acclamation).

A win in the Awesome Again, formerly known as the Goodwood S., will give Baffert six wins in the race. He is currently tied with Charlie Whittingham for most career wins in the event. The Awesome Again is a Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifier, though both Maximum Security and Improbable have already secured berths via their victories in the Pacific Classic and Whitney, respectively.

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Maximum Security Retains Top Spot In Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings

Maximum Security, unbeaten in three starts this year, maintained his top rating in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, while Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) winner Tom's d'Etat jumped into second place over Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up Tiz the Law.

The 2020 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings is a weekly poll of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). The 1 ¼-mile Classic, scheduled to be run on Nov. 7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., is the climactic race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

Gary and Mary West, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith's Maximum Security (282 votes) has a 52-vote margin over GMB Racing's 7-year-old Tom's d'Etat (230 votes). Maximum Security, trained by Bob Baffert, worked 6 furlongs in 1:11.40 on Monday at Santa Anita Park. Maximum Security earned a free berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic by capturing the “Win and You're In” TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar on Aug. 22. He is scheduled to start next in the “Win and You're In” Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita on Sept. 26.

Tom's d'Etat, trained by Al Stall Jr., appeared on the work tab on Monday for the first time since his troubled third-place finish in the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 1. The bay son of Smart Strike breezed 4 furlongs in 50.80 at Churchill Downs.

Tiz the Law (205 votes), who won the Belmont Stakes (G1) and the Runhappy Travers (G1) before losing his first race of the year in the Derby, drops to third place with 205 votes. Trained by Barclay Tagg, Tiz the Law could start next in the “Win and You're In” Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico on Oct. 3 or be trained up to the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

Baffert's two other runners in the top five – Improbable and Authentic – flipped positions in the standings this week. The 4-year-old Improbable (200 votes), owned by WinStar Farm, CHC Inc. and SF Racing, and winner of Saratoga's Whitney, worked 5 furlongs in 59.40 Monday at Santa Anita. He is also a candidate for the Awesome Again.

The 3-year-old Authentic (185 votes), owned by Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing, gave Baffert a record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby win. Authentic is slated to run next in the Preakness.

Baffert saddled three consecutive winners (2014-2016) of the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic with Bayern, American Pharoah, and Arrogate, and all were 3-year-olds. Authentic earned a Breeders' Cup Challenge automatic berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic when he won the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park on July 18.

Allied Racing Stable's By My Standards (156 votes), winner of the Alysheba (G2) at Churchill Downs for trainer Bret Calhoun, stays in sixth place, while W.S. Farish's Code of Honor (79 votes) remains in seventh.

Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm's 4-year-old Woodward (G1) winner Global Campaign (71 votes) rises from ninth to eighth place, switching positions with Bruce Lunsford's Blue Grass Stakes (G2) winner Art Collector (64 votes).

Juddmonte Farms' Suburban Stakes (G1) winner and Woodward runner-up Tacitus (47 votes), remains in 10^th place.

Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings – Sept. 15, 2020*

RANK	HORSE	TOTAL VOTES	FIRST-PLACE VOTES
1	Maximum Security	282	20
2	Tom's d'Etat	230	7
3	Tiz the Law	205	3
4	Improbable	200	0
5	Authentic	185	0
6	By My Standards	156	0
7	Code of Honor	79	0
8	Global Campaign	71	0
9	Art Collector	64	0
10	Tacitus	47	0

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

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. 13. A list of voting members can be found here.

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

The 2020 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will be televised live on NBC.

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Stablemates Authentic, Maximum Security Hold Strong Atop NTRA Polls

While trainer Bob Baffert has been working the yearling sales in recent days seeking out his next stable star, the Hall of Fame conditioner has been able to lay claim to having the top-ranked runners in two of racing's glamour divisions.

For the second straight week, Kentucky Derby winner Authentic leads the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Three-Year-Old Poll while his stablemate, champion Maximum Security, heads up the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Authentic captured the September 5 Kentucky Derby in frontrunning fashion to give Baffert his record-tying sixth triumph in the 10-furlong classic. The son of Into Mischief earned 23 first-place votes and 356 points to lead the poll with Tiz the Law, beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, sitting second with 14 first-place votes and 347 points.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm, My Racehorse, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing, Authentic is expected to contest the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on October 3.

Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector, who had to miss the Kentucky Derby due to a minor foot injury but is also on track for a start in the Preakness Stakes, remains third with 263 points, one point ahead of Grade 1 winner Honor A. P. (262).

Kentucky Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver (140 points) is fifth, just ahead of Thousand Words (139), while Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil sits seventh with 97 points

Gamine, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Oaks, moves up two spots this week to eighth with 86 points followed by King Guillermo (78 points) and Max Player (77) completing the top 10.

Maximum Security, who captured the Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes on August 22, holds a commanding advantage in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 27 first-place votes and 347 points. The 4-year-old son of New Year's Day has won his last six starts including victories in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and Grade 1 Cigar Mile last season.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Vekoma remains in second with 7 first-place votes and 263 points followed by Tom's d'Etat (3 first-place votes, 227 points), who on Monday turned in his first workout since finishing third in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on August 1.

Champion Monomoy Girl moves up to fourth with 211 points on the heels of her victory in the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes on September 4 while Whitney Stakes-winner Improbable (197 points) ranks fifth.

By My Standards, who captured the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes on the Oaks undercard, remains sixth with 158 points followed by champion Midnight Bisou (156 points) and Tiz the Law (131). Authentic (116 points) and multiple Grade 1 winner Rushing Fall (85) round out the top 10.

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