The path to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 5-6 is a road with plenty of ups and downs as talented racehorses vie for a spot in one of 14 championship races and $31 million in purses and awards.
Tag: Racing
Knicks Go Takes Over Top Spot In NTRA Thoroughbred Poll
Korea Racing Authority's 5-year-old Knicks Go, dominant winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course, jumped from sixth place to the No. 1 position in the latest NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.
Trained by Brad Cox, Knicks Go received 29 first-place votes and 374 points. A Maryland-bred son of Paynter, Knicks Go led the 1 1/8-mile Whitney from start to finish, defeating Godolphin's Maxfield by 4 ½ lengths. In registering his third win in five starts this year, Knicks Go earned a 111 Beyer Speed Figure, which was just two points shy of this year's top North American figure of 113 that he received when he captured the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap by 10 ¼ lengths on July 2.
In this week's poll, Knicks Go, who also won the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January, overtook the 5-year-old mare Letruska, who is now in second place after holding onto the top spot for the previous five weeks. Owned by St. George's Stable and trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska has seven first place votes and 326 points. Letruska has won four of five starts this year, including the June 26 Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs in her most recent start.
Godolphin's 3-year-old Essential Quality, who won the July 31 Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, remained in third place. Also trained by Cox, Essential Quality, who captured the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5, has one first-place vote and 269 points.
Klaravich Stables' Domestic Spending remained in fourth place with two first-place votes and 251 points. Trained by Chad Brown, Domestic Spending, the only turf horse in the top 10, finished in a dead heat for first in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, and won the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park.
Following his defeat in the Whitney, Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, dropped from second place to fifth place with 250 points. Maxfield is a three-time winner this year, including a victory in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State finished third in the Whitney, suffering his first defeat of the year after four consecutive wins, including the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. Silver State, trained by Steve Asmussen, dropped from fifth to sixth place with 148 points.
Michael Lund Petersen's 4-year-old Gamine, the 2020 champion female sprinter, stayed in seventh place with 92 points. Gamine is unbeaten in three starts this year, including a victory in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff presented by Kendall Jackson Winery at Churchill Downs.
Juddmonte officials announced on Tuesday that its 3-year-old Mandaloun has been taken out of training for the remainder of the year due to a sore right hind foot. Also trained by Cox, Mandaloun, second in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, and winner of the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes, is in eighth place with 65 points.
Hot Rod Charlie, owned by Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss, crossed the wire first in the TVG.com Haskell but was disqualified and placed seventh due to interference. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Hot Rod Charlie, remained in ninth place with 56 points.
Godolphin's 4-year-old Grade 1 Dubai World Cup winner, Mystic Guide, also sidelined due to injury, is in 10th place with 52 points.
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 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-august-9-2021/
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Princess Theorem Kicks Clear Late In Monday’s Van Clief Stakes
Dewberry Thoroughbred, LLC's Princess Theorem met Larry Johnson and RDM Racing Stable's No Mo Lady at the top of the stretch, battled momentarily then pulled away in the final eighth of a mile to win the $100,000 Van Clief Stakes for Virginia-restricted horses Monday at Colonial Downs.
In two previous turf starts, the 3-year-old Nyquist filly had respective third and fifth-place finishes at Churchill and Fair Grounds but on Monday, the Brendan Walsh trainee completed a comeback at 1 1/16th miles on grass. Racing sixth at the quarter and at the half in a nine-horse field, jockey Joe Rocco Jr. assumed he would be closer to the lead at that point, so he had to switch strategies on the fly.
“They went pretty fast early,” he said. “I rode my horse away from the gate and thought I'd be stalking Pletcher's horse (Apurate). I thought he'd be in front and I'd get a comfortable spot there, but they just went too fast. So I took a little hold and tried to tuck her in. They were pretty bunched up going into the turn and two of the horses to beat were to my inside and right in front of me so I saw that as an opportunity to make an early move, pass a couple dead horses and then be able to go in and tighten it up on the horses to beat. I think that's what was able to get us to first.”
Tasting the Stars, who was 5-for-7 entering the stakes, was the horse next to Rocco's and No Mo Lady, with a $233,000 bankroll, was next to him. “Those were two of the three to beat,” he added. “I saw the opportunity to get better position on them before the turn so we didn't have to go too wide. Brendan gave me a lot of filly to ride. She's very nice.”
With a 1 3/4 length win, Princess Theorem earned her second victory in six starts overall and pushed her bankroll to $125,382. Ther Brendan Walsh trainee is out of the Street Cry mare, Princess Haya. No Mo Lady finished second and Susan Cooney's Fionnbharr took third.
Colonial Downs continues its season on Tuesday with a nine-race card beginning at 1:45 PM. The meet continues until September 1 with racing every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1:45 PM. New Kent County Virginia Derby Day is Tuesday August 31.
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Road to the 2021 Breeders’ Cup: Fourstardave and a Focus on Arlington
In previous years, the second weekend in August served as a proving ground for turf horses on the Road to the Breeders’ Cup, particularly for both domestic and international runners who shipped to picturesque Arlington International Racecourse northwest of Chicago to compete in that track’s International Festival of Racing.
