The first of three consecutive weekends loaded with significant prep races for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in November arrives on Sept. 26-27. A total of eight domestic stakes races on Sept.
Tag: Racing
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.
The post No Changes At The Top of NTRA Thoroughbred Racing Polls appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
America’s Best Horses for Sept. 21
Each week members of the media around the country vote on the nation's top contenders on the Triple Crown trail in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Find out the latest 2020 top 3-year-old rankings below. AMERICA'S TOP THOROUGHBREDS as of Sept. 21
Kentucky Derby Contenders Major Fed, Necker Island Among Nominees To Oklahoma Derby
Trainer Michael Maker has given a nod to Remington Park for Mo Mosa to run in the Grade 3, $200,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday, Sept. 27.
He joins likely possibilities that include a couple of Kentucky Derby competitors – Major Fed and Necker Island – for this field looking for an Oklahoma Derby crown. A couple of other Kentucky Derby horses were nominated – Mr. Big News (third in Kentucky Derby) and NY Traffic (eighth in Kentucky Derby) – but it appears those two are working toward the Preakness, the final leg of this year's Triple Crown.
Dean Martini is expected to fly into Oklahoma City on Sunday, Sept. 20, to prepare for his run at the Oklahoma Derby. He, Shared Sense and Rowdy Yates are three horses that show an official workout since the Kentucky Derby and likely for the derby. The Oklahoma-bred Rowdy Yates has been stabled at Remington Park since late August.
Dean Martini, winner of the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on June 27, breezed a half mile at Churchill Downs on Thursday, Sept. 17 and covered the distance in :48.4 seconds, the eighth fastest of 37 that day. Shared Sense, the winner of the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand on July 8, went five furlongs at Churchill Downs on Sept. 13, breezing in 1:00.4, the sixth fastest of 32 that worked the distance.
Rowdy Yates, with Oklahoma ties (L and N Racing, owners from Tulsa, Okla.) and the winner of the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile and $75,000 Don McNeill Stakes at Remington Park last year, got the bullet work at Remington on Sept. 13, going five furlongs in 1:01, the fastest of 12 that morning.
Here's a look at those most possible for the Oklahoma Derby of the 22 nominees:
Major Fed
Owned by Lloyd Madson Farms IV, trained by Gregory Foley. Went off 43-1 in the Kentucky Derby and had a troubled trip. He ran second to Shared Sense in the Indiana Derby, a strong closing fourth to Wells Bayou in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 21 at Fair Grounds and second in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds. Was ridden by James Graham in the Kentucky Derby. Graham rode Lone Sailor to an Oklahoma Derby win in 2018.
Necker Island
Owned by Raymond Daniels, Wayne Scherr and Will Harbut Racing, trained by Chris Hartman. Went off 49-1 in the Kentucky Derby and finished ninth after an eight-wide trip down the lane. Prior to the Kentucky Derby, he had finished third in the Indiana Derby to Shared Sense and third in the $200,000 Ellis Park Derby to Art Collector, who figured to be one of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby, but was scratched.
Shared Sense
Owned by Godolphin Racing, and trained by Brad Cox. This colt by Street Sense, out of the Bernardini mare Collective, won the Indiana Derby and has been first or second in five-of-nine starts lifetime. Has not been out since running fifth to Art Collector in the Ellis Park Derby.
Dean Martini
Owned by Raise the BAR Racing and David Bernsen, who also owns a computer wagering business in Point Loma, California. Trained by Tom Amoss. This 3-year-old gelding by Cairo Prince, out of the Friends Lake mare Soundwave, won the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on June 27 with jockey James Graham aboard. He followed that with a sixth place run in the Ellis Park Derby.
Avant Garde
Owned by Gelfenstein Farm of Ocala, Fla., trained by Jesus Lander. This gelded son of Tonalist, out of the Afleet Alex mare Dancing Afleet, is riding a four-race win streak at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., but all four victories have come in lesser company than he would face in a stakes race.
Mo Mosa
Owned by Perry and Denise Martin, trained by Michael Maker. This colt by Uncle Mo, out of the Eskendereya mare Roughing, competed in both the Grade 2, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby and the Grade 1, $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark. He did not fare well in those two huge races, but would get into this race off a win by 4-1/4 lengths in first-level allowance-company Aug. 22 at Ellis Park in his last start.
Rowdy Yates
Owned by L and N of Tulsa, trained by Steve Asmussen, this colt by Morning Line, out of the Yes It's True mare Spring Station, has won 5-of-11 starts lifetime, four of those in stakes races. Other than his Oklahoma stakes wins, he also took home the $100,000 Ellis Park Juvenile in 2019 and the $100,000 Riley Allison Derby at Sunland Park in January.
Remington Park features a five-date racing week, culminating with the Oklahoma Derby Day, Wednesday-Sunday, Sept. 23-27. The first race Wednesday through Saturday is at 7:07pm. The special Oklahoma Derby Day on Sunday, Sept. 27 begins at 3pm. All times are Central.
Tracked by more than 164,000 fans on Facebook and 10,500 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $248 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park is open daily for casino gaming and simulcast horse racing. The 2020 Thoroughbred Season continues through Dec. 20. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
The post Kentucky Derby Contenders Major Fed, Necker Island Among Nominees To Oklahoma Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
