GOOD MAGIC TAKES FIRST BERTH IN NTRA TOP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL

Joan Lawrence/NTRA —-

GOOD MAGIC TAKES FIRST BERTH IN NTRA TOP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL;
GUN RUNNER TAKES FIRST-PLACE FOR OLDER HORSES IN TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Monday, January 29, 2018) – As the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” gets underway the top ten in week one of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll, results are mostly based on their two-year-old performance of 2017 as the newly minted sophomores begin their 2018 campaign of which results were released today.

Newly crowned Eclipse Champion for Two-Year-Old Colt Good Magic takes first place with (24 first-place votes and 355 votes). Trained by Eclipse award winning trainer Chad Brown for Stonestreet Stables LLC the 2017 Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner is currently at Palm Meadows training center in south Florida preparing for his 2018 campaign. Good Magic leads the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 24 points. Points are awarded to the top four finishers in each race. The 20 horses with the most points will earn a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

In second is Bolt d’ Oro (11 first-place votes; 329 points) who currently has 14 points on the Kentucky Leaderboard. The Medaglia d’ Oro colt is expected to take the Southern California route to the Derby for owner and trainer Mick Ruis with a return to the races in March.

Sham Stakes (G3) winner, McKinzie moves into third position receiving (2 first-place votes; 244 points).

Rounding out the field is: Solomini (198); Instilled Regard (189); Catholic Boy (1 first-place vote; 154 points); Mask (113); Firenze Fire (107); Enticed (85) and Mourinho (73).

The NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll is the sport’s most comprehensive survey of experts ranking the generation of Thoroughbreds that includes all Triple Crown contenders. 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. The Top 3-Year-Old Poll concludes June 11 after the Belmont Stakes.

2017Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male Gun Runner is number one in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses four and up (36 first-place votes; 360 points). Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm the Candy Ride offspring finished out his racing career in taking the second running of the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) this past Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Gun Runner retired to stud duty standing at Three Chimneys Farm.

Taking second birth is West Coast (2 first-place votes; 341 points) who finished second to Gun Runner in the Pegasus for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Mary and Gary West.

Champion Turf Eclipse Award winner World Approval (219) is ranked third followed by Champion Older Female Forever Unbridled who moves into fourth on the ladder with (162).

Rounding out the top-ten are: Gunnevera (151); Abel Tasman (130); Roy H (98); Sharp Azteca (94); Beach Patrol (78) and Unique Bella (75).

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 5 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup.

The full results for both NTRA weekly Thoroughbred polls can be found on the NTRA website at:

https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thorougbred-poll-january-29-2018/

Voters by Voters:

https://www.ntra.com/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week1-by_voter-2018.pdf

About the NTRA
The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horseplayers, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing through consensus-based leadership, legislative advocacy, safety and integrity initiatives, fan engagement and corporate partner development. The NTRA, Based in Lexington, Ky., owns and manages the NTRA Safety & Integrity Alliance; NTRA.com; the NTRA Top Thoroughbred and NTRA Top 3-Year-Old weekly media polls; the Eclipse Awards; the National Handicapping Championship; NTRA Advantage, a corporate partner sales and sponsorship program; and Horse PAC, a federal political action committee. NTRA press releases appear on NTRA.com,(@ntra) and Facebook (facebook.com/1NTRA).