GOOD MAGIC RETAINS FIRST PLACE ON THE NTRA TOP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL

Joan Lawrence/NTRA —-

GOOD MAGIC RETAINS FIRST PLACE ON THE NTRA TOP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL;
WEST COAST REMAINS IN FIRST-PLACE FOR OLDER HORSES IN TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. ( Monday, February 26, 2018) – With no action this week surrounding the Kentucky Derby Championship Series, the top 4 finishers the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” remains status quo in week five of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll results of which were released today.

Eclipse Award-winning Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Good Magic remains in first-place with 24 first-place votes and 386 points. Trained by Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown for Stonestreet Stables LLC the 2017 Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner is expected to make his first start of the season in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, March 3. Good Magic is in second on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 24 points. The 20 horses with the most points will earn a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Remaining in second and third on the top-ten is Bolt d’Oro (13 first-place votes; 351 points) and Sham (G3)winner McKinzie (4 first-place votes; 320 points), respectively. Bolt d’Oro, trained and owned by Mick Ruis, currently has 14 qualifying points and is seventh on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Bolt d’Oro is being pointed towards the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 10. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, McKinzie, with 20 qualifying Derby points and fifth on the leaderboard, is also slated to make his next start in the San Felipe.

Remaining in fourth position is Holly Bull Stakes (G2) winner Audible (241) for trainer Todd Pletcher and owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing Stable. Audible earned 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and his next start could well come in the $1 million Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park March 31.

Rounding out the field is: Solomini (212); Avery Island (131); Catholic Boy (103); Flameaway (87); Bravazo (87); and My Boy Jack (59).

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.

Remaining in first in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses four and up is Eclipse Award-winning Champion for Three-Year-Old Males West Coast (23 first-place votes; 389 points) for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Gary and Mary West. In his most recent start the son of Flatter finished second to Gun Runner in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. The $10 million Dubai World Cup Invitational at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 31 is his next target, according to Baffert.

Tampa Bay Derby winner and Champion Turf Eclipse Award winner World Approval (329)remains insecond place for Mark Casse and owner Charlotte Weber of Live Oak Plantation.

Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinter Unique Bella (2 first-place vote; 249 points) remains steady in third. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, the Hall of Famer plans to enter the four-year-old filly in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational on March 17 at Santa Anita, a track the daughter of Tapit has excelled on.

Rounding out the top-ten are: Roy H (1 first-place vote; 245 points); Forever Unbridled (1 first-place vote; 216 votes); Gun Runner (14 first-place votes; 181 votes); Abel Tasman (137); Gunnevera (128); Sharp Azteca (99); and Beach Patrol (82).

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-thoroughbred-poll-february-26-2018/

Votes by Voters:

https://www.ntra.com/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week5-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, Twitter (@ntra)(facebook.com/1NTRA).