CITY OF LIGHT UNANIMOUS CHOICE IN FIRST TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL; GAME WINNER HEADS UP 3-YEAR-OLD POLL

Alicia Hughes/NTRA —-

LEXINGTON, Ky. (January 28, 2019) – A rousing victory in Saturday’s $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational allowed City of Light to officially end his career on top by earning first place in the initial National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll of 2019, the NTRA announced today.

In his final start before heading off to stud at Lane’s End Farm, Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren’s City of Light put in arguably the best effort of his 11-race career when he drew off to win by 5 ¾ lengths over the sealed, sloppy going at Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla. That run earned the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner all 32 first-place poll votes and 300 points as he closed out his racing days with more than $5.6 million in earnings.

“He’s the horse of a lifetime. I don’t know what else I can say,” trainer Michael McCarthy said the morning after City of Light’s Pegasus triumph. “To see him go out like that was phenomenal.”

Monomoy Girl, who capped a stellar 2018 campaign by defeating older fillies and mares in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, ranked second in the poll with 191 points. Owned by Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables, Monomoy Girl was named the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly at the 48th Annual Eclipse Awards held January 24 following a sophomore campaign that saw her notch five grade 1 victories

Accelerate, third in the Pegasus World Cup in his final career start, secured third place in the poll with 183 points. Trained by John Sadler for Eclipse Award-winning owners Hronis Racing, Accelerate won five Grade 1 races in 2018, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and was honored as the Champion Older Dirt Male at the Eclipse Awards.

“He’s a great horse, and we love him to death,” Sadler said. “I’m looking forward to seeing some of his babies.”

Two-time Champion Male Sprinter Roy H was fourth with 181 points with Bricks and Mortar, winner of the inaugural edition of the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf, fifth with 150 points.

Rounding out the top 10 are: McKinzie (117), Seeking the Soul (106), Game Winner (50), Sistercharlie (41), and Bravazo (40).

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.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 2 after the running of the Breeders’ Cup.

Proteges of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert headlined the first edition of the NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll
Game Winner, a runaway choice in Eclipse Award balloting for Champion 2-Year-Old Male, received 29 first-place votes and 317 points to lead his fellow sophomores as the Road to the Kentucky Derby heats up. Stablemate and fellow Grade 1 winner Improbable (3 first-place votes; 262 points) took up second place on the ladder with the Mark Casse-trained War of Will sitting third with 173 points off the strength of his four-length victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes January 19

Rounding out the top-ten are: Maximus Mischief (158 points); Instagrand (121); Knicks Go (106); Hidden Scroll and Signalman tied for seventh (88), Gunmetal Gray (85), and Mind Control (50).

The Top 3-Year-Old Poll concludes June 8 after the Belmont Stakes.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll can be found on the NTRA website at:
https://www.ntra.com/ntra-top-thoroughbred-poll-january-28-2019/

Full accounting of top 10 votes by voter can be found at:
https://www.ntra.com/wp-content/uploads/Polls-week1-by_voter-2019.pdf