Knicks Go Maintains No. 1 Rating in NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

NTRA Communications —-

KNICKS GO MAINTAINS NO. 1 RATING IN NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL; ALABAMA WINNER MALATHAAT NOW IN TOP 10

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 23, 2021) ― Korea Racing Authority’s 5-year-old Knicks Go kept his No. 1 rating in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll for the third straight week, while the 3-year-old filly Malathaat, winner of the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, moved into eighth place. Malathaat joined Letruska, Gamine and Shedaresthedevil as the fourth female star in the top 10.

Knicks Go, trained by Brad Cox, received 30 first-place votes and 359 points. A winner three times in five starts this year, Knicks Go captured the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, and scored a dominant, front-running victory in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 7.

Places two through seven in the poll remained unchanged. St. George Stable’s 5-year-old mare Letruska is in second place with five first-place votes and 320 points. Letruska has won four races this year for trainer Fausto Gutierrez, including the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park and the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs. Godolphin’s 3-year-old Essential Quality, who won the July 31 Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, remained in third place with one first-place vote and 271 points. Also trained by Cox, Essential Quality, who captured the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5, is expected to start in this Saturday’s Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Godolphin’s 4-year-old Maxfield, winner of the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs and second in the Whitney, is in fourth place. Trained by Brendan Walsh, Maxfield has 237 points. Klaravich Stables’ 4-year-old gelding Domestic Spending, the only turf horse in the top 10, is in fifth place with one first-place vote and 156 points. Second in the Grade 1 Mr. D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 14, Domestic Spending, trained by Chad Brown, 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. Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing’s Silver State, winner of four races in 2021 including the Grade 1 Hill ‘N’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, remained in sixth place with 135 points. Michael Lund Petersen’s 4-year-old Gamine, the 2020 champion female sprinter, is in seventh place with 90 points. Unbeaten in three starts this year for trainer Bob Baffert, Gamine is slated to run in this Saturday’s Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina at Saratoga.

Shadwell Stable’s Malathaat, a determined 1 ½-length winner in the Alabama, jumped from 20th to eighth place this week with 85 points. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Malathaat has won three races in four starts this year, highlighted by two other the Grade 1 victories in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and the Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Her lone defeat was a second-place finish by a head in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks to Maracuja at Saratoga on July 24. A daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, Malathaat finished fifth in the final NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll in June.

Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss’s Hot Rod Charlie dropped one spot to ninth place with 65 points. Trained by Doug O’Neill, Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, crossed the wire first in the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes on July 17 but was disqualified and placed seventh due to interference. Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing and Big Aut Farms’ 4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil is in 10th place. Also trained by Cox, Shedaresthedevil has won three of four starts this year, including the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1.

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-16-2021/