Knightsbridge Jumps to No. 2 in NTRA Poll
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Knightsbridge wins the Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar
Godolphin's Knightsbridge🔥 jumped to the No. 2 spot in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Top Thoroughbred Poll Aug. 25, following a 6 1/4-length win in the $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) Aug. 22 at Del Mar.
His stablemate, 2025 Horse of the Year and recent Whitney Stakes (G1) winner Sovereignty , remains atop the standings, receiving 24 first-place votes and 289 points. Votes are determined by national media members who vote in the weekly poll.
Knightsbridge received one first-place vote and 228 points overall, boosting him from ninth place to second after his impressive performance last weekend. The 5-year-old son of Nyquist turned heads after his 10 1/4-length romp in the Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) in July, prompting his connections to ship him to the West Coast for the first time.
Nitrogen , who was runner-up to Sovereignty in the Aug. 8 Whitney, trails the Bill Mott trainees in third, with 197 points. Magnitude remains in fourth with 168 points and three first-place votes, and Deterministic🔥 slipped from third to fifth with two first-place votes and 163 points.
Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Golden Tempo🔥 was pushed out of the top five, but that could change next week after his run in the highly anticipated Aug. 29 Travers Stakes (G1).
See the full Week 31 results of the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll
Sovereignty Still No. 1 in BC Classic Rankings
The two Godolphin charges are also among the top three in the most recent Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings. Sovereignty received 27 of the 40 first-place votes to remain at the top spot with 381 total votes, while Knightsbridge climbed from the sixth slot up to No. 3 with 301 total votes, including a pair of first-place votes. In between the two Mott-trained horses is Forever Young , who remained at the two spot with 343 total votes and nine for first place.
The only other contender to receive first-place votes was Magnitude, who picked up the other two. The Not This Time 4-year-old colt, who will be trained up to the Oct. 31 $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), dropped one spot on the list down to No. 4 and garnered 256 total votes.
Golden Tempo, the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the upcoming Travers Stakes, is a close fifth in the rankings, just three points behind Magnitude at 253. The Cherie DeVaux trainee is the highest-ranked 3-year-old, with Renegade , the 3-1 second choice on the Travers morning line, 63 votes behind Golden Tempo at 190. The Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner is sixth overall.
Baeza🔥 moved up one spot to No. 7 ahead of Nitrogen, who fell to No. 8. The former received 110 votes, while the latter picked up 99.
Three-year-old Commandment🔥 (76) and 5-year-old Antiquarian (67) stayed at their previous positions and round out the top 10.
The Classic rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. The next rankings will be published Sept. 8, followed by Sept. 22, Sept. 29, and concluding Oct. 6.
A list of voting members can be found here.