Gun Runner Remains Atop NTRA Weekly Poll
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Saratoga Race Course held true to its reputation as the "grave yard of favorites" this past weekend on Travers Day with upsets reflecting changes in Week 31 of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll for horses of all ages, which was released Aug. 28.
Remaining in first for the second week in a row is Gun Runner (33 first-place votes, 382 points). Trained by Steve Asmussen for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm, the multiple graded stakes winner moved up the ladder to first place last week after sitting second to Arrogate for the last 21 weeks. The Candy Ride colt won his second straight Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" qualifying event for a berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 4 at Del Mar when he took the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) in June and the Whitney Stakes (G1) two weeks ago.
Arrogate (five first-place votes, 334 points), who had dominated the poll the first 29 weeks this year for trainer Bob Baffert and Juddmonte Farms, stays in second after his runner-up finish in the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) behind stablemate Collected, who is ranked third with (225 points). The Pacific Classic is also a "Win and You're In" contest for a berth in the Classic. Arrogate, the leading earner in North American racing history, remains on target for the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Moving up the ladder is Lady Eli (219) from seventh to fourth after her 1 1/2-length victory in the Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa Stakes (G2) at Saratoga for Sheep Pond Partners and trainer Chad Brown with Stellar Wind (211) in fifth for owner Hronis Racing and trainer John Sadler.
Two-time Eclipse Award winner Songbird (173) drops down from third to sixth place after being upset at the wire by co-favorite Forever Unbridled (72), who breaks into the top-10 in 10th place after winning the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1), a "Win and You're In" Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) qualifier for owner/breeder Charles Fipke and trainer Dallas Stewart.
Two more horses moving into the top-10 are the newly minted Travers Stakes (G1) winner West Coast taking ninth position (one first-place vote; 75 points) for owners Gary and Mary West and the speedy Drefong, (96) winner of the Forego Stakes (G1), who leaps into eighth place capturing a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). Both of these horses along with Mor Spirit (ranked seventh, 98 points) are trained by Baffert, who conditions five of the top-10 in this week's edition of the NTRA Poll.
The complete top 10 in descending order are: Gun Runner (33 first place votes,382 points); Arrogate (5 first-place votes, 334 points); Collected (225); Lady Eli (219); Stellar Wind (211); Songbird (173); Mor Spirit (98); Drefong (96 ); West Coast (1 first-place vote; 75 points); and Forever Unbridled (72).
The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes Nov. 6 after the running of the Breeders' Cup. The full results of the weekly poll can found on the NTRA website.