Angel of Empire, the longest price at 13-1 of three Brad Cox-trained Risen Star Stakes (G2) starters, edged clear in the stretch to defeat Sun Thunder in the 1 1/8 mile race at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. (Hodges Photography)
NTRA Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.—Week 4 of the 2023 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through February 19. Voting is conducted by national media.
Brad Cox trainee Angel Of Empire rose to the No. 5 spot on the NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll with 111 points just behind Cave Rock (163 points) at No. 4, Instant Coffee at No. 3 (229) and Arabian Knight at No. 2 (293).
The Classic Empire colt was boosted by his win in the G2 Risen Star last weekend at the Fair Grounds. Owned ty the Albaugh Family Stables, previously he was second in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn.
Still at the top is Repole and St. Elias Stable’s Forte with 303 points with Zendan Racing Stable’s Arabian Knight a whisker behind with 302. The latter, Uncle Mo colt won the G3 Southwest at Oaklawn Jan. 28. Forte, sired by Violence, is due for a start and likely trainer Todd Pletcher is pointing him towards the G2 Rebel at Oaklawn on Feb. 25.
Forte is due to start this Saturday in the G2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream park.
Rankings are on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-1 basis with first place votes in parentheses, 2023 record and total points. A-S: Age-Sex, Sex: C-colt, G-gelding, H-horse, F-filly, M-mare, R-ridgling.
TOP THREE-YEAR OLD POLL
| HORSE | A-S | STATS | POINTS | PVS | |
| 1 | FORTE (18) | 3-C | 0-0-0-0 | 307 | 1 |
| 2 | ARABIAN KNIGHT (13) | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 293 | 2 |
| 3 | INSTANT COFFEE | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 229 | 3 |
| 4 | CAVE ROCK | 3-C | 0-0-0-0 | 163 | 4 |
| 5 | ANGEL OF EMPIRE | 3-C | 2-1-1-0 | 111 | – |
| 6 | ROCKET CAN | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 109 | 5 |
| 7 | HIT SHOW | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 100 | 7 |
| 8 | REINCARNATE | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 77 | 8 |
| 9 | BLAZING SEVENS | 3-C | 0-0-0-0 | 68 | 9 |
| 10 | LITIGATE | 3-C | 2-1-1-0 | 61 | 10 |
Other Horses Receiving Votes: Tapit Trice (37), Havnameltdown (27), National Treasure (24), Victory Formation (22), Newgate (20), Verifying (19), Faustin (19), Practical Move-1 (15), Red Route One (12), Loggins (12), Pretty Mischievous (12), Hejazi-1 (10), Victoria Road (8), Bishops Bay (6), Lugan Knight (6), Major Dude (6), Sun Thunder (5), General Jim (5), Hard To Figure (5), Chase The Chaos (4), The Alys Look (3), Hoosier Philly (3), Carmel Road (3), Giant Mischief (3), Cagliostro (2), Groveland (2), Two Phil’s (2), Jace’s Road (2), Denington (1), Wonder Wheel (1), Dubyuhnell (1)
The Three-Year-Old poll represents horses competing up and through the Triple Crown.
Leading the Top 10 Thoroughbred’s Poll is Bruce Lundford’s formidable Art Collector with 313 points who royally impressed with his victory for Bill Mott in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Sired by Bernardini, Art Collector has had a robust record of 11 wins in 21 starts.
In the No. 2 spot with 247 points is Zendan Racing Stables’ Taiba. A recent winner of the G1 RUNHAPPY Malibu at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert is taking the Gun Runner colt to the Saudi Cup.
With 167 points at No. 4, Country Grammer will also be competing in the Saudi Cup with Frankie Dettori aboard. Owned by Commonwealth Thoroughbreds, Winstar Farms and Zendan Racing Stables’, the 5-year-old had two seven furlong works at Santa Anita—1:25.60 and 1:25.40 Feb. 5 and Feb. 12, respectively.
Sired by Tonalist he is out of Forestry mare Arabian Song. May his dam bring him luck!
Rankings are on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-1 basis with first place votes in parentheses, 2023 record and total points. A-S: Age-Sex, Sex: C-colt, G-gelding, H-horse, F-filly, M-mare, R-ridgling.
TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
| HORSE | A-S | STATS | POINTS | PVS | |
| 1 | ART COLLECTOR (19) | 6-H | 1-1-0-0 | 303 | 1 |
| 2 | TAIBA (9) | 4-C | 0-0-0-0 | 258 | 2 |
| 3 | COUNTRY GRAMMER (3) | 6-H | 0-0-0-0 | 180 | 4 |
| 4 | DEFUNDED | 5-G | 1-0-1-0 | 163 | 3 |
| 5 | CODY’S WISH | 5-H | 0-0-0-0 | 130 | 6 |
| 6 | ATONE | 6-G | 1-1-0-0 | 121 | 5 |
| 7 | NEST | 4-F | 0-0-0-0 | 115 | 7 |
| 8 | ELITE POWER | 5-H | 0-0-0-0 | 80 | 8 |
| 9 | CLAIRIERE | 5-M | 0-0-0-0 | 64 | 9 |
| 10T | GUNITE | 4-C | 1-1-0-0 | 35 | 11 |
| 10T | GOODNIGHT OLIVE | 5-M | 0-0-0-0 | 35 | 12 |
| 10T | QUEEN GODDESS | 5-M | 1-1-0-0 | 35 | 10 |
Other Horses Receiving Votes: Last Samurai (31), Charge It (30), In Italian (21), War Like Goddess (19), Newgrange-1 (18), Pioneer Of Medina (17), Proxy (17), Fun To Dream (17), Repo Rocks (16), Ivar (15), Modern Games-1 (14), Stilleto Boy (12), Arabian Knight (9), Well Defined (9), Two Emmys (7), Endorsed (6), Sibelius (5), Interstatedaydream (5), A Mo Reay (5), Red Knight (5), Personal Best (5), Forte (3), West Will Power (3), Secret Oath (2), Pauline’s Pearl (2), Emmanuel (1), Hopkins (1), The Chosen Vron (1)
The Top Thoroughbred poll represents horses competing for Horse of the Year. The Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes on Tuesday, November 7 following the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
Rankings on poll are on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-1 basis with first place votes in parentheses, 2023 record and total points. A-S: Age-Sex, Sex: C-colt, G-gelding, H-horse, F-filly, M-mare, R-ridgling.
Click here to see the full results and votes by voter.
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Read more about Frankie Dettori’s last year in the saddle in Past The Wire’s series “Frankie’s Fanfare.” Click here for Part 6 and links to previous stories.
