Hit Show and jockey Manny Franco cruised to a 5 ½ length win in the G3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. (NYRA/Walter Wlodarczyk)
NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll – February 13
NTRA Release/Maribeth Kalinich
LEXINGTON, Ky.—Week 3 of the 2023 NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), covering racing performances through February 12. Voting is conducted by national media.
After he crushed the field by 5 1/2 lengths in the Withers under Manny Franco, Gary and Mary West’s Hit Show moved to the top 10 of the NTRA 3-Year-Old Poll.
With 97 points, the Candy Ride (ARG) colt is No. 7 on the Poll. The Brad Cox trainee has won three of his four starts.
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.
Top Three-Year Old Poll
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.
| HORSE | A-S | STATS | POINTS | PVS | |
| 1 | FORTE (17) | 3-C | 0-0-0-0 | 303 | 1 |
| 2 | ARABIAN KNIGHT (14) | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 302 | 2 |
| 3 | INSTANT COFFEE (1) | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 229 | 3 |
| 4 | CAVE ROCK | 3-C | 0-0-0-0 | 127 | 4 |
| 5 | ROCKET CAN | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 117 | 6 |
| 6 | VICTORY FORMATION | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 107 | 7 |
| 7 | HIT SHOW | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 97 | – |
| 8 | REINCARNATE | 3-C | 1-1-0-0 | 86 | 8 |
| 9 | BLAZING SEVENS | 3-C | 0-0-0-0 | 77 | 9 |
| 10 | LITIGATE | 3-C | 2-1-1-0 | 71 | – |
Other Horses Receiving Votes: Havnameltdown (49), National Treasure (37), Tapit Trice (36), Newgate (34), Verifying (21), Loggins (20), Faustin (19), Practical Move-1 (16), Hoosier Philly (13), Red Route One (13), Curly Jack (12), Victoria Road (11), Hejazi-1 (10), The Alys Look (7), Hard To Figure (7), Major Dude (7), Lugan Knight (6), Determinedly (6), General Jim (6), Jace’s Road (5), Giant Mischief (4), Two Phil’s (4), Chase The Chaos (4), Wonder Wheel (2), Groveland (2), Harlocap (1), Dubyuhnell (1), Banishing (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!
Top Thoroughbred Poll
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.
| HORSE | A-S | STATS | POINTS | PVS | |
| 1 | ART COLLECTOR (20) | 6-H | 1-1-0-0 | 313 | 1 |
| 2 | TAIBA (9) | 4-C | 0-0-0-0 | 247 | 2 |
| 3 | DEFUNDED | 5-G | 1-0-1-0 | 181 | 3 |
| 4 | COUNTRY GRAMMER (3) | 6-H | 0-0-0-0 | 167 | 4 |
| 5 | ATONE | 6-G | 1-1-0-0 | 140 | 5 |
| 6 | CODY’S WISH | 5-H | 0-0-0-0 | 117 | 6 |
| 7 | NEST | 4-F | 0-0-0-0 | 110 | 7 |
| 8 | ELITE POWER | 5-H | 0-0-0-0 | 71 | 8 |
| 9 | CLAIRIERE | 5-F | 0-0-0-0 | 59 | 9 |
| 10 | QUEEN GODDESS | 5-M | 1-1-0-0 | 57 | 11 |
Other Horses Receiving Votes: Gunite (48), Goodnight Olive (37), Charge It (30), Newgrange-1 (28), Ivar (27), Fun To Dream (25), Arabian Knight (23), Stilleto Boy (21), Proxy (21), In Italian (21), War Like Goddess (19), Repo Rocks (16), Modern Games-1 (14), Pauline’s Pearl (11), Sibelius (8), A Mo Reay (8), Endorsed (6), Ginobili (6), Interstatedaydream (6), Red Knight (5), Personal Best (5), Hopkins (4), Emmanuel (4), Instant Coffee (3), Forte (3), Victory Formation (2), Secret Oath (2), Havnameltdown (1), Wonder Wheel (1), Forbidden Kingdom (1), Cairo Consort (1), Hopper (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.
Click here to see the full results and votes by voter.
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