Cox horses sweep top spots in first NTRA polls of the season

Last month, Brad Cox earned his first Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer as a result of his barn’s superior exploits during the 2020 season. The Louisville native looks primed to continue that stellar run this year as his trainees Knicks Go and reigning juvenile male champion Essential Quality rank as the top vote getters in the first editions of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll and NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll, respectively, for 2021.

Knicks Go captured the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in track-record setting fashion last November to cap off his 2020 campaign. The 5-year-old son of Paynter further signaled his presence as a leader in the handicap division when he began 2021 with a triumph in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) on Jan. 23, an effort that helped earn him 27 first-place votes and 341 total points.

Knicks Go is slated to be among the favorites for Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup where he is set to face fellow Grade 1 winner Charlatan, who notched 4 first-place votes and 250 points to rank second on the year’s first Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Godolphin’s unbeaten homebred Maxfield, winner of the Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds on Feb. 13, ranks third with 1 first-place vote and 232 points while champion distaffer Monomoy Girl (3 first-place votes, 223 points) sits fourth.

Colonel Liam, who captured the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) Invitational Stakes on Jan. 23, is fifth with 146 points followed by champion filly Swiss Skydiver (124 points), Jesus’ Team (102), and champion female sprinter Gamine (72).

Channel Maker, the champion turf male of 2020, is ninth with 56 points while champion male sprinter Whitmore (55 points) rounds out the top ten.

Top Thoroughbred poll:

Other horses receiving votes: EXPRESS TRAIN (31), INDEPENDENCE HALL (30), HAPPY SAVER (29), PERFORMER (22), ESSENTIAL QUALITY (17), LARGENT (14), LEINSTER (13), MASTEROFFOXHOUNDS (12), LETRUSKA (11), MISCHEVIOUS ALEX (10), TACITUS (9), TITLE READY (9), SLEEPY EYES TODD (8), MIDNIGHT BISOU (7), MERNEITH (7), CODE OF HONOR (6), LIFE IS GOOD (6), BY MY STANDARDS (6), MYSTIC GUIDE (5), SILVER STATE (5), MR. MONEY (5), TIDE OF THE SEA (4), RIDE A COMET (4), VEKOMA (4), MR. BUFF (4), SHEDARESTHEDEVIL (4), OWENDALE (4), PACIFIC GALE (4), GREATEST HONOUR (4), GLOBAL CAMPAIGN (3), WILDMAN JACK (3), LOGICAL MYTH (3), AUNT PEARL (3), BOLDOR (2), MANDALOUN (2), CONCERT TOUR (2), GOLDEN PAL (2), PETE’S PLAY CALL (2), MAX PLAYER (1), VEQUIST (1), SPOOKY CHANNEL (1), NO PAROLE (1), HEMBREE (1), GOT STORMY (1), DOMESTIC SPENDING (1), MUCHO UNUSUAL (1)

Godolphin homebred Essential Quality went unbeaten in three starts during his 2-year-old campaign, including victories in the Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Fittingly, the son of Tapit heads up the year’s first Top 3-Year-Old Poll with 24 first-place votes and 325 points.

The Bob Baffert-trained Life Is Good ranks second with 5 first-place votes and 272 points while Mandaloun, winner of the Risen Star Stakes (G2) this past weekend, is third with 4 first-place votes and 212 points.

Holy Bull Stakes winner Greatest Honour (1 first-place vote, 204 points) sits fourth with Medina Spirit (176 points) in fifth. Caddo River (1 first-place vote, 137 points) ranks sixth followed by Concert Tour (85 points), Keepmeinmind (84), and Jackie’s Warrior (66). Risk Taking (63 points) completes the top ten.

Top 3-year-old poll

Other horses receiving votes: FIRE AT WILL (39), PREVALENCE (34), PROXY (32), CANDY MAN ROCKET (28), HOT ROD CHARLIE (27), ROMBAUER (22), MIDNIGHT BOURBON (21), HIGHLY MOTIVATED (20), VEQUIST (13), GREATEST HONOR (8), GOLDEN PAL (7), ROMAN CENTURIAN (7), BROOKLYN STRONG (7), TEN FOR TEN (6), DREAM SHAKE (6), RUN A RISK (4), FREEDOM FIGHTER (4), THE GREAT ONE (3), GET HER NUMBER (2), SPIELBERG (2), PREVALANCE (2), PRIME FACTOR (2), SENOR BUSCADOR (2), HELLO HOT ROD (1), MUTASAABEQ (1), DRAIN THE CLOCK (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 3-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll concludes following the Belmont Stakes on June 5 and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through Nov. 6.