Mystic Guide is still atop NTRA poll; Essential Quality moves up
Four-year-old Mystic Guide, winner of the Dubai World Cup (G1), remains the top horse in the latest national Thoroughbred poll from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Mystic Guide, a 4-year-old son of Ghostzapper trained by Mike Stidham, received 26 first-place votes and 325 points. On Sunday the Godolphin homebred breezed five furlongs at Fair Hill, Md., in 1:00.2.
Silver State stayed in second place. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the 4-year-old is unbeaten in four starts this year, which includes the June 5 Met Mile (G1) at Belmont Park.
Silver State had one first-place vote and 228 points. Just three points back in third place was 5-year-old mare Letruska (225 points), who won Belmont’s Ogden Phipps (G1) for trainer Fausto Gutierrez.
Domestic Spending, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Chad Brown, retained fourth place and is the only turf horse in the top 10. Winner of the Manhattan Stakes (G1) at Belmont, Domestic Spending had five first-place votes and 218 points.
Godophin’s Essential Quality, who last week finished first in the final NTRA top 3-year-old poll of 2021 following his Belmont Stakes victory, moved from ninth to fifth place. Trained by Brad Cox, Essential Quality had two first-place votes and 181 points.
Four-year-old Charlatan (143 points), runner-up in the Saudi Cup (G1) for trainer Bob Baffert, dropped from fifth to sixth place.
Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, was the third Godolphin runner in the top 10. The 4-year-old winner of the Alysheba (G2) was in seventh place with one first-place vote and 133 points.
The 4-year-old Gamine (121 points), last year’s champion female sprinter, also trained by Baffert, remained in eighth place.
Six-year-old Monomoy Girl, the 2020 older dirt female Eclipse Award winner, dropped from seventh to ninth place with 99 points. Knicks Go (34 points), winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), remained in 10th place.
For NTRA top Thoroughbred polls, eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses each week with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Voting in the top Thoroughbred poll is scheduled to be conducted through Nov. 6.
| HORSE | A-S | STATS | POINTS | PVS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MYSTIC GUIDE (26) | 4-C | 2-2-0-0 | 325 | 1 |
| 2 | SILVER STATE (1) | 4-C | 4-4-0-0 | 228 | 2 |
| 3 | LETRUSKA | 5-M | 4-3-1-0 | 225 | 3 |
| 4 | DOMESTIC SPENDING (5) | 4-G | 2-2-0-0 | 213 | 4 |
| 5 | ESSENTIAL QUALITY (2) | 3-C | 4-3-0-0 | 181 | 9 |
| 6 | CHARLATAN | 4-C | 1-0-1-0 | 143 | 5 |
| 7 | MAXFIELD (1) | 4-C | 3-2-0-1 | 133 | 6 |
| 8 | GAMINE | 4-F | 2-2-0-0 | 103 | 8 |
| 9 | MONOMOY GIRL | 6-M | 2-1-1-0 | 99 | 7 |
| 10 | KNICKS GO | 5-H | 3-1-0-0 | 34 | 10 |