War of Will supplants Maximum Security at No. 1 in NTRA rankings

Gary Barber’s War of Will has a new bragging right to go along with his classic victory in the Preakness Stakes. The son of War Front earned 16 first-place votes and a total of 322 points to take over the lead position in this week’s National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top 3-Year-Old Poll.

War of Will’s total edged him past Maximum Security by a single point and moves him to top of the standings for the first time this year. The Mark Casse-trained colt is expected to start in the June 8 Belmont Stakes where, according to the latest probables, he would be the only horse to contest all three legs of the Triple Crown this year.

Maximum Security, who crossed the wire first in the Kentucky Derby but was disqualified due to interference, drops to second place in the poll with 14 first-place votes and 321 points. 

Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach remains in third position with 5 first-place votes and 261 points. Country House, who was elevated to first in the Kentucky Derby, is fourth with 225 points with stablemate Tacitus sitting fifth with 196 points. Code of Honor (188 points) is sixth followed by reigning juvenile male champion Game Winner (116) and Longines Kentucky Oaks heroine Serengeti Empress(71 points). Owendale and Grade 1 winner Improbable are tied for ninth with 46 points apiece.

The results of Monday’s Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes yielded some movement in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Race winner Vino Rosso joined the Top 10 in the eighth position with 84 points. 

The No. 1 spot remains unchanged as Chad Brown-trainee Bricks and Mortar continues to dominate with 27 first-place votes and 332 points. Fellow Grade 1 winner McKinzie (5 first-place votes, 260 points) is second with Mitole (180) moving up to third.

Leading distaffer Midnight Bisou remains fourth with 175 points while Gift Box, second in the Gold Cup behind Vino Rosso, dropped two spots to fifth with 170 points. World of Trouble (143 points) is sixth followed by multiple Grade 1 winner Catholic Boy (1 first-place vote, 131 points). Champion Monomoy Girl (71 points) checks into the ninth position behind Vino Rosso while Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (IRE) (1 first-place vote, 67 points) completes the Top 10.

Retired Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational winner City of Light (27 points) received a single first-place vote.

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.

The Top 3-Year-Old Poll concludes June 8 after the Belmont Stakes, while the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes November 4 after the Breeders’ Cup.

The full results for the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll can be found on the NTRA website at: 

 

A full accounting of top 10 votes by voter can be found at: