Palace Malice’s disappointing sixth place finish in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga left voters in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll looking for a new poll leader.
Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.
Wise Dan, the seven-year-old gelding aiming to return to the races following colic surgery, reassumed the top spot in the poll with 24 first place votes and 368 total points. Dual classic winner California Chrome and Palace Malice took the next two spots, followed by the filly Close Hatches.
California Chrome led a three-year-old contingent that took half of the 10 spots. Following him were Haskell winner Bayern, in sixth; Shared Belief (7th), who is undefeated but has made just two starts this year; Jim Dandy and Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong (9th); and the filly Untapable (10th).
Close Hatches, who is undefeated in three starts this year, and Untapable were the only females on the list. Close Hatches has won three graded events this year, including a pair of Grade 1 races; she received one first-place vote on the poll. Untapable had won the first four races of her sophomore campaign before recently running fifth, as the favorite, against males in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.
Moreno, who posted a 10-1 upset of the Whitney, was the poll’s only new entrant this week. It was his first win of the season.
NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
- Wise Dan
- California Chrome
- Palace Malice
- Close Hatches
- Game on Dude
- Bayern
- Shared Belief
- Moreno
- Wicked Strong
- Untapable
Note: The Racing Biz writers Nick Hahn and Frank Vespe are voters in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.
