There was virtually no change in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Top Thoroughbred Poll this week.
Wise Dan remained the leader, and the identities of the next nine also remained the same.
The only changes were a pair of position swaps. Bayern took over fifth from Game On Dude, who dropped to sixth; and Wicked Strong supplanted Moreno at eighth.
Perhaps notably, what the top two, Wise Dan and California Chrome, have done lately to move up is the same: nothing at all. California Chrome hasn’t raced since his fourth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes on June 7, and Wise Dan hasn’t run since winning the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on May 3. Additionally, Close Hatches, the filly who is in fourth position, also hasn’t raced since winning on Belmont day.
Palace Malice, who is in third, is the only one of the top four to have started more recently than Belmont day. His lone subsequent start, in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga on August 2, was a disappointing sixth place finish.
Half the top 10 are three-year-olds, and two — Close Hatches and Untapable — are females.
NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
- Wise Dan
- California Chrome
- Palace Malice
- Close Hatches
- Bayern
- Game on Dude
- Shared Belief
- Wicked Strong
- Moreno
- Untapable
Note: The Racing Biz writers Nick Hahn and Frank Vespe are voters in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll.
