Stellar Wind broke her maiden at Laurel Park. Photo by Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club.
The brand-new Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred Poll, released today, looks a lot like the June version.
And once again, the horses atop the Older Horses and Three-Year-Old polls are Grade 1 winners Dame Dorothy and Stellar Wind, respectively. And both were the voters’ unanimous selections.
Among older horses, there were two newcomers to the top five. They replaced Long On Value and Green Gratto.
In fourth place is Favorite Tale, the four-year-old Pennsylvania-bred Tale of the Cat gelding. He took the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Stakes on July 5 for his first win of the season. Among his vanquished rivals that day was 2014 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion Work All Week. The win, the sixth of his career, gave him $551,626 in career earnings. Bred by Paul Conaway, Favorite Tale is owned by PJG Stable and trained by Guadalupe Preciado.
Venerable Maryland-bred Delaunay checked in in fifth place. The eight-year-old Smoke Glacken gelding, bred by Fitzhugh LLC, caught voters’ eyes by winning the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap by more than five lengths in late June. The win, Delaunay’s second of the season in five starts and 19th overall, pushed his career earnings to $1,202,071.
There was some shuffling of the order among three-year-olds — Granny’s Kitten moved from fifth to third — but the list otherwise remained intact.
No members of either top five are in action this weekend.
Pennsylvania-breds dominated the two lists, taking seven of the 10 spots, including the top three among older horses. One horse was bred in each of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Six of the top 10 are females, and four are males.
The list is restricted to horses that have run in 2015 and were bred in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and the Carolinas.
[su_box title=”TOP MIDLANTIC-BREDS” style=”glass”]TOP MIDLANTIC-BRED OLDER HORSES- Dame Dorothy (40) — Pennsylvania
- Page McKenney (29) — Pennsylvania
- Kitten’s Point (19) — Pennsylvania
- Favorite Tale (18) — Pennsylvania
- Delauany (7) — Maryland
Others receiving votes: Green Gratto, Valid, Awesome Flower, Power of Snunner
TOP MIDLANTIC-BRED THREE-YEAR-OLDS
- Stellar Wind (40) — Virginia
- Mr. Owen (25)– Pennsylvania
- Granny’s Kitten (14) — Pennsylvania
- Get the Sensation (13) — West Virginia
- She’s a Big Winner (10) — Pennsylvania
Others receiving votes: Saham, C R S Angel, Bridget’s Big Luvy, Nasa, Capar Girl, Noteworthy Peach, Charitable Annuity [/su_box]
Participating Voters: Ted Black (freelance writer), Michael Campbell (Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association of New Jersey), Cindy Deubler (Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred), Linda Dougherty (freelance), Debbie Easter (Virginia Thoroughbred Association), Anne Frederick (Maryland Horse Breeders Association), Cricket Goodall (Maryland Horse Breeders Association), Jim Hague (freelance), Nick Hahn (freelance), Carol Holden (West Virginia Breeders Classics), Jeff Nations (freelance), Kate Painter (West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association), Vinnie Perrone (freelance), Frank Petramalo (Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association), David Richardson (Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association), Brian Sanfratello (Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association), John Scheinman (freelance), Dan Tordjman (freelance), Frank Vespe (The Racing Biz), Bill Watson (freelance), Lydia Williams (freelance), Bobby Zen (freelance).
Note — Not all participating voters will vote in every poll.
