New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Shared Belief was unable to complete
Saturday’s Charles Town Classic, but he continues to lead the NTRA National
Thoroughbred Poll for races through April 19.
Shared Belief, sent off as the 1-5 favorite, encountered problems Saturday in
the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic when he was pulled up along the
backstretch by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.
“When I got to the horse, I saw a little soft tissue swelling in the right
stifle,” said West Virginia State Veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Daniel after the
race. “We gather it’s something that happened leaving the starting gate. He
didn’t appear to be traveling well from the time he left the gate.”
Co-owned and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Shared Belief, who had been the
unanimous first-place selection. still received 27 top votes and 365 points to
maintain the lead in the voting.
Reigning Horse of the Year California Chrome is continues in second-place
with five first-place votes and 336 points. The 4-year-old colt is in England
where he will make his next start.
Honor Code moves up one spot into third with 220 points followed by Main
Sequence (216), Constitution (3, 193), American Pharoah (3, 160), Dortmund (2,
143), Lea (115), Charles Town Classic winner Moreno (102) and Bayern (1, 97).
The NTRA 3-Year-Old Poll is basically unchanged heading into next week’s 141st
Kentucky Derby on May 2.
Arkansas Derby winner American Pharoah picked up 22 first-place votes and 396
points. His stablemate Dortmund, who is also trained by Bob Baffert, received
18 top votes and 393 points.
Blue Grass Stakes winner Carpe Diem, Louisiana Derby winner International
Star and Florida Derby champ Materiality all kept their positions to round out
the first five spots in the poll. Carpe Diem and International Star each
received one top vote for 328 and 240 points, respectively. Materiality gained
215 points.
The top 10 is completed by Wood Memorial champ Frosted (212), Sunland Derby
champ Firing Line (197), Upstart (129), Far Right (58) and El Kabeir (40).
