I think most people, if asked, would say that the 1973 Thoroughbred Race of the Year was the Belmont Stakes. Secretariat’s spectacular 31-length victory made the 1973 Belmont one of the most famous races of all time. Many consider that performance by Secretariat to be the greatest by a racehorse ever seen on U.S. soil.

However, I have seen it stated in print that the 1973 Thoroughbred Race of the Year was not the Belmont Stakes, but rather the Marlboro Cup.

The first Marlboro Cup was proclaimed the 1973 Thoroughbred Race of the Year right there on the front page of the official program for the Sept. 15 card that year at Belmont Park.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of that inaugural Marlboro Cup in 1973.

I was not at Belmont for the first Marlboro Cup. I watched the CBS telecast of the race at my parents’ home in Spokane, Wash. I had just begun my freshman year of college in nearby Cheney at Eastern Washington University, where I majored in journalism and was the sports editor of the college newspaper. In 1973, I was still living with my parents and making about a 20-minute commute to school in my first car, a 1963 Ford Galaxy.

Years later, a friend gave me a pristine Marlboro Cup program. That’s why I know what it says on the front of it.

In 1993, two decades after Secretariat won the Marlboro Cup, I was working as a television commentator at the Santa Anita walking ring for its simulcast program. One afternoon between races during that 1993 Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet, I interviewed Penny Chenery, who as Meadow Stable bred and raced Secretariat.

Knowing that I would be interviewing Chenery, I took my Marlboro Cup program and my copy of William Nack’s terrific book, “Secretariat: The Making of a Champion,” to Santa Anita that day. Chenery kindly autographed both. She signed both the program and book as Penny Tweedy, which was her name when Secretariat was winning so many major races in 1972 and 1973.

On the page in my program showing the seventh race, the Marlboro Cup, Chenery wrote:

“To Jon - a real fan

“Penny Tweedy”

She underlined the word “real.”

Prior to the 1973 Marlboro Cup, Secretariat had become the toast of Thoroughbred racing. With his tour de force in the Belmont Stakes, he completed the first Triple Crown sweep in 25 years. His final time of 2:24 in the Belmont obliterated Gallant Man’s track record by 2 3/5 seconds.

To this day, no horse has won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in faster time than Secretariat.

If Secretariat had been defeated in the Marlboro Cup, it would have provided a lot of ammunition to his critics. A Marlboro Cup loss would have meant that 3-year-old Secretariat had lost both starts against his elders to that point after he previously had been upset by 4-year-old Onion in Saratoga’s Whitney Stakes.

Well, Secretariat not only won the Marlboro Cup, he trounced his opponents.

The 1973 Marlboro Cup originally was supposed to have been a match race between 3-year-old Secretariat and 4-year-old stablemate Riva Ridge. Lucien Laurin trained both Meadow Stable colts. Philip Morris executive and horse racing fan Jack Landry had come up with idea of the match race.

But the proposed match race lost much of its appeal after Secretariat was upset as a 1-10 favorite in Saratoga’s Whitney and Riva Ridge similarly was upset as a 1-2 favorite in a Saratoga allowance contest on the grass.

The match race between Secretariat and Riva Ridge was changed to an invitational handicap open to other horses. Named the Marlboro Cup, it attracted probably the finest group of horses assembled for any race in the nation that year.

The seven runners in the Marlboro Cup went into the 1 1/8-mile event having won a combined 63 stakes races. But it was Secretariat who, unquestionably, had earned top billing in the Marlboro Cup. In addition to his Triple Crown sweep earlier in 1973, the Bold Ruler colt had become the first Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old Horse of the Year in 1972.

Riva Ridge brought his own excellent credentials to the first Marlboro Cup. He was voted a 1971 Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male. His 3-year-old campaign in 1972 was highlighted by victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Among those opposing the Meadow Stable duo in the Marlboro Cup were two 1972 Eclipse Award winners in Cougar II and Key to the Mint, plus Kennedy Road, a multiple Sovereign Award winner in Canada.

Onion went into the Marlboro Cup off his shocking victory over Secretariat in the Whitney. Completing the Marlboro Cup lineup was Annihilate ’Em, winner of that year’s Grade I Travers Stakes.

After Secretariat’s defeat in the Whitney, he missed much training due to illness. In the book “Secretariat: The Making of a Champion,” Nack wrote that after the Aug. 4 Whitney, Secretariat was “in and out of training” for the rest of August.

There was serious doubt that Secretariat could ready for the Marlboro Cup on Sept. 15.

The way Whitney Tower put it in Sports Illustrated, “During the weeks in which Secretariat was trying to recover in time for the Marlboro Cup, Laurin was forced to play catch-up as his critics peered skeptically over his shoulder.”

In Nack’s book, he wrote that “Laurin worked Secretariat seven-eighths in 1:24 4/5, an unsatisfactory work at Belmont Park on Sept. 3, and then sent him a mile in 1:37 four days later, still unsatisfactory. Riva Ridge was training more sharply for the Marlboro Cup, and for a while it seemed that Secretariat wouldn’t make it. His last major drill was scheduled for Sept. 12, the Wednesday before the Saturday of the race. There, Laurin put the zinger in him, the sharpener on which he always thrived. With [jockey Ron] Turcotte aboard, the colt worked five-eighths in :57, one of the fastest workouts in New York all year, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:08 4/5, just a fifth of a second off the track record for that distance.”

Nack noted that it was encouraging that after such a blazing workout, Secretariat returned dancing to the barn.

“I think he’s back,” Laurin said.

When I interviewed Turcotte years later, one of the races I asked him about was the 1973 Marlboro Cup.

“After coming out of the Whitney with a fever, it took the rest of the month for Secretariat to recuperate,” Turcotte told me. “With only about 14 days to go before the Marlboro Cup, Lucien put him in hard training. Secretariat then beat the best horses they could find to run against him and he broke a world record.”

You can watch the 1973 Marlboro Cup on YouTube (Chic Anderson has the call): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMZvNfg6py4

In the first Marlboro Cup, Riva Ridge and Onion dueled for the early lead, while Secretariat was content to sit in fifth early. A little more than midway on the far turn, Onion began dropping back, while Secretariat moved up to challenge Riva Ridge.

Turning for home, Secretariat and Riva Ridge, both racing under the Meadow Stable blue and white blocks, now were battling for the lead while having drawn well clear of the others.

It turned out that the Marlboro Cup, which originally was to have been a match race between Secretariat and Riva Ridge, pretty much did become a match race between these two in the final quarter of a mile.

Secretariat put away Riva Ridge in upper stretch to pass the eighth pole with a two-length lead. Riva Ridge at that point was six lengths in front of Cougar II in third.

In the final furlong, Secretariat powered home to prevail by 3 1/2 lengths. Riva Ridge, in what was one of the better performances of his career, finished second, two lengths clear of Cougar II in third. Onion ended up fourth, followed in order by Annihilate ’Em, Kennedy Road and Key to the Mint.

“I loved Riva, but I knew in my heart he couldn’t outrun Secretariat,’ Chenery recalled when I talked to her in 1993. “I really just wanted them to run one-two and was thrilled that they did. I was very proud of Riva that he finished second to Secretariat.”

The 1973 Marlboro Cup “was a remarkable performance by a colt who was considered, by even his own people, to be at least a week away from peak form, and by legions of rival horsemen as possibly overrated,” Tower wrote in Sports Illustrated. “The 3-year-old beat the best older horses under true handicap conditions, and the new believers fell obediently into line.

“Secretariat’s achievement is astonishing because quite a few horsemen thought him to be subpar following his bout with the flu, an illness that still has some people confused. Trainer Lucien Laurin maintained that Secretariat’s temperature developed two days after the Whitney, which was reason enough to scratch him from the Travers two weeks later. Owner Penny Tweedy, however, confessed that Secretariat had run a temperature on and off for a week before the Whitney. Taking the owner’s word for it, the champ should have never been allowed to go out and get beaten by Onion.”

One morning years later at Santa Anita, I asked Charlie Whittingham, the trainer of Cougar II and Kennedy Road, about the 1973 Marlboro Cup.

“Going into that race, I was confident that Cougar was going to win it,” Whittingham told me. “Secretariat had been beaten by Onion. Cougar was really training good. I thought Cougar, being such a good older horse running against Secretariat, a 3-year-old, would beat Secretariat. Cougar ran good, just not good enough.”

As you can see on the YouTube video, Cougar II came home full of run, though he was unable to catch Riva Ridge for second, let alone Secretariat.

Defeating so many quality older runners in the Marlboro Cup certainly did more for Secretariat’s standing among the all-time greats than if he had beaten only Riva Ridge in a match race as originally planned.

The Marlboro Cup was sweet revenge for Secretariat after his defeat by Onion in the Whitney. When Onion won the 1 1/8-mile Whitney, his final time had been 1:49 1/5. Secretariat finished one length behind Onion.

When Secretariat won the 1 1/8-mile Marlboro Cup, he posted a final time of 1:45 2/5. Look at how much faster that clocking was than Onion’s in the Whitney. Onion finished 12 lengths behind Secretariat in the Marlboro Cup.

Secretariat’s 1:45 2/5 final time in the Marlboro Cup broke Pink Pigeon’s world record that had been set on Santa Anita’s turf course in 1969 by four-fifths of a second.

I don’t think Secretariat’s Marlboro Cup gets brought up as often as it should when discussing his career. Perhaps one reason for that is there no longer is a Marlboro Cup. There hasn’t been a Marlboro Cup for a long time now. It was run for the last time in 1987.

Four of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all time were Marlboro Cup winners. Following Secretariat, it was won by Forego in 1976, Seattle Slew in 1978 and Spectacular Bid in 1980.

Secretariat is No. 2 (below only Man o’ War), Spectacular Bid is No. 5, Seattle Slew is No. 8 and Forego is No. 14 on my list of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th and 21st Centuries to have won in North America.

During the time the Marlboro Cup was part of the racing landscape, these winners were voted an Eclipse Award that same year:

1973 Secretariat (champion 3-year-old male, champion grass horse, Horse of the Year)

1975 Wajima (champion 3-year-old male)

1976 Forego (champion older male, Horse of the Year)

1978 Seattle Slew (champion older male)

1979 Spectacular Bid (champion 3-year-old male)

1982 Lemhi Gold (champion older male)

1984 Slew o’ Gold (champion older male)

1986 Turkoman (champion older male)

What a pity that the Marlboro Cup, with its impressive honor roll of past winners, was discontinued after 1987.

SECRETARIAT’S LAST-KNOWN DAUGHTER DIES

Trusted Company, the last-known daughter of Secretariat, has died at the age of 34 at Bright Futures Farm in Pennsylvania, the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Maggie Menderski reported Monday (Sept. 11).

The mare’s passing was first revealed Sunday by Patricia McQueen on Facebook. McQueen is an author/journalist who has been tracking Secretariat’s offspring for decades.

Trusted Company was the result of Star Snoop, a daughter of 1968 Belmont Stakes winner Stage Door Johnny, being bred to Secretariat.

According to Equibase, Trusted Company made just one start. She finished 10th in a maiden special weight race in Alabama at Birmingham Race Course on July 28, 1993.

The sole known survivor of Secretariat now is the 33-year-old male horse Maritime Traveler, who lives in Florida, according to Mendeski’s article.

Maritime Traveler made five starts during his racing career, all at Woodbine in 1992-93. He never finished better than fourth. Martitime Traveler’s maternal grandsire, Northern Dancer, won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 1964. Northern Dancer’s final time of 2:00 in the Run for the Roses set a track record for 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs that stood until Secretariat broke it with a 1:59 2/5 clocking in 1973.

HALL OF FAMER POINT GIVEN “PASSES AWAY PEACEFULLY”

Point Given, the 2001 Horse of the Year, passed away peacefully on Sept. 11 at 25 years old at the Kentucky Horse Park. He had become a resident at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions in 2017. Point Given was the fifth Horse of the Year to reside there, following Forego, John Henry, Alysheba and Cigar.

As I sat in the Santa Anita press box and watched Point Given win the 2001 Santa Anita Derby by 5 1/2 lengths, I really thought that he would go on to become a Triple Crown winner. But there would be no Triple Crown for him as he ran fifth as the 9-5 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, the only time in his 13-race career that he finished worse than second.

Gary Stevens rode Point Given in all of seven his 2001 starts. They collaborated for six wins that year for trainer Bob Baffert.

In Stevens’ book “The Perfect Ride,” he discussed Point Given’s Kentucky Derby.

“We had the extreme outside post in a 17-horse field, and I moved him early so we wouldn’t be trapped in the final furlongs,” he recalled. “A field that big can create one big traffic jam. We were well placed as we approached the far turn, but the acceleration I was used to didn’t happen. The horse didn’t fire. Monarchos went on to win the race in near record-setting time, and Point Given was a beaten fifth.”

Point Given rebounded two weeks later to win the Preakness.

“Bob and I had met with [owner] Prince Ahmed and agreed that Point Given should come from farther off the pace than he had in the Derby,” Stevens said in his book. “I took him back after the break, but I knew we had the race going into the first turn. He was carrying himself with an air of confidence I could feel. I was certain this was the same horse I had won on in earlier races, and in truth he was just towing me. We won easily by 2 1/4 lengths.

“Three weeks later, when we won the Belmont Stakes, it was by 12 1/4 lengths. Point Given ran the race in 2:26 2/5, the fourth fastest Belmont Stakes run in history -- a victory that made his Kentucky Derby loss all the sadder to contemplate.”

Monarchos was no match for Point Given in the Preakness and Belmont. Monarchos finished sixth, 7 1/2 lengths behind Point Given, in the Preakness. In the Belmont, Monarchos finished third, 13 lengths behind Point Given.

Following the Belmont Stakes, Point Given won the Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. His string of victories in the Preakness, Belmont, Haskell and Travers gave Point Given the distinction of becoming the first Thoroughbred to win four straight $1 million races.

Point Given was retired after the Travers due to a strained tendon. Voted 2001 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

“For Bob Baffert, and for me as well, the colt’s retirement was devastating,” Stevens noted in his book. “I know it may sound odd to say so, but I experienced the same feeling I had as a 7-year-old when my mom and dad came home and announced that my grandfather had passed away: an incredible sense of loss. Bob considered that horse the best one he had ever trained; I thought of him as my Secretariat.”

Point Given was a son of Thunder Gulch and the Turkoman mare Turko’s Turn. Thunder Gulch won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in 1995. He was voted a 1995 Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. Turkoman was voted a 1986 Eclipse Award as champion older male. As noted earlier, one of Turkoman’s 1986 victories came in the Marlboro Cup.

After Point Given was retired from racing, he embarked on a stud career in Kentucky, first at Three Chimneys Farm, then at Calumet Farm, before being pensioned at the Kentucky Horse Park. He sired 34 stakes winners, one of them being Sealy Hill, the 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year.

Baffert talked about Point Given’s Kentucky Derby defeat Tuesday on Steve Byk’s Sirius XM radio program At the Races.

How confident was Baffert that Point Given was going to win the Kentucky Derby? The trainer said Tuesday that he thought it was “a slam-dunk.” Baffert couldn’t believe it when Point Given lost.

“And then he wins the Preakness,” Baffert said. “And then in the Belmont, I was watching him come down the stretch -- I remember Hillary and Bill Clinton were there to give the trophy, that was pretty cool -- I was going, ‘Son of a…’ I was still thinking about that Derby, the one that got away.”

Point Given was huge in size.

“He was a handful,” Baffert said. “We called him the ‘Big Red Train.’ He was like a big T-Rex.”

Baffert recalled that Point Given often “would rear straight up in the air. He got loose one time right after the Santa Anita Derby. I remember I was on a plane. I was just getting ready to take off and I get a call from [assistant trainer] Jimmy Barnes. He goes, ‘Bob, I just want to let you know, Point Given, he reared up, the rider fell off and he’s running loose on the track.’ We were taking off and the flight attendant said, ‘Sir, turn off your phone.’ And I said, ‘You don’t understand, I have an emergency. I have loose horse on the track!’ ”

Fortunately, before Baffert’s plane did take off, Barnes called the trainer with the news that Point Given had been caught.

“Point Given was a special horse, loved by all, and a wonderful ambassador for the Kentucky Horse Park,” said Lee Carter, president of the Kentucky Horse Park. “We are saddened by his passing but grateful for the memories created and our time with the ‘Big Red Train.’ ”

Rob Willis, the Hall of Champions supervisor, said that Point Given “was a big stallion that was fun to be around” and “countless visitors enjoyed being in his presence over the years. It was an honor to care for him during his retirement.”

In April of 2001, I visited Baffert’s Santa Anita barn and received the trainer’s permission to have Point Given anatomically measured by veterinarian Vince Baker. I wanted to see how Point Given’s measurements would compare to those of Secretariat, who had been measured by NYRA veterinarian Manuel Gilman in October of 1973. The results are below:

Height: Point Given, 17 hands, 1 inch. Secretariat, 16 hands, 1 inch.

Shoulder to Shoulder: Point Given, 16 1/2 inches. Secretariat, 16 1/4 inches.

Girth: Point Given, 77 1/2 inches. Secretariat, 75 inches.

Withers to Shoulder: Point Given, 28 1/2 inches. Secretariat, 28 1/4 inches.

Elbow to Ground: Point Given, 40 inches. Secretariat, 38 inches.

Shoulder to Hip: Point Given, 50 inches. Secretariat, 47 1/2 inches.

Hip to Hip: Point Given, 27 1/2 inches. Secretariat, 25 1/2 inches.

Hip to Hock: Point Given, 40 1/2 inches. Secretariat, 40 inches.

Hip to Buttock: Point Given, 24 inches. Secretariat, 40 inches.

Poll to Withers: Point Given, 41 1/4 inches. Secretariat, 40 inches.

Buttock to Ground: Point Given, 57 inches. Secretariat, 54 1/2 inches.

Shoulder to Buttock: Point Given, 69 1/4 inches. Secretariat, 68 3/4 inches.

Circumference of Cannon Bone: Point Given, 8 7/8 inches. Secretariat, 8 3/8 inches.

When Point Given ran in the Belmont Stakes, I was visiting my parents in Spokane. As a television commentator at Santa Anita, I was not working because that track’s winter-spring meeting had ended.

Along with my father, I drove to a dog racing track located in Post Falls, Idaho. It was the only place I could bet on Point Given in the Belmont. He was sent away as the 6-5 favorite. I did make a very large wager on him to win.

As Point Given was drawing away through the stretch, I will never forget a fellow at that dog track yelling, “Look at that! Look at Point Given! The only horse that could have ever beaten him today is Secretariat!”

You can watch Point Given’s win in the 2001 Belmont Stakes on YouTube (Tom Durkin has the call).

Point Given ranks No. 15 on my list of the Top 100 Thoroughbreds of the 21st century so far to have won in North America:

1. Flightline
2. American Pharoah*
3. Zenyatta
4. Arrogate
5. Ghostzapper
6. Curlin
7. Rachel Alexandra
8. Justify*
9. Shared Belief
10. California Chrome
11. Tiznow
12. Gun Runner
13. Invasor
14. Wise Dan
15. Point Given
16. Goldikova
17. Beholder
18. Enable
19. Barbaro
20. Smarty Jones
21. Bernardini
22. Azeri
23. Lava Man
24. Bricks and Mortar
25. Rags to Riches
26. Candy Ride
27. Blame
28. Pleasantly Perfect
29. Kona Gold
30. Mineshaft
31. Saint Liam
32. Intercontinental
33. Ouija Board
34. Life Is Good
35. Knicks Go
36. Authentic
37. Tepin
38. Essential Quality
39. Afleet Alex
40. Songbird
41. Monomoy Girl
42. Xtra Heat
43. Game On Dude
44. Mucho Macho Man
45. Empire Maker
46. Congaree
47. Conduit
48. I’ll Have Another
49. Kitten’s Joy
50. Roses in May
51. Blind Luck
52. Havre de Grace
53. Royal Delta
54. Big Brown
55. Lost in the Fog
56. Midnight Bisou
57. Cape Blanco
58. Gio Ponti
59. Lookin At Lucky
60. English Channel
61. Medaglia d’Oro
62. Tiz the Law
63. Midnight Lute
64. Street Sense
65. Discreet Cat
66. Lawyer Ron
67. Nyquist
68. Ashado
69. Monarchos
70. Quality Road
71. Fantastic Light
72. Flintshire
73. High Chaparral
74. Lady Eli
75. Funny Cide
76. Rock Hard Ten
77. Raven’s Pass
78. Maximum Security
79. Frosted
80. Gamine
81. Unique Bella
82. Uncle Mo
83. City of Light
84. Accelerate
85. Mitole
86. Groupie Doll
87. Lemon Drop Kid
88. Runhappy
89. Aptitude
90. Commentator
91. Lido Palace
92. Sightseek
93. Surfside
94. Sistercharlie
95. Fort Larned
96. Street Cry
97. Left Bank
98. Vino Rosso
99. Animal Kingdom
100. Roy H

*Triple Crown winner

IROQUOIS STAKES SELECTIONS

Nine 2-year-olds are entered in Churchill Downs’ Grade III Iroquois Stakes, which will be contested at one mile on Saturday (Sept. 16).

The Iroquois is the first of 37 races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Since its debut in 2013, the Road to the Kentucky Derby is a series of races in which horses accrue points to qualify for a start in the Run for the Roses

The 150th Kentucky Derby will be run on May 4, 2024.

There has been a tweak (a good one, I think) in the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Second-place points in all qualifying races for the 2004 Derby have been increased to create added separation between second- and third-place finishers.

The Iroquois will award 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points to the first five finishers.

Below are my selections for the Iroquois Stakes:

1. Risk It
2. Patriot Spirit
3. Union Roll
4. West Saratoga

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen trains Risk It, who proved a punctual favorite at first asking in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Saratoga on Aug. 19. The Gun Runner colt led past every pole and won by 4 1/2 lengths. His Beyer was moderate, a 79. But I think the $500,000 auction purchase probably is capable of running a much bigger number.

Patriot Spirit comes off a dominant win at Colonial Downs. Competing in a maiden special weight race at seven furlongs on the dirt, he sat just off the early pace and drew away in the stretch to win by six lengths for trainer Michael Campbell. The Constitution colt recorded a 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

Union Roll, trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, registered a 5 1/4-length win in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Monmouth Park on Aug. 13. That’s been the Union Rags colt’s only start so far.

West Saratoga lost his first four races. That’s the bad news. When he then won a one-mile maiden special weight race at Ellis Park by 1 1/4 lengths on Aug. 5, he received an 81 Beyer Speed Figure. That’s the good news. His 81 is the top Beyer in the Iroquois field. Larry Demeritte trains the Exaggerator colt.

LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC RANKINGS

Arcangelo, winner of the Grade I Belmont Stakes and Grade I Travers Stakes, remains in the top spot this week in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Rankings.

On Tuesday (Sept. 12), Arcangelo worked four furlongs in a sharp :47.62 on Saratoga’s main track. It was his first workout since he won the Travers on Aug. 26.

Exercise rider Robert Mallari was aboard Arcangelo for the drill. According to Daily Racing Form’s David Grening, NYRA clockers timed Arcangelo in fractions of :23.80 for the first quarter-mile. The Arrogate ridgling galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.80 and six furlongs in 1:15.00.

Trainer Jena Antonucci has scheduled one more workout for Arcangelo at Saratoga, followed by three workouts at Santa Anita prior to the Grade I, $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at that Southern California venue on Nov. 4.

The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of voters comprised of members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing/Secretaries Panel, international racing and sports media, plus racing analysts.

The rankings will be updated weekly through Oct. 10.

The Top 10 this week’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Rankings is below:

Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)

1. 289 Arcangelo (24)
2. 234 Geaux Rocket Ride
3. 220 Arabian Knight (2)
4. 216 White Abarrio (2)
5. 155 Forte
6. 118 Bright Future
7. 114 Proxy
8. 64 Ushba Tesoro (2)
9. 53 Mage
10. 52 Zandon

TOP 10 IN THIS WEEK’S NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL

Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)

1. 296 Arcangelo (22)
2. 280 Cody’s Wish (8)
3. 219 Elite Power (1)
4. 185 Echo Zulu (2)
5. 177 White Abarrio (2)
6. 156 Gunite
7. 155 Arabian Knight
8. 86 Up to the Mark
9. 80 Geaux Rocket Ride
10. 59 Casa Creed