The sixth installment of the 2018 Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll has been released, and, ho hum, Hannelore Hanover is at it again.
The Ron Burke-trained and Yannick Gingras-driven Hannelore Hanover – who has been atop the poll all year – remains in the top spot after Week 6 polling. She attracted a whopping 34 first-place votes and garnered 349 overall points. The six-year-old daughter of Swan For All is undefeated this year after five starts, the most recent of which was an authoritative win in an uber-sharp 1:50.3 over the Meadowlands Racetrack this past Friday.
The results from Week 6 of the poll appear below.
(Rank – Horse [first-place votes] – Total Points – Previous)
1 – Hannelore Hanover (34) – 349 – 1
2 – Shartin N – 265 – 3
3 – Lather Up – 243 – 2
4 – Atlanta – 232 – 5
5 – McWicked (1) – 159 – N/A
6 – Manchego – 153 – 4
7 – Wolfgang – 94 – 7
8 – Kissin In The Sand – 77 – N/A
9 – Filibuster Hanover – 55 – 6
10 – Marion Marauder – 54 – N/A
Also: Bit Of A Legend N (44); Crystal Fashion (31); Keystone Velocity (23); Jimmy Freight (21); Six Pack, Will Take Charge (20); Shower Play (18); Ariana G (11), Courtly Choice, Rockin Ron (10); Homicide Hunter, Springsteen (9); Mission Accepted (6); Katkin American, Nutcracker Sweet, Split The House (2); American History, Emoticon Hanover, Fox Valley Gemini, Sintra, Stay Hungry, Youaremycandygirl (1).
The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll is voted on by harness racing media representatives that cover North American Standardbred racing.
The rankings are based on the votes of harness racing media representatives on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll does not determine Horse of the Year. The U.S. Harness Writers Association votes in December on all Dan Patch Award division winners plus Trotter of the Year, Pacer of the Year and Horse of the Year. The Dan Patch Awards are separate from the O'Brien Awards, which recognize Canada's top Standardbreds of a given racing season.