The Week 5 results from the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll have been released and a particular ‘Dragon’ is still breathing fire at the top the list.

Even though Pepsi North America Cup winner Fear The Dragon was handed his first defeat of the season last weekend at Pocono Downs, the Brian Brown pupil has retained the top spot on the poll.

Fear The Dragon has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favourite for this weekend’s $500,000 Max Hempt, which is part of Mohegan Sun’s stakes-laden Sun Stakes Saturday card at Pocono Downs. To view all of the stakes fields for Saturday at Pocono, click here.

The results from Week 5 of the poll appear below.

(Rank – Horse [first-place votes] – Total Points – Previous)
1 – Fear The Dragon (17) – 309 – 1
2 – Lady Shadow (11) – 284 – 2
3 – Ariana G (4) – 258 – 5
4 – Hannelore Hanover (1) – 242 – 3
5 – Downbythseaside (2) – 227 – 6
6 – Huntsville – 177 – 4
7 – Resolve – 112 – 8
8 – Crazy Wow – 101 – 7
9 – International Moni – 36 – 9
10 – Mel Mara – 28 – N/A

Also: Keystone Velocity (26); Somewhere In LA (24); Dr J Hanover (19); Bit Of A Legend N (14); Mossdale Conner N (13); Barn Bella, Long Tom (10); Marion Marauder (9); Tequila Monday (7); Devious Man (5); Bettors Up (4); McWicked (3); Western Fame (2); All Bets Off, Charmed Life, Magic Presto, Missile J, Nirvana Seelster (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.