The dust from the Breeders Crown has settled and there is now a new leader atop the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll.

McWicked’s win this past Saturday night in the $430,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace was one of those ‘no doubt about it’ scores, as the seven-year-old steamrolled over the sport’s top older pacing horses for driver Brian Sears and trainer Casie Coleman.

In turn, the poll’s Week 23 voters have pushed the $3.8-million career winner to the No. 1 spot in the poll. McWicked is owned by Ed James’ SSG Stables of North Boston, New York.

Coleman has announced that James has opted to race McWicked in 2019 instead of retiring the son of McArdle to the breeding shed. For compete information, click here.

Off of a gutsy win in the $270,000 Breeders Crown Mare Pace, the Jim King Jr.-trained and Tim Tetrick-driven Shartin N has been voted into the No. 2 slot after Week 23 polling. The imported Tintin In America bay has now won 18 of her 23 seasonal starts and banked over $1 million in purses since invading the U.S. from Down Under.

Even though she was narrowly defeated by Lily Stride in the $500,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Trot, the Rick Zeron-trained and Scott Zeron-driven Atlanta has rounded out the top three on the poll after Week 23 voting.

The results from Week 23 of the poll appear below.

(Rank – Horse [first-place votes] – Total Points – Previous Rank)
1. McWicked (26) - 340 - 2
2. Shartin N (7) - 306 - 3
3. Atlanta - 243 - 1
4. Woodside Charm (2) -214 - 9
5. Kissin In The Sand - 186 - 4
6. Gimpanzee - 120 – N/A
7. Dorsoduro Hanover - 91 - N/A
8. Six Pack - 85 - 5
9. Courtly Choice - 81 - 6
10. Tactical Landing - 67 – N/A

Also: Homicide Hunter 62; Warrawee Ubeaut 40; Manchego 23; Jimmy Freight, Marion Marauder 12; Crystal Fashion 10; Emoticon Hanover, Lather Up 9; Captain Crunch 7; Plunge Blue Chip, Stay Hungry 3; Lily Stride, Mets Hall 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.