Twin B Joe Fresh Holds Top Spot In Standardbred Poll
Nothing changed at the top of the Week 6 Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll released on Tuesday, July 23, but there were three newcomers at the bottom of the Top 10.
Twin B Joe Fresh, who was idle, remained No. 1 for the second week in a row. Spots eight, nine and 10 had Elista Hanover, Sylvia Hanover and Papi Grad move in while Winners Bet, T C I and Highland Kismet dropped out.
Elista Hanover extended her win streak to nine with a victory in a division of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes while Sylvia Hanover won the Clara Barton and Papi Grad captured a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes division.
Nijinsky, who won an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Mid-Season Final, took over the No. 2 spot in a swap of positions with idle Legendary Hanover. Its A Love Thing, another OSS Gold Mid-Season winner, remained fourth while idle Jiggy Jog S rounded out the top five.
The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, which will be released every Tuesday through the remainder of the Grand Circuit season, does not determine U.S. Horse of the Year. The members of the U.S. Harness Writers Association vote on all Dan Patch Award division winners plus Trotter of the Year, Pacer of the Year and Horse of the Year.
Rankings based on the votes of harness racing media representatives on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll: Week 6 – July 23, 2024
| Rank | Name (First Votes) | A/S/G | Record | Earnings (USD) | Points | Pvs |
| 1 | Twin B Joe Fresh (20) | 4mp | 6-5-1-0 | $300,612 | 318 | 1 |
| 2 | Nijinsky (10) | 3cp | 8-7-1-0 | $689,280 | 293 | 3 |
| 3 | Legendary Hanover (4) | 3cp | 7-4-2-0 | $407,845 | 281 | 2 |
| 4 | Its A Love Thing | 3fp | 7-5-2-0 | $371,074 | 216 | 4 |
| 5 | Jiggy Jog S (1) | 5mt | 2-2-0-0 | $126,648 | 183 | 5 |
| 6 | Karl | 3ct | 5-4-0-1 | $182,839 | 181 | 6 |
| 7 | Abuckabett Hanover | 6hp | 5-3-0-1 | $295,987 | 133 | 7 |
| 8 | Elista Hanover | 3ft | 10-9-0-1 | $173,770 | 45 | — |
| 9 | Sylvia Hanover | 4mp | 7-1-4-1 | $157,627 | 31 | — |
| 10 | Papi Grad | 2fp | 3-3-0-0 | $75,407 | 30 | — |
ALSO: Winners Bet 28; Highland Kismet 23; T C I 20; Voukefalas 18; Tactical Mounds 17; Southwind Tyrion 13; Hellabalou 12; Chapercraz, Sig Sauer 11; Sir Pinocchio 10; French Champagne, Its Academic 8; Cowgirl Hanover 7; Captains Quarters 6; Coaches Corner 5; Captain Albano, M Ms Dream, Situationship 4; Call Me Goo 3; My Girl EJ, Shark Week 1.
(USTA)
A first-place vote for Jiggy Jog??!! You must be kidding!!
Who on earth cast a first-place vote for Jiggy Jog, a horse that has only raced twice this year??? At the rate that she's going, she'll race a total of 4 times in 2024. If that turns out to be the case, will you also vote for her as HOTY??? Even National Treasure, the top THOROUGHBRED of 2024, has made more starts this year than Jiggy Jog has.
Every horse in the Top Ten is very lightly-raced. We're nearly 7 months into the year and only one horse, Elista Hanover, has raced more than 8 times.