Twin B Joe Fresh topped the Week 7 edition of the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll released on Tuesday, July 30 while Hambletonian Stakes elimination winners Karl and T C I made gains ahead of their meeting in Saturday’s $1.05 million USD final at The Meadowlands.
The top three horses in the poll — Twin B Joe Fresh, Nijinsky and Legendary Hanover — were idle and held their spots. Karl moved from sixth to fourth in the rankings while T C I rejoined the Top 10, at No. 9, after dropping out a week ago.
The only horse in addition to Karl in action from last week’s Top 10 was Elista Hanover, who won her Hambletonian Oaks elimination and moved from eighth to seventh.
Winners Bet, who won the Four & Five-Year-Old Open Trot at The Meadowlands, also rejoined the Top 10 after a week away. He was ranked No. 10.
Sylvia Hanover and Papi Grad dropped out of the Top 10.
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 30, 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 | 281 | 2 |
| 3 | Legendary Hanover (4) | 3cp | 7-4-2-0 | $427,555 | 259 | 3 |
| 4 | Karl (1) | 3ct | 6-5-0-1 | $232,839 | 236 | 6 |
| 5 | Its A Love Thing | 3fp | 7-5-2-0 | $371,074 | 197 | 4 |
| 6 | Jiggy Jog S | 5mt | 2-2-0-0 | $126,648 | 132 | 5 |
| 7 | Elista Hanover (1) | 3ft | 11-10-0-1 | $198,770 | 119 | 8 |
| 8 | Abuckabett Hanover | 6hp | 5-3-0-1 | $295,987 | 109 | 7 |
| 9 | T C I | 3ct | 6-4-0-1 | $179,637 | 68 | — |
| 10 | Winners Bet | 4ht | 5-4-0-0 | $179,250 | 32 | — |
ALSO: Papi Grad 29; Sylvia Hanover 25; My Girl EJ 24; Captain Albano 23; Tactical Mounds 11; Highland Kismet, Southwind Tyrion 10; Hellabalou, Sir Pinocchio 7; Voukefalas 6; Coaches Corner, M Ms Dream 5; French Champagne 3; Call Me Goo, Chantilly 2; Chapercraz, Cowgirl Hanover, It’s Academic, Shark Week, Tipsy Moni 1.
(With files from USTA)
Jiggy Jog and Shark Week
I'm happy to see that whoever has been giving Jiggy Jog, a horse that has only raced twice since last November, a first-place vote each week voted for someone else this week. I'm also happy to see that after winning in probably the most dominating performance of his entire career on Saturday, Shark Week received a well-earned and long overdue vote. If you missed the race, watch the replay.