The Week 17 results from the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll have been released, and Fear The Dragon still sits atop the chart, but he is only 11 points ahead of Ariana G.
Fear The Dragon has won 10 of his 12 starts this season and has never finished worse than second. His biggest wins have come in the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup, the $500,000 Hempt and the $400,000 Adios. Fear The Dragon has paced to more than $1.1 million in purses this season and lowered his mark to 1:48.4 in winning the NA Cup at Mohawk Racetrack.
The results from Week 17 of the poll appear below.
(Rank – Horse [first-place votes] – Total Points – Previous)
1 – Fear The Dragon (22) – 327 – 1
2 – Ariana G (8) – 316 – 2
3 – Downbytheseaside (4) – 270 – 3
4 – Hannelore Hanover – 233 – 4
5 – Manchego (1) – 136 – 7
6 – Resolve – 134 – 5
7 – Blazin Britches – 116 – 10
8 – Huntsville – 106 – 6
9 – Agent Q – 61 – 8
10 – Marion Marauder – 44 – 9
Also: What The Hill (34); Walner (27); Alarm Detector, Devious Man (15); Sintra (14); Bit Of A Legend N (12); Pure Country (11); Blue Moon Stride (8); Celebrity Ruth, Keystone Velocity, Rainbow Room (7); Crazy Wow, Lady Shadow (5); Boogie Shuffle (3); Emoticon Hanover, Nike Franco N, Stay Hungry (2); Carmensdaleyapple, International Moni, Mach It So, McWicked, Pedro Hanover, Two AM (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.