One would have to go all the way back to Week 3 of the 2017 Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll to see a horse other than Fear The Dragon atop the list. Although, that has all changed now. The Week 18 results have been released and a new horse now sits atop the heap.
The Jimmy Takter-trained and Yannick Gingras-driven Ariana G has been voted the No. 1 Standardbred in North America in Week 18 of the poll. The three-year-old bay daughter of Muscle Hill has not seen action since September 16 at Mohawk Racetrack, but her effort that night was herculean, as she raced to a Canadian and stakes record 1:51.4 in the $385,000 final of the Elegantimage Stakes (click here for a complete recap).
From 22 career starts, Ariana G currently sports a record of 18-2-1 and boasts a career mark of 1:51.1, which was taken over the Meadowlands Racetrack. The bay filly has won nine of her seasonal starts to go along with lone second and third-place finishes. She has banked $837,000 of her $1.64-million in career purses this year.
The Brian Brown-trained and David Miller-driven Fear The Dragon was a victim of circumstance this past Thursday at the Delaware County Fair in Ohio. The three-year-old colt tasted victory in the opening heat of the Little Brown Jug, but was hindered by bad cover in the final heat of the half-mile classic. The North America Cup winner still recorded a very respectable fourth-place finish in the Jug final and paced his mile in 1:50.2 (full recap and analysis here).
Fear The Dragon now sits second in the poll, just 12 points behind Ariana G.
The results from Week 18 of the poll appear below.
(Rank – Horse [first-place votes] – Total Points – Previous)
1– Ariana G (21) – 330 – 2
2 – Fear The Dragon (13) – 318 – 1
3 – Hannelore Hanover – 230 – 4
4 – Downbytheseaside – 204 – 3
5 – Manchego (1) – 180 – 5
6 – Huntsville – 127 – 8
7 – Resolve – 122 – 6
8 – Blazin Britches – 90 – 7
9 – Agent Q – 56 – 9
10 – Emoticon Hanover – 50 – N/A
Also: What The Hill (39); Marion Marauder (31); Filibuster Hanover (21); Caviart Ally (19); Alarm Detector (15); Walner (13); Devious Man (11); All Bets Off, Rainbow Room (10); Homicide Hunter (7); Bit Of A Legend N, Blue Moon Stride, Crazy Wow, Lost In Time, Pure Country (5); Keystone Velocity, Sintra (4); Nike Franco N, Pedro Hanover, Youaremycandygirl (2); Carmensdaleyapple, Mach It So, 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.