Nijinsky #1 in first Top Ten Poll

Pepsi North America Cup harness racing winner Nijinsky leaped to the top of the rankings in the season’s first Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll released Tuesday, garnering 20 of 35 first-place votes and totaling 322 points for a 50-point cushion over No. 2 Twin B Joe Fresh.

Nijinsky is 5-for-5 this year, with his other victories including his North America Cup elimination, a division of the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes, and a division of the Ontario Sire Stakes. The 3-year-old male pacer has earned $455,155, which leads all horses in North America.

Twin B Joe Fresh, a 4-year-old female pacer, has three wins and a second in four starts this season. Her triumphs include last weekend’s Roses Are Red Stakes and the Betsy Ross Invitational. She received four first-place votes.

Karl, a 3-year-old male trotter and returning Dan Patch Award winner, was No. 3 in the Top 10. He is unbeaten in three races, all in the New Jersey Sire Stakes series, including the final. The colt received 11 first-place votes.

Rounding out the top five in the poll were Fan Hanover Stakes winner Its A Love Thing and Goodtime Stakes champ Highland Kismet.

The next five were Cutler Memorial winner Jiggy Jog S, Armbro Flight winner Call Me Goo, Borgata Pacing Series and Camluck Classic champ Hellabalou, North America Cup runner-up Captain’s Quarters, and Auger Memorial winner Ruthless Hanover.

The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll does not determine 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.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA