American Pharoah unanimous choice for 3-year-old poll

By: SPORTS NETWORK

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah is the unanimous selection among voters as the top sophomore in the NTRA 3-Year- Old Poll.

Owned by Zayat Stables and trained by Bob Baffert, American Pharoah received all 47 first-place votes for 470 points following his one-length win over Firing Line in last Saturday's 141st Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

"It's fun to come here, but I think this win was different than my other ones," Baffert said about his fourth Derby victory.

Baffert's other Derby runner third-place finisher Dortmund, is second in the poll with 399 points followed closely by Derby runner-up Firing Line with 393 points.

The first three from the Kentucky Derby are all expected to move on to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore on Saturday, May 16.

"We believe we can be right there with American Pharoah," said Simon Callaghan, trainer of Arnold Zetcher's Firing Line. "We'll then train him with the Preakness in mind. Maybe we'll breeze him, or maybe we'll just gallop him. We'll let the horse tell us. If we go, we'll probably ship up there at some point next week."

Fourth-place finisher Frosted is fourth in the poll with 315 points followed by Materiality (212) sixth in the Derby, Carpe Diem (141) who finished 10th, International Star (140) was scratched Saturday morning, Kentucky Oaks winner Lovely Maria (130), Danzig Moon (118) fifth in the Derby and Competitive Edge (103) winner of the inaugural Pat Day Mile.

Shared Belief, out indefinitely with an injury, remains first in the NTRA National Poll with 21 top votes and 387 points. Second is Horse of the Year California Chrome (6, 356) followed by American Pharoah (16, 337), Main Sequence (227), Constitution (2, 152), Westchester champ Tonalist (1, 112), Lea (108), Woodford Reserve Turf Classic winner Finnegans Wake (100), Firing Line (98) and Moreno (96).