Going in Circles ‘Gold 7’ Division Rankings 💰

Real Writing on Racing 💯

Going in Circle introduces new ‘Gold 7’ divisional rankings

August 16, 2022 8:05pm

Going in Circles media released its new Gold Seven horse racing divisional rankings today. A blue ribbon panel of racing experts was commissioned to rank the top 7 contenders in each pertinent division on a monthly basis through mid-November with one final post-Breeders Cup list.

The eight divisions covered are as follows: older male, older female, older male turf, older female turf, 3 year old male, 3 year old female, male sprinter, female sprinter.

The point system utilized was from 1st to 7th: 12-8-6-4-3-2-1

The only parameters given to the panel were to rank on current year accomplishment similar to college football/basketball polls. Everything else was up to their discretion.

(Name with 1st place votes in parenthesis then total points)

Sprint Divisions 💰

Notes : Interestingly enough many of the voters included Flightline despite him not having competed in a sprint race this calendar year. He received four 1st place and three 2nd place votes but wasn’t listed on the other six ballots at all. Jackie’s Warrior was named first on nine and second and third on two each and led all with 136 points. The surprise was Life is Good winding up fourth despite having one dominant sprint win earlier in the season in the Nerud (Gr II) as he was left off five ballots completely and got nipped by three year old Jack Christopher for third.

Defending female sprint eclipse winner Ce Ce was voted on top despite being left off of three ballots completely. Obligatory was ranked second and was listed on all ballots with a wide range of listings, three 1st place votes as well as a 7th place vote. We included an 8th because Merneith received a first place vote.

Turf Divisions 💰

Notes : The older male turf division was wide open, with five different horses receiving top rank votes resulting in a tie at the top between Santin and Count Again with 82 points, with Adhamo only 3 points behind at 79. Sixteen different horses received a vote and Gufo didn’t make the top 7 despite being listed on six ballots though four had him ranked 7th. Interesting note - Casa Creed received at least one vote in all seven positions.

The older females were more clear cut with Regal Glory getting seven 1st place votes to beat War Like Goddess who received five. Multiple voters listed Spendarella despite her being a three year old hence the *

Three year old Divisions 💰

Notes : The panel views the both three year old divisions as having clear cut leaders with Epicenter getting 12 of the 13 first place votes and Nest receiving all 13. Cyberknife was a clear second choice for the males while Secret Oath got 12 of the 13 second place votes. There was a logjam for the third thru sixth position though the three year old picture will be a lot more clear for the boys after the Travers (Gr I). Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike received just a single 7th place vote.

Older horse division 💰

Notes : Clairiere was a unanimous selection on top of the older filly division with Malathaat looking solid in second place. Letruska wound up third, just ahead of Ce Ce who was listed from 2nd to 6th on various ballots.

Not surprisingly Flightline and Life is Good led the older horse division with the first place vote going to the former by a 9 to 3 count. Jackie’s Warrior got solid support from those who included him as he was third with 56 points including a first place vote despite missing 5 of the 13 ballots altogether. The sixth and seventh positions were close with Royal Ship and Express Train both just missing 7th place by a few points.

📋 The next round of rankings is scheduled to be released either September 13th or 20th. Thank you to all the voters that took time from their busy schedules to participate. Please remember despite the panel being serious about their rankings, this is just for entertainment purposes and to stimulate conversation, which is why our policy is to not release individual ballots, though the panel is free to reveal their choices.

Panel makeup

Steve Byk (At the Races), Barry Spears (GIC Media), David Aragona (DRF/NYRA), Sid Fernando (Werk TB Consultants/TDN), Peter Denk (THT Bloodstock), Sara Elbadwi (HRN), Michael Dempsey (PlayUp USA), Anthony Spinelli (Stonestreet), Jeff Bessa (Chartinghorsevalues.com), Matthew DeSantis (Freelance racing writer), Edward Cofino (SpotSheets), Craig Milkowski (TimeformUS), Charles Simon (GIC Media).