Every year The Jockey Club publishes a weight based assessment of the previous year’s leading 2 year olds colts for a hypothetical race at 1 1/16 miles. The assessment is named “The Jockey Club’s Annual Top 2 Year-Old Rankings, Male” and is compiled by a committee of racing officials comprised of:
⁃ P.J. Campo (The Stronach Group – Owner of Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Racetrack)
⁃ Ben Huffman (Churchill Downs Racetrack and Keeneland Racecourse)
⁃ Steve Lym (Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto)
⁃ Martin Panza (New York Racing Association – Owner of Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Racetrack)
⁃ Thomas S. Robbins (Del Mar Thoroughbred Club – Owner of Del Mar Racetrack)
Each horse is assigned a weight in pounds with the higher the weight signifying the more likelihood of winning the hypothetical race. One of our (Woodford Racing) horses (Engage) was ranked #24 in the assessment. To put that in perspective, there were approximately 11,000 colts born in 2015 that would have been 2 years old in 2017!
The Jockey Club 2017 Top 2-Year-Old Rankings, Males
If you are following the 2018 Road to the Kentucky Derby you will recognize many of the horses on the rankings. The two horses co-weighted at 126 pounds (Bolt d’Oro and Good Magic) are currently two of the favorites to win the 2018 Kentucky Derby.
In the case of Engage we believe distances up to a mile or 1 1/16 miles will be his preferred distance and are not targeting the Kentucky Derby. None the less, we are proud of Engage’s accomplishments to date and the ranking he received on “The Jockey Club’s Annual Top 2 Year Old Rankings, Male” for 2017.
He’s in good company and we look forward to his first start of 2018 in early April.
