Three-year-old male pacer Confederate closed out the 2023 Grand Circuit season as the No. 1-ranked horse in the final Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll released on Tuesday, Nov. 28. The colt, who took on older rivals in Saturday’s FanDuel Open Pace Championship and finished eighth, led the rankings for the last 15 weeks of voting.
Confederate, a unanimous selection the previous seven weeks, received 31 of 35 first-place votes in the final poll. Karl, who won Saturday’s Valley Victory in a stakes record 1:52.1, got two first-place votes while idle Sylvia Hanover and FanDuel Mare Trot champion Jiggy Jog S both picked up one.
Sylvia Hanover finished No. 2 in the rankings. She spent three weeks at No. 1 during the summer and was never lower than third following the first week of voting in June.
Karl moved from fifth to third and was followed by Tactical Approach, a three-year-old male trotter who took on the older boys in the FanDuel Open Trot Championship and finished second to Southwind Tyrion. Completing the top five was Jiggy Jog S, who spent one week at No. 1 in July.
Rounding out the Top 10 were FanDuel Open Pace runner-up Bythemissal, idle T C I, FanDuel Open Pace fourth-place finisher Tattoo Artist, FanDuel Mare Trot runner-up Bond (another three-year-old taking on the older foes), and idle Geocentric.
There were no newcomers to the Top 10.
The only horse in addition to Confederate, Sylvia Hanover and Jiggy Jog S to spend time at No. 1 was Its My Show, who topped the rankings five times early in the season.
The Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll does not determine U.S. 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.
Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll: Week 25 – Nov. 28, 2023
| Rank | Name (First Votes) | A/S/G | Record | Earnings (USD) | Points | Pvs |
| 1 | Confederate (31) | 3cp | 15-13-1-0 | $1,633,854 | 345 | 1 |
| 2 | Sylvia Hanover (1) | 3fp | 13-10-2-0 | $767,959 | 304 | 2 |
| 3 | Karl (2) | 2ct | 10-9-1-0 | $1,041,977 | 239 | 5 |
| 4 | Tactical Approach | 3ct | 19-10-3-4 | $1,507,989 | 235 | 3 |
| 5 | Jiggy Jog S (1) | 4mt | 11-8-3-0 | $1,038,486 | 197 | 7 |
| 6 | Bythemissal | 4gp | 16-11-2-1 | $984,666 | 195 | 4 |
| 7 | T C I | 2ct | 12-10-2-0 | $1,238,870 | 102 | 8 |
| 8 | Tattoo Artist | 6hp | 24-9-6-2 | $960,562 | 73 | 6 |
| 9 | Bond | 3ft | 13-8-2-1 | $847,071 | 64 | 10 |
| 10 | Geocentric | 2fp | 10-9-0-0 | $556,251 | 62 | 9 |
ALSO: Twin B Joe Fresh 50; Southwind Tyrion 24; Allywag Hanover, Its My Show 10; Its Academic 5; Why Not Now 3; Captain Luke, Grace Hill 2; Caviart Belle, My Girl EJ, Warrawee Michelle 1.
(USTA)