Personally, I wouldn't subscribe to the "retirement = ineligible" method, but nevertheless, I still say its a valid perspective. The NTRA-established criteria is simply: (1) the horse started once in the US, (2) the horse is currently in training, or (3) the horse is pointing for a major race in the US. This leaves a whole lot of room for interpretation. I could have Thunder Snow at the top of my list if I wanted.
On the other end of the spectrum, Justify fails to satisfy 2 of the 3 criteria in the here and now, so from a week-to-week standpoint, he can really only lose ground in future polls (maybe not with the alacrity that the esteemed voters have demonstrated).
That aside, I agree that partial campaigns should count, if for no other reason than to take away some of the clout of the Breeder's Cup. To that end, I don't see why the NTRA doesn't tally all the points earned by an individual horse throughout the year rather than starting with a clean slate every week.
I understand someone not wanting to continue to give points to Justify week in and week out if he is not going to race again, but as you said, his earlier efforts obviously ought to count. Maybe some of these voters will view the final poll (November 8) as some sort of "year end" poll, and will put Justify back in their top 10s then...
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