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Saratoga Spotlight Shines on Travers Contenders Galore
By GREG MELIKOV
The 139th Travers should live up to past classics of the Midsummer Derby at Saratoga on Saturday.
A nose separated the top two finishing 3-year-olds seven times from 1916 to ‘98, when Coronado’s Quest held off Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop.
There have been notable duels throughout the years, including ‘78 when Triple Crown champ Affirmed and Alydar clashed for the 10th time.
Affirmed won the battle by 1 3/4 lengths, but lost the war when disqualified for interfering with the runner-up on the backstretch. The final career tally: Affirmed seven victories to Alydar’s three.
The following year, General Assembly set the still standing stakes record of two minutes flat for the 1 1/4 miles. He won by 15 lengths, but that’s not the widest margin.
In ‘67, Damascus roared from 10 lengths off the pace in the slop to win by a whopping 22 lengths in a four-horse field, the smallest several times dating back to 1883.
This year’s $1 million edition will feature a full field for the first time in many years. One handicapping point to consider: 71 winners of the Travers scored in previous outings.
Five of the dozen 3-year-olds can match that feat, including likely favorite Macho Again, who worked four furlongs in 50 seconds on Saratoga’s training track.
The son of Macho Uno is coming off a victory in the Jim Dandy. Winners of that Saratoga prep and Monmouth’s Haskell Invitational produced a record 12 Travers champs.
However, Haskell winner Big Brown has opted for a turf race en route to the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the fall at Santa Anita, which has a synthetic surface.
One of the key Travers contenders is Canadian-bred Harlem Rocker, another son of Macho Uno that’s a four-time winner on dirt, including the Withers at Aqueduct. On Sunday, he drilled five furlongs in 59 3/5 at Saratoga and “galloped out strongly,” according to trainer Todd Pletcher.
Four other major players come out of the Jim Dandy, including Belmont winner Da’ Tara, who fell victim to an early speed duel and finished last.
The son of Tiznow posted a bullet 47 4/5 handily on Saratoga’s training track, the fastest of 55 works on Aug. 15. “Da’ Tara worked beautifully today,” said a very pleased Nick Zito that has raced multiple horses in five of the past eight runnings in the 21st Century.
The trainer’s first and only victory came in ‘04 when Belmont winner Birdstone triumphed and his The Cliff Edge ran second. Could this be de ja vu? Zito also entered Cool Coal Man, third in the Haskell, who worked four furlongs in 48 2/5 over the muddy training track.
Pyro, who came on strongly to finish second, traveled an easy half-mile in 52 1/5 on the fast training track Monday, getting the last quarter in 24 4/5.
Tiz Now Tiz Then, another son of Tiznow, ran third in the Jim Dandy after grabbing the lead in the stretch. He worked five furlongs in 1:03 4/5 on Aug. 16 at Saratoga. Tale of Ekati, fifth in the 1 1/8-mile contest, breezed six furlongs the same day on the main track in 1:13 3/5.
Two West Coast invaders will try their luck: Tres Borrachos, victorious in the Swaps, who went four furlongs in 48 4/5 handily on Tuesday at Hollywood Park; and the third-place finisher, Colonel John, who worked five furlongs in 1:00 3/5 handily on Monday at Del Mar.
Longshots haven’t done badly over the years. The biggest shocker occurred in ‘30 when 100-1 hopeful Jim Dandy outgunned heavily favored Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, slipping through on the rail to win by eight lengths.
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