The Travers Stakes is shaping up as a brawl at Saratoga on Saturday and it should be a flat-out extravaganza.
No fewer than 14 horses are entertaining the idea of entering this fixture. Although Bob Baffert tasted defeat in this race last year with American Pharoah, he has a pair of contenders that must be respected.
The $1.25 million mile-and-a-quarter Travers Stakes will be renewed for the 146th time and Baffert has both American Freedom and Arrogate waiting in the wings. Nicknamed the Midsummer Derby, the Travers Stakes will be the highlight of the Saratoga meeting.
American Freedom has won twice on off tracks and that must always be taken into consideration at this time of the year in New York. American Freedom, the son of Pulpit, won the Grade 3 Iowa Derby to kick off July and he was far from disgraced when chasing Exaggerator home last time in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park. American Freedom may have had an excuse in the Haskell as the runner lost his momentum when Exaggerator cut in front of him and he just could not carry on intently.
Now Baffert is shaking up the situation as he will take the blinkers off American Freedom. When runners are equipped with blinkers they tend to focus and keep their mind on business. Baffert must figure that American Freedom doesn’t need the blinkers but needs to relax a bit.
Arrogate had a valid excuse when he was off slowly in his racing debut, but he is a perfect 3 for 3 since. He showed a new wrinkle last time winning at Del Mar when he settled 3 lengths off the pace before blowing by them all in the lane. Arrogate cost $560,000 and Baffert also tinkers with the blinkers with this runner. Arrogate was worked up when he had the blinkers for his debut, but has not really be close to losing since.
The Travers Stakes will likely entice Creator, another runner that will be a handful. Creator took time to figure things out, but he has matured with grace. He won the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in the spring, was troubled in the Kentucky Derby, but proved he could run all day taking the Belmont Stakes.
Laoban will be trying to show in the Travers Stakes that his win in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga was no fluke. Not many horses can win the first race of their career in a Grade 2 race, but that is exactly what Laoban did. He has dangerous speed,but there will be others in the Travers Stakes with designs on the lead.
Gun Runner showed he belongs in the Travers Stakes when he was third in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. He has positional speed and could have been compromised by the off going in the Haskell.
Destin is yet another that will try to utilize his velocity in the Travers Stakes. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Destin was troubled in the Kentucky Derby and lost the Belmont Stakes by a scant nose. He could have just been a dead short horse last time in the Jim Dandy.
Governor Malibu will be hoping for a fast pace in the Travers Stakes. The Governor has a nice turn of late foot and he has trained forwardly since running second in the Jim Dandy.
There are several others that could have a say in the Travers Stakes including Connect, who is trained by red-hot conditioner Chad Brown. Connect was pushed out 4 wide in his racing debut but has not lost in three races since. In his last race, the son of Curlin made all the running in the stakes named for his sire. His best asset could be that although he has natural speed, he doesn’t need the lead to succeed.
Gift Box and Forever d’Oro, who just chased Connect, will likely be back to take another shot in the Travers Stakes.
Brown could also opt to enter the improving youngster My Man Sam while the long-fused Majesto will benefit in the Travers Stakes if the pace is hot, as it is projected to be on Saturday.
With a big, talented field poised and ready, bettors will need to concentrate on how the race sets up and which runners should fall into the perfect trip. There will be more on the Travers Stakes showdown of sophomores later this week.
