American Pharoah was made the overwhelming 1-5 favorite in a 10-horse field and drew the No 2 post on Tuesday night. The Travers Stakes is a part of Travers Day which will features six grade I races, including the $1.25 million “Mid-Summer Derby” for three-year-olds. The 3-year-old bay son of Pioneerof the Nile will be ridden by Victor Espinoza, competing in his first Travers.
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Baffert responded, “We’re looking forward to coming”.
“He’s a good enough horse to overcome anything, but there’s always a little bit more chance for something to go wrong when you have the rail”, Keen Ice’s trainer Dale Romans said, . “It would be more like running in the Kentucky Derby”.
Baffert, whose lone Travers victory in five tries came with Point Given in 2001, admitted the conventional path to the Travers would have been to use the Jim Dandy, on August 1 at Saratoga, as a prep. “If he was a different kind of horse, I needed to do that”, he said.
Third choice Texas Red, who bested Frosted in the Jim Dandy, will take the fourth position at 8 to 1 odds.
“I’m not really anxious about the post”, Baffert said. “We don’t take anything for granted”.
“We’re ready”, Terranova said.
There is of course some extra monetary incentive for Zayat, with the Travers upping its usual $1.25 million purse to $1.6 million after American Pharoah’s inclusion was confirmed.
American Pharoah returned to the races earlier this month, easily winning the Haskell Invitational in New Jersey on August 1.
As the city of Saratoga Springs has buzzed during a strong racing season, mayor Joanne Yepsen said bringing American Pharoah to the Spa comes after an outpouring of support from the community.
Rewriting history has become a habit for Triple Crown-winner American Pharoah, and the three-year-old colt already has his sights set on another record-busting feat. “In fact, he’s more mature, even getting better”, Zayat said.
Secretariat not only won those races, but retired as 1973’s top American turf horse to go along with his Triple Crown sweep and second straight Horse of the Year Award. I never thought I’d get to this level of racing.
“This is a great day for racing fans in Saratoga, across the State of New York and throughout our nation” NYRA’s Chief Executive Officer and President Christopher Kay said in a statement. The only one to win was Whirlaway in 1941.
Saratoga Race Course announcer Larry Collmus, who is preparing to call his first Travers, stood at the podium to call the post position of each of the 10 entrants.
Keen Ice only has a maiden win to his credit, but he’s been in all the big races, including a third in the Belmont and hard-charging second in the Haskell.
Bob Baffert’s assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes will travel with American Pharoah, later to be joined by the Hall of Fame trainer and owner Ahmed Zayat. “Maybe one of these days we can catch him”.
“Saratoga here we come!” Yet, I doubt historians will agree with Wayne Hughes and rank her “as the best filly” of modern times, even if she beats American Pharoah in the BC Classic.
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American Pharoah is scheduled to gallop on Thursday and Friday mornings at Saratoga.
