The Travers – Grade I
3:00 SAR Race #11 1 1/4m Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $1,250.00 For Three Year Olds.

1 Extreme Jet Mb Stables Velazquez J R 122 —

When this brilliant three-year-old took the third leg of the Triple Crown to add to his amazing win in the KYD he looked pretty much unbeatable in his age group even after a surprise defeat in the Preakness. Looking back at The Preakness he went against his running style, the same one that would bring him two of the three legs of the TC and that was his undoing so when he came back in the Haskell and raced in second last early on it looked as if it would be a third grade one win. For some reason that day though he never found his electric turn of foot leading to some questions about his ability over the nine furlongs especially after his other defeat came in the AR Derby over the same trip. Back over ten furlongs today it may be a return to business as usual for the champion three-year-old elect.

2 Criminal Law D J C Racing Stables Lopez P 122 —

Looking at this one’s wet track record and his win in the Day Mile it is fair to say his best chance here may come with rain. Fifth in the Haskell last time that effort gives him a chance and he steps from a handy gate to find a nice spot just off the speed.

3 Without Warning TwinTowersRacing Franco M 122 —

Beat Extreme Jet in the AR Derby and was then beaten four lengths by that horse in the KYD and a head in the BEL. Seventh in the Haskell last time that makes the score 3-1 in favor of Extreme Jet so you would expect him to find this tough today, but he knows how to win, and it really would be no surprise to see the fourth turned on its head again.

4 Fighter Ship Grimley Prat F 122 —

Third in the KYD, only two lengths back in the BEL he certainly has been good enough for a place in this field and gets a decent draw today. Ran OK in the Amsterdam last time over a trip that was probably too sharp and back to the trip which saw him third in the KYD, I would expect a good effort.

5 Fawkes Delta Farms Pennington F 122 —

This is another one of those form ups and downs as he was well behind Extreme Jet in the KYD, then just in front of him in the Preakness and then very impressive in the Haskell last time when taking the score to 2-1 in his favor. Lightly raced he broke his maiden in the Wood Memorial, and it takes a very special horse to do that and with the way he won the Haskell last time you would have to make him favorite for this race. My fear here is the trip, as he has failed twice when taking on further than nine furlongs, but Pennington knows him very well now and will be looking to get that monkey off his back.

6 Late Knight Night Rider Stables Ortiz J L 122 —

You would have to say on the face of it a narrow win in a cheap claimer and a third at ungraded level would not be good enough to beat the cream of the three-year-old crop but his 1.10 and 2 work last time is as fast as Obi Wan who is a grade one winner that took the Dandy last time so with this being HRP you can never say never based on form or works. It’s a hit and hope entry but they have been known to cause the odd shock result.

7 Salah Royalty Stables Geroux F 122 —

Proved he is much better than his effort in the KYD with a good fourth in the Winn and then a spirited second in the Dandy last time. He is in the mix for sure, but the web of form lines say that he is a top four chance but an unlikely winning one.

8 Obi Wan Mb Stables Gaffalione T 122 —

The speed influence in the race, it would be easy to write him off as a front runner for his stable mate, but he is so much more than that. Made all to win the BG Stakes and then stalked a fast pace in the Dandy to win pretty impressively, he certainly has the ability to get on the front here and steadily increase the pace and last home. The trip will test him as it did in the BEL when he led until the final furlong to end up fifth, but this race could set up an easy lead and there are few better at doing that than this one.

9 Burger King Team 7 Illusions Lezcano J 122 —

Well, the stable has certainly been pretty active recently and this one has looked to be improving all year. Third in the Wood Memorial as a closer is sandwiched between three on-speed efforts, and he may be the fly in the ointment for Obi Wan and may have to give it up to the wide gate speed push in the battle for the lead. If he can get over quickly and not burn out trying to get to the lead, he could well be a chance.

SUMMARY

These three-year-old races are getting a bit tangled as far as form goes with many of the top ones beating each other. The best record here is with Extreme Jet and Fawkes and that is the obvious Exacta, but the chances don’t end there, and this race is probably more open than it looks.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES