The Travers – Grade I
SAR Race #10 1 1/4m Dirt Graded Stake
Purse $1,250.000 For Three-Year-Olds.

1 Blazing Maxmillion Farm Dominguez Jo 122 —

This is possibly the race of the year so far as we possibly have the best assembled field of three-year-olds we have seen all year and it is going to be a great spectacle for all of us HRP fans. This colt is the winner of five from seven and with those two failures having very reasonable explanations, you have to think he is certainly in the running for three-year-old of the year. His last defeat came in the KYD when he tried to stalk from the 18 gate on an off track, he still managed fifth which was a good effort, but it was in his last start that people really sat up and took notice. After working on the turf it was thought that that was the direction he was going to go, but he went to the Haskell on the dirt and this time with a dry track showed his true ability. He gets a great gate again to find the stalk and he adds a whole lot of value by being in this field.

2 Walk Em Down Mb Stables Davis D 122 —

Any excuse you use for Blazing getting beat in the KYD you could apply to this one as he ran from gate 13 and was a big disappointment. Like Blazing though he has put that effort behind him and shown his true form in his last two, winning the Preakness and the Dandy with huge late runs. There is no doubt this is a serious racehorse who may have been overshadowed a little by his stablemate, which is also in this race, but he has very little left to prove and represents a big winning hope for the champion trainer. The running style as a closer is always a difficult watch on this engine, but if he can get clear at the right time he has all the ticks in the boxes to get the result.

3 Master And Commander Fractious Geroux F 122 —

After writing about the last two it is hard to talk about how good this one is if you just compare them but make no mistake this is no no-hoper and there are scenarios where he can come out on top. His running style as a deep closer has probably not helped his form figures as it is very difficult to get the timing right on this engine but if the pace is fast and they come back to them down the stretch there is no doubt he has as a good a turn of foot as anything here. Two lengths back when second in the Dwyer and four lengths behind in the Preakness when fifth, something does need to change to find those lengths, but if it does he certainly has the ability.

4 Power Grid Fractious Franco M 122 —

Turned his run in the BG Stakes around to beat his stable mate and rival in the Dwyer in his last start but like a few here has been hindered a little by his closing style which makes getting through the field so difficult. The inside gates have seen him stay closer to the speed than the wide ones so he may be able to be mid-pack at worse here and if he can reproduce the huge finish from the Dwyer he would be a big threat for the win. In his homework, he has struggled to beat Master And Commander but on the race course, last time he was superior so let’s go with that again and give him a decent shot.

5 Axel Grinder Mb Stables Centeno D E 122 —

A long way from the exposure that his stable mates have enjoyed he has been helping the trainer win meet titles whilst the superstars have been doing their thing but I wouldn’t be writing him off in HRP land as there are a few reasons he can do well. Firstly in a race where a lot is going to depend on pace and closers, he is an on pace type and secondly working 1.10 flat for the six is not something losers work. Maybe he is here as a pace influence for his closing stable mates, maybe not, but either way, he will be near the front and is good enough to be in it for a long time.

6 Sick Boi Royalty Stables Buick W T 122 —

I know the stable thinks a lot of this horse and plenty were impressed with his big win at SAR last time, so I wouldn’t put a line through him on the basis that he has only won twice and nothing like in this grade. The 1.36 and 2 he worked last week says he is still improving and what a story it would be if he could lower the colors of the three-year-old stars in the run-up to the BC.

7 West Park Luz International Luzzi L J 122 —

A solid sort, winning three from six and capable of a 1.36 and 2 mile work he is certainly no slouch but hasn’t shown the sort of form that should challenge the big names in this race. Having said that, at HRP never say never and he was plenty impressive enough in his first run over the ground last time out to give him dark horse status.

8 Poison Arrow Mb Stables Prat F 122 —

There are two horses in this race, both grade one winners that seem to incur the wrath of the draw monster recently and this is one of them. When he took three from three of his TC qualifiers he was plenty of people’s pick for the KYD despite a wide draw and looked a hugely unlucky loser that day coming from the clouds to grab second just a whisker behind the winner. It was such a huge effort that despite being wide again in the BEL he was installed as the clear favorite but once again flew home only to miss the win and end up third. A third wide draw in a row made the trainer look to the gaming buttons in the Haskell last time but his foray as a front-runner ended in him fading from the front into a well-beaten sixth. So it will be back to HL today is my guess, or at least not as a leader, and once again he will have to rely on the traffic to get out of his way. At his brilliant best I am still convinced he could be the best three-year-old but this closing running style really doesn’t like consistency with this engine and it is hard to tell which of the closers will get the right run at the right time.

9 Gold Vault Fractious Spencer J P 122 —

Ran a huge race in the Haskell to be third and though he was beaten fair and square by Blazing that was the sign of improvement the trainer needed to include him in the rematch here. I am guessing the trainer will want him stalking again today but this draw will make it tough and a lot will depend on how much energy he has to expel to get there. Given a swap in draws with Blazing I would be giving him a better chance of revenge.

10 Excoriator Jerry Garcia Racing Lezcano J 122 —

Like Poison Arrow he was looking great in the run-up to the KYD winning all three of his prep races but when it came to the race itself the off-track found him out and he just kept on into sixth after stalking the leaders. His last two runs were far more like him, beaten a half-length in the Winn and a half-length in the Dandy, and what is interesting about those runs is it give us a link between Blazing and Walk Em Down which has them pretty much dead heating with his one a half-length behind. The draw will disappoint the owner but he won the Holy Bull from a wide gate and his prep work for this was very slick. He wouldn’t have to improve much to win.

11 Bad Debt D J C Racing Stables Velazquez J R 122 —

I mentioned when writing about Poison Arrow that there were two here that the drawn monster has it in for and well, if they don’t like Poison Arrow then they must really hate this one. In his first three races he was drawn beautifully in one two and three but in his seven races since he has been drawn worse than eight every time. Having said that, let’s not forget he beat every one of his top rivals here in the KYD with that famous all-the-way win so the draw may not be enough to stop him from doing it again. DJC Racing bought this one from Hippyheart for $725.000 after the horse failed in the Preakness and he has worked strongly for the stable coming back from a break from the public eye and it will be interesting to see how he goes for the new owner. Watching at the moment but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him right there at the end.

SUMMARY

Wow, what a race this is and one that will give us a clearer picture going forward to the BC Classic. Just as I settle on one that I think will win I change my mind and then again and again, there really are so many great three-year-olds here that it is really hard to settle on one. I have been proved wrong by Walk Em Down more than once and promise myself I will never overlook him again should he win, which he probably will, but I think Blazing just has a safer running style and pick him to shade it. I think we may see the best of Poison Arrow today and if anything beats Blazing it may be him. They would be my top three and I will say it quickly because in 2 minutes I will have a completely different top three!!

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES