Exaggerator seeks Travers win at Saratoga
Preakness Stakes, Haskell Invitational champion headlines 14-horse field in today’s 147th running of Mid-Summer Derby
The Preakness and Haskell champion headlines a 14-horse field in today's Mid-Summer Derby.
The signature event at ancient Saratoga Race Course could well be the season’s pivotal race for Exaggerator.
To be run for the 147th time, the Travers Stakes is the oldest surviving stakes race from the 19th century at Saratoga. It honors William R. Travers, one of the founders of the track and its first president.
The Travers is the oldest stakes race for 3-year-old males in the United States and carries a purse of $1.25 million. It is at the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles and has drawn a field of 14.
Exaggerator is, by far, the most accomplished member of the field with three Grade 1 wins and earnings of $3,571,120. Those wins are the Santa Anita Derby, Preakness, and Haskell Invitational.
Only one other member of the field has such a victory, and it is Creator, winner of the Belmont Stakes and Arkansas Derby, both Grade 1 events.
A victory by Exaggerator would strengthen his command of the division, putting him farther ahead of Nyquist, his only rival for the title at this point.
He was second to Nyquist in the San Vicente and Kentucky Derby earlier this year, but turned the tables on that rival in the Preakness and Haskell Invitational. Nyquist is not in the Travers and is getting a rest before gearing up for the Breeders’ Cup Classic later this year.
A Travers win by Exaggerator would also put to rest the rather dubious assertion that he has climbed to the top of the class because of wet tracks. He definitely loved that condition in the Santa Anita Derby, Preakness, and Haskell.
But it is overlooked that he came
from out of the clouds to be second in the Kentucky Derby on a fast track, and won the Saratoga Special last year on the same kind of surface. While it is generally known as “The MidSummer Derby,” the Travers is often referred to by trainers as “The Fourth Leg of the Triple Crown.” With three different winners of the Triple Crown races this year, the latter nickname seems appropriate today, especially for Exaggerator and Creator.
Creator stands to benefit the most from a Travers win, as it would give him a third Grade 1 score and position him for a title run this fall. He holds a decision over Exaggerator, who turned in the worst performance of his career in the Belmont when he finished 11th.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert returns to Saratoga for this edition of the Travers with two promising colts in American Freedom and Arrogate.
He won with Point Given in 2001, who was the last Travers winner to be Horse of the Year. Baffert also trained last year’s Horse of the Year in American Pharoah, who was upset by Keen Ice in last year’s Travers.
American Freedom, winner of the Grade 3 Iowa Derby, was a game second to Exaggerator in the Haskell Invitational on a sloppy track. Arrogate makes his stakes debut in the Travers.
The two local preps for the Travers are the Curlin and Jim Dandy stakes, won respectively by Connect and Laoban on the second weekend of this meeting.
Connect, a winner of four of five career starts, is one of several in this race with good early speed. The same can be said for Laoban, who broke his maiden in the Jim Dandy at odds of 27-to-1.
The most intriguing Travers entrant could well be Gun Runner, who brings an excellent record to the event.
He has won the Grade 3 Risen Star, Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, Grade 3 Matt Winn, and was third in the Kentucky Derby.