King’s Bishop highlights Travers undercard
Back in March, after sweeping to victory in his first five starts — four of them Grade 2s — Mohaymen was many people’s favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
Things haven’t gone very well since. Fourth-place finishes followed in the Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby and, most recently, as the 7-5 favorite in the Jim Dandy Stakes here at Saratoga.
Deciding to cut Mohaymen back in distance — and to perhaps have a better chance of securing a Grade 1 win for the son of leading sire Tapit — the Goldolphin team entered him in today’s $500,000 King’s Bishop Stakes, where he has been installed as the 5-1 second choice on the morning line.
The seven-furlong King’s Bishop is one of only two Grade 1s for sophomore sprinters run all year; the Malibu, at Santa Anita in December, is the other.
The race typically draws large fields, often with a number of horses with limited (or no) stakes experience. Upsets are not uncommon. In the past four years, the race has been won by Willy Beamin (11-1 in 2012), Capo Bastone (28-1in 2013) and Runhappy (11-1 in 2015). Runhappy, virtually unknown at the time, went on to be named champion sprinter and was a finalist for champion 3-yearold. This year’s King’s Bishop has drawn a field of 13, four of whom have never run in a stakes race of any kind. Three of these horses are among the favorites. In fact, Bob Baffert’s Drefong, an impressive winner of his last three starts in California by a combined 18 ¼ lengths, is listed as the 4-1 top choice. Jazzy Times (8-1), a second Baffert runner, exits a 6½-length allowance score at Del Mar. Summer Revolution, who will be making just his third career start for Rudy Rodriguez, is 6-1. The son of Summer Bird posted a big number while winning an allowance at the King’s Bishop distance here on Aug. 6.
Other horses being given consideration on the morning line include Fish Trappe Road (8-1) and
Economic Model (6-1), the 1-2 finishers in the Grade 2 Dwyer on Jul 9. Tom’s Ready (12-1) broke a long winless spell when he took the Woody Stephens (G2) on Belmont Stakes day.
Flintshire towers over Sword Dancer field
There are seven graded stakes on today’s Travers Day card. Six of them appear to be attractive betting races, with favoritism spread among at least a couple of horses — and sometimes as many as four or five. The exception is the $1,000,000 Sword Dancer where Flintshire comes in having won his last three starts in the U.S, including last year’s Sword Dancer.
The 6-year-old Dansili
horse is 1-5 on the morning line. The globe-trotting Flintshire has earned over $8.2 million racing in Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and U.S. The 6-year-old horse has finished in the exacta in 11 Grade/Group 1 races, including the Hong Kong Vase (1st), Dubai Sheema Classic (2nd), Breeders’ Cup Turf (2nd) and l’Arc de Triomphe (2nd). The Sword Dancer will be run at his preferred
distance of 1 ½ miles, and he will take some beating in this spot. Given the best chance to upset are Grand Tito and Money Multiplier, both at 8-1. Grand Tito was runner-up to Flintshire last out in the Bowling Green and rarely runs a bad race. Money Multiplier has been in the exacta in his last four starts, including close seconds in the Man o’ War and United Nations. Neither has won at a mile and a half.