Artist unveils ’17 Travers poster
Top horse Arrogate the subject after Travers win
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » After a performance of a lifetime in the 148th running of the Travers Stakes, the subject — Arrogate — and the title — “Record Breaker!” — of this year’s Travers poster were obvious.
The position and color of the horse were much bigger challenge for artist Greg Montgomery.
Montgomery unveiled the 32nd edition of his Travers Stakes poster series in an event at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Thursday.
Montgomery produces the poster with business partner-turned wife Paula Rosenberg. The two were partners for three decades before getting married this year.
Each year, the two confer on the subject and layout of the poster.
“What we’ve discovered over the years is that the best answer to the question of, ‘what this year?’ is something that is uniquely Saratoga,” Montgomery said. “Not just thoroughbred racing at it’s finest, but at Saratoga.”
In 2008, Mongtomery’s poster of Street Sense and Grasshopper made for a striking image but one he felt was a missed opportunity.
“It was one of the two best horses I’ve ever drawn but behind them was blue sky,” Montgomery said. “They could’ve been anywhere. They could’ve been in Europe.”
Making Arrogate the central figure on the poster was a no-brainer, he said.
“This year we had Arrogate, who blew everybody’s doors off and set not only a Travers record but a track record for a mile and a quarter,” Montgomery said. “Then he went on to win the Breeders’ Cup and the Pegasus (World Cup). He pays the bills.”
The 2017 image is of jockey Mike Smith aboard Arrogate with the winning 13 1/2-length margin set in front of the Saratoga Race Course grandstand.
Montgomery was at the Spa that day looking at the 11-1 Bob Baffert horse before the start of the race.
“I remember specifically being at a table signing (posters) and looking at the post parade on the monitor,” Montgomery said. “That horse (Arrogate) was having trouble staying on the ground.”
He did not break away from his signing duties to back up his thoughts at a betting window, however.
The biggest challenge with this year’s image was getting Arrogate’s color right.
“Virtually every photograph I’ve seen of Arrogate, he’s a different color,” Montgomery said. “If he’s hot and
sweaty then he’s darker. If it’s a little bit cloudy then he’s bluer. It drove us crazy.”
Montgomery’s autographed Travers series is available for purchase at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame gift shop, along with horse racing-related work by Montgomery.
“People who write books about race tracks say this is the only series of its kind,” Montgomery said. “We feel really good about that, very fortunate.”