WEST COAST WINS THE TRAVERS
3-year-old captures 148th running of the Travers Stakes from gate to wire, besting three other Triple Crown race champions
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Maybe now Bob Baffert can get over American Pharoah’s loss in the 2015 Travers. Baffert must have felt quite a bit better after his previously littleknown Arrogate set a track record in winning last year’s edition of the race. And now, after his aptly named West Coast went gate to wire Saturday to win this year’s $1,250,000 Travers, maybe the Hall of Fame conditioner can at least call it even.
Starting from no. 3 hole and gunned to the front by Mike Smith, West Coast had few anxious moments. He was pressed by Derby winner Always Dreaming through three-quarters in a moderate 1:12.23 before that one dropped off. Irap loomed a threat coming off the turn but was unable to sustain his bid, in part because of an issue with eventual runner-up Gunnevera. But once West Coast passed the furlong pole, he was essentially home free, passing under the wire 3 ¼ lengths in front.
“I thought there wasn’t much pace [on paper], but man, I caught a good jump, put him on the lead, and he just cruised from there,” said winning rider Mike Smith, who two races earlier rode Drefong to victory in the Forego. “He was a happy horse all the way around. There was a time or two when [another horse] came to me, but he just put them away, and every time they [did] he’d take a big old breath of air, so I felt confident he’d continue to run well.”
Gunnevera, dismissed at 241, ran a big race from well off the pace to finish second by 2¼ lengths over Irap, with Tapwrit another 2½ back in fourth. They were followed in order by Good Samaritan, Giuseppe the Great, McCraken, Cloud Computing, Always Dreaming, Lookin At Lee, Girvin and Fayeq.
“Gunnevera ran very good, very good,” trainer Antonio Sano said of the runner-up, who cost a mere $16,000 – a little more than 1 percent of the Travers purse – as a yearling.” We expected first place when we came in, but we’re happy with his race. He’ll just train up to the Breeders’ Cup.”
It was another disappointing outing for Always Dreaming, who has been well beaten in his three starts since his Derby victory.
“He kind of came off the bridle at the half-mile pole,” said his trainer, Todd Pletcher. “I can’t offer much of an excuse.”
Fifth-place finisher Good Samaritan, the somewhat surprising favorite at 7-2, tried his best to duplicate his smashing offthe-pace score in the Jim Dandy, but got started too late.
“We got off to an okay start, but the horse dropped an awful way back,” said trainer Bill Mott. “He made a huge run toward the end, but he was just a little too far back to get up there.”
West Coast, who was unraced at two and didn’t make his career debut until Feb. 18, has come a long way in a short time. He broke his maiden in his second try, got beat a head in the Grade 3 Lexington, and has won all four starts since.
The only other graded win for the Gary and Mary West standard-bearer came last out in the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) on July 15.
The Travers share leaves him a few dollars short of being a millionaire at $993,800.
The Travers result further muddies a three-year-old picture that had been confusing enough going into Saturday. Next up, as far as races restricted to threeyear-olds are concerned, is the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 23.