Wonder filly Wonder Gadot joins list of early probables for Travers
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Trainer Mark Casse reported that Flameaway emerged from his runnerup performance in Saturday’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy in good shape. Where Flameaway will be pointed next is yet to be determined, but the decision on whether the colt will start in the Grade 1 Travers will be made by his owner John Oxley as Casse has announced that Gary Barber’s Wonder Gadot is likely to likely to bypass the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama on August 18 in favor of facing males in the Mid-Summer Derby.
“In horse racing, nothing is ever 100 percent,” Casse said. “But I would tell you I’d bet it’s about 90 percent [to run Wonder Gadot in the Travers]. We’ve talked about it. Gary always thinks out of the box, and a lot of it makes sense. One, if you look for the most part, I guess some of them did run a mile and a quarter in the Derby, but she’s already got a mile and a quarter under her. She’s got a mile and three sixteenths under her, and she gets five pounds. It’s a big deal going a mile and a quarter, and I can tell you this, when they go over to the paddock on Travers Day, she may be the biggest horse in the race. She doesn’t look like a filly. She’s a big, stout mare.”
Earlier this week, Casse announced that Wonder Gadot would skip the Breeders’ Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, after two consecutive wins in the Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales, and instead run in the Alabama.
The 3-year-old Medaglia d’Oro filly could become the eighth female to win the Travers since its inaugural running in 1864, and would be the first filly to run since Davona Dale in 1979.
The chance at history is exciting for Casse.
“Anybody that knows me, knows that I love horse racing and that it’s my entire life, and any time we can get excitement, it’s good for horse racing,” he said. “I think anything that gets people’s attention is good for Saratoga and it’s good for the Travers. We just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope everything stays well. I think it spices it up a little because it’s going to be males against a female. I’m sure she’s going to have the ladies on her side.
“I think if you look at the numbers and everything, she’s probably got as good a shot as anyone; again, we’re going to have five pounds. The question is whether or not we’re going to have Johnny [Velazquez]. We threw this curveball at Johnny, and obviously they have the horse that ran third yesterday [Vino Rosso] in the Jim Dandy. We haven’t talked to him about it. I know that will be tough. He rides so much for Todd, it may not even be about who he thinks is best, but where his loyalty lies.”
Casse said he always defers to the owners when he has multiple horses under consideration for the same race.
“I never ever, ever base my decisions on what some other horse is doing unless it’s owned by the same owner,” said Casse. “We may choose to go different paths but that will be up to Mr. Oxley. He’ll ask my opinion and I’ll tell him, but he’ll ultimately make the final decision.
“A lot of people don’t know, but Flameaway was supposed to go to the Prince of Wales. He’s a Canadianbred as well, but Mr. Oxley said, ‘I don’t want to run against Wonder Gadot.’ He’s seen her in action many times. I don’t know. There’s only one Travers, so we may give it a try.”