Essential Quality rolls on
SARATOGA SPRINGS >> With a half-mile to go in the Travers, Midnight Bourbon’s lead had shrunk from four lengths to one, with Essential Quality a threatening presence behind him. Still, Midnight Bourbon had gotten six furlongs in a leisurely 1:14.49 and, for all anyone knew, he might have enough left to put up a fight in the stretch. The Tiznow colt did not give in, battling back even as Essential Quality stuck a nose in front at the eighth pole.
But we’d seen this movie before. Essential Quality never seems to win by much, but there was a certain inevitability about the Travers result once the champion son of Tapit drew alongside. Edging away a few inches with each stride, Essential Quality gradually wore down his stubborn foe, passing under the wire an official neck in front. Midnight Bourbon had five lengths on third-place finisher Miles D. The running time for 10 furlongs over a main track rated “fast” was 2:01.96.
The victory was the Godolphin colt’s eighth in nine starts and effectively clinched the 3-year-old championship. At this point, Essential Quality has out-raced or out-lasted most of his main rivals, several of whom are either sidelined,
retired or under investigation. The shortage of quality two-turn 3-year-olds is exemplified by the fact that four of the top ten sophomores in DRF’s latest rankings are sprinters.
Essential Quality will almost certainly train up to the Breeders’ Cup from here. A couple of older bearcats, Knicks Go and Maxfield, await him in the Classic, where the prize could very well be 2021 Horse of the Year.
FAVORITES RULE
Essential Quality’s Travers win was of course the headline story of the day. Other stories included the high number of exciting stretch duels and the chalky results. Favorites won all but one of the seven graded races on the card. The only post-time favorite who didn’t win was Life is Good, who was beaten a neck at 4-5 in the Allen Jerkens Memorial. That race was won by Jackie’s Warrior, the second choice in the wagering at 3-2.
Close finishes were the order of the day. Gamine won the Ballerina by 1 ¾ lengths and Letruska held off a wall of closers in prevailing by a half-length in the Personal Ensign The other five stakes were decided by a neck or less — three by a neck, one by a head and one by a nose.
The Forego had probably the day’s deepest and most evenly matched field, with six of eight starters sent off at single-digit odds. The five G1 winners in the field became six when Yaupon, who previously hadn’t won beyond the G2 level, survived a bizarre, prolonged savaging by Firenze Fire in deep stretch to gain a hardearned victory.
Many people no doubt recall the famous Bob Coglianese photo of a savaging that occurred in the 1980 Tremont. But what happened in the Forego on Saturday was unlike anything anyone on the telecast team — which included retired jockey Richard Migliore, who rode for 30 years — had ever seen. The incident demonstrated once again the incredible athleticism of horses and riders in managing to stay, respectively, on their feet and in the saddle. If even one of the four principals had been unable to do so, the result could have been a tragedy that would have altered the headline for what otherwise was a tremendous day of racing.
WHITMORE RETIRED
With all the drama generated in the stretch of the Forego, few people probably noticed that Whitmore had been “pulled up in distress on the gallop-out.” Not long afterward, trainer and co-owner Ron Moquett announced via twitter that while the 8-year-old gelding’s injury was “small,” when he “gets on the van to go home, it will be as a retired Champion.”
Whitmore racked up 15 wins and 18 placings from 43 starts spread over seven years, with lifetime earnings of over $4.5 million. His won 11 stakes, including G1s in the 2018 Forego and 2020 BC Sprint, as well as the admiration and respect of racing fans everywhere.