Bernardini gets post 5 in Travers

Preakness and Jim Dandy winner Bernardini drew post 5 and was installed as the even-money favorite by New York Racing Association linemaker Eric Donovan for Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

The field gained a surprise entrant when trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. put in Kip Deville at the last minute. However, Dutrow said that if Bernardini and Bluegrass Cat both stay in the field, Kip Deville is likely to come out and point for the $500,000 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park on Sept. 2.

Speed horses Hesanoldsalt, Minister's Bid, and High Cotton drew posts 1,2, and 4. Kip Deville drew post 6.

"I'm real pleased to be on the outside of most of the speed," said Tom Albertrani, trainer of Bernardini. "If I had to pick any better, I'd have Kip Deville on the inside of me if he was to run. I'm not going to be too worried about it. Bernardini, he's very versatile; we could take him back as we did in the Preakness. We could use him a little bit if we wanted to, but we're not going to pin down Javier [Castellano] to instructions. We're just going to let the horse do what he wants to do."

Bluegrass Cat, the Haskell Invitational winner, drew post 7 and was made the 2-1 second choice.

The Travers will be race 11 of 12 on a Saturday card that begins at 12:30 p.m. The Travers will be shown live on ESPN during a two-hour broadcast that begins at 5 p.m.