Can Bayern carry speed the distance in Travers?
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It is basically known who will be in front early in Saturday’s $1.25 million Travers Stakes. The question on everybody’s mind is if Bayern can carry his speed the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles in the 145th running of the Mid-Summer Derby.
The answer likely won’t be known until the final furlong.
Haskell Invitational winner Bayern squares off against Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, Jim Dandy Stakes winner Wicked Strong, and seven others in the marquee race of the summer at Saratoga.
The Travers tops a 14-race card that begins at 11:35 a.m. Eastern and includes the Grade 1 King’s Bishop, the Grade 1 Ballerina and the Grade 2 Ballston Spa. The Travers and Ballerina will be shown live on NBC Sports during a 90-minute broadcast that begins at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. There is an all-stakes pick four with a guaranteed pool of $1 million. The pick six, encompassing races 7 through 12, will have a guaranteed pool of $200,000.
Bayern, a son of Offlee Wild trained by Bob Baffert, enters the Travers off dazzling front-running victories in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont and the 1 1/8-mile Haskell at Monmouth Park. In his lone start beyond nine furlongs, Bayern finished ninth in the Preakness Stakes, a race in which he found himself off the pace after getting bounced around at the break.
Bayern will break from post 2 under Martin Garcia.
:: Travers Stakes DRF Formulator Facts
“He’s fast,” Baffert said. “Got to use his speed, break clean, get him going, and see if he can get the mile and a quarter. We know he’s fast, now we need to know that last eighth of a mile.”
Left alone on the lead, Bayern will be hard to catch. Though there are nine others in the field, there aren’t many who have the ability to run with Bayern early. Wicked Strong pressed a legitimate early pace when equipped with blinkers for the first time in the Jim Dandy yet still had plenty left with which to finish in beating Tonalist by 2 1/4 lengths.
Trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who worked Wicked Strong three furlongs in 38.69 seconds in the slop Thursday, is wary that Wicked Strong and jockey Rajiv Maragh will have to keep Bayern company early.
“I wish there was a little more [speed] to keep him busy, no question about it, and we could sit off them,” Jerkens said. “I’d feel a lot better about that. You got to let him kind of go to a degree and hope a mile and a quarter isn’t his thing. Rajiv will be able to tell whether to attack him early or not. He’s a good judge of pace.”
Tonalist finished second in the Jim Dandy from a forward position and won the Belmont from just off the pace. Trainer Christophe Clement said he will leave the riding tactics to jockey Joel Rosario.
“I just bring the horse as fit as possible, as well as possible, as sound as possible, and let the jock ride his race,” Clement said. “He’s not a complicated horse. Just keep him happy and comfortable and let him run his race.”
Completing the Travers field are Mr Speaker, the Belmont Derby winner; Kid Cruz and Commanding Curve, third and fourth in the Jim Dandy; and V. E. Day, Charge Now, Viva Majorca, and Ulanbator, the first-, second-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers from the Curlin Stakes.
Key contenders
Bayern (Last 3 Beyers: 107-108-72)
◗ Dominant wins in the Woody Stephens and Haskell make Bayern the morning-line favorite.
◗ The last Haskell winner to win the Travers was Point Given in 2001. In 2009, Summer Bird finished second in the Haskell and came back to win the Travers.
Tonalist (Last 3 Beyers: 96-100-104)
◗ The winner of the Belmont Stakes and Peter Pan, he finished second to Wicked Strong in the Jim Dandy.
“He ran a very good race in the Jim Dandy, he got beat,” Clement said. “I thought he was pretty fit, maybe not 100 percent fit but close to it, and I think with a race and the two works, he’s absolutely perfect.”
◗ Since 1999, four Belmont Stakes winners – Lemon Drop Kid, Point Given, Birdstone, and Summer Bird – have won the Travers.
Wicked Strong (Last 3 Beyers: 100-98-89)
◗ After fourth-place finishes in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Wicked Strong was equipped with blinkers and was more focused in winning the Jim Dandy by 2 1/4 lengths.
“He was really on his game,” Jerkens said. “He certainly was right off legitimate fractions. It isn’t like he lost ground on the first turn and slowed it down to a walk. He was running all the way. I thought it was a great effort.”