Competitive Edge pointed toward King’s Bishop

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Some very good horses have failed in the Haskell Invitational before turning back in distance to win the Grade 1 King’s Bishop. And none of them had to face a Triple Crown winner.

Competitive Edge likely will look to add his name to a list that includes Hard Spun, Tale of the Cat, and More than Ready if he, as expected, runs in the King’s Bishop at seven furlongs here Aug. 29.

Competitive Edge, who won the Grade 1 Hopeful here last summer, set the pace in Sunday’s Haskell but was inhaled by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah after six furlongs and ended up fourth, beaten 8 3/4 lengths. It was his first start around two turns and 1 1/8 miles.

“We needed to see him around two turns to decide which way to go,” trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday. “I would think backing him up out of the Haskell to the King’s Bishop makes sense if he’s acting like he’s ready to run.”

Pletcher won the 2000 King’s Bishop with More Than Ready, who ran fourth in the Haskell.

Pletcher, like everybody else, was impressed with American Pharoah’s Haskell performance. He said he will wait to see if American Pharoah commits to run in the Travers before he decides whether to run West Virginia Derby winner Madefromlucky against him.

“I’d like to see him come to the Travers for Saratoga’s sake,” Pletcher said of American Pharoah. “I don’t know how it would necessarily affect if I run something in there or not.”

If Competitive Edge runs in the King’s Bishop, he will not meet Speightster, the undefeated winner of the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont on July 4. Speightster had a chip removed from his right front ankle over the weekend and will miss the remainder of his 3-year-old season.

Elliott Walden, president and chief executive of WinStar Farm, which owns Speightster, said the plan is to bring the horse back next year, with one goal being the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in June.

“It’s unfortunate,” Walden said. “But sometimes your bad luck is your good luck.”

Speightster, a son of Speightstown, won his first three races by a combined 13 lengths. In the Dwyer, he defeated Texas Red and Smart Transition, who came back to win the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and the Curlin Stakes, respectively.