Cyberknife comes into the Travers looking for respect
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Despite being the only two-time Grade 1 winner in the 3-year-old division, Cyberknife seems to be flying a bit under the radar as Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes approaches.
That’s just fine for trainer Brad Cox, who remembers being in the Travers spotlight last year bringing 2-5 favorite Essential Quality to the marquee race of the summer at Saratoga, which he won by a neck over Midnight Bourbon.
“Last year, obviously we ran in the Jim Dandy and we were back in four weeks and the horse had won the Belmont and was the 2-year-old champion,” said Cox, seeking to become the sixth trainer to win back-to-back Travers in Saturday’s 153rd renewal of the race. “This horse, there’s not quite as much pressure, he won’t be favored. Obviously, he’s a dual Grade 1 winner and he’s accomplished a tremendous amount, but whenever you’re the favorite you kind of have a target on your back.”
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The target this year likely falls on Epicenter, who is a three-time Grade 2 stakes winner – including a victory in the Jim Dandy – and finished second in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Epicenter figures to be a strong favorite in what was expected to be an eight-horse field when post positions were drawn Tuesday night at the Adelphi Hotel in Saratoga.
Still, Cyberknife, owned by Al Gold, has a solid résumé. The son of Gun Runner is 4 for 6 this year, with wins in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, Grade 3 Matt Winn and, most recently, the Grade 1 Haskell, where he set a track and stakes record of 1:46.24 for 1 1/8 miles. In doing so, Cyberknife beat the highly regarded Taiba by a head and the previously undefeated Jack Christopher by two lengths. Point Given, in 2001, is the last Haskell winner to come back to win the Travers.
“I don’t know if he’s getting as much respect as he deserves, he beat a very good group of horses down at Monmouth,” Cox said. “Obviously, the track was fast, but he broke a track record and a stakes record. That’s a race with a lot of history and a lot of good horses that won it. So, to run the fastest Haskell of all time is a tremendous accomplishment. Hopefully, we can build off of it.”
Of course, the biggest blemish on Cyberknife’s record is his 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Cox said it was just a matter of paying the price for chasing a hot pace. Under Florent Geroux, Cyberknife was five wide and within four lengths of a half-mile in 45.36 seconds and six furlongs in 1:10.34. He was basically done at the top of the stretch and was virtually eased to the wire.
“We were too aggressive early, but there were multiple horses in the race that were too aggressive early,” Cox said. “That’s one of those Derbies that happens every 10 or 15 years. You wish you could replay it, rewind it, but it is what it is.”
Cox regrouped with Cyberknife, keeping him out of the remaining two classics, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. He started over in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs, a race where Cyberknife was all-out to beat Howling Time by a nose.
In the Haskell, Cyberknife got a great inside trip, went around one tiring horse, and ducked backed down to the rail, outfinishing a wide-rallying Taiba to win by a head.
Cox said in the Haskell he liked Cyberknife’s “ability to rate down inside, have horses in front of him turning for home, and really punch down the lane. He had a target, I think that helps him a little bit. Obviously, the Matt Winn unfolded a little bit different. Turning for home, it looked like he was going to cruise away from the eventual runner-up but he kind of stayed beside him.”
Geroux, who has ridden Cyberknife in all of his starts, believes his horse is improving every race.
“He’s a horse who has gears on the dirt, which is not necessarily common,” Geroux said. “Some of them are one-paced and get outrun on the turns, and if you look at him, he always travels with ease on the turns, which gives you options. Still, he’s going to have to run the best race of his life if he’s going to win on Saturday.”
Cox has frequently said that Cyberknife has been difficult from a mental standpoint, but “he’s definitely putting it together.”
“The talent’s there, there’s no doubt,” Cox added. “He’s as talented as any of these 3-year-olds, it’s just about getting the trip and having things set up the way he likes it. Going a mile and a quarter, I’m hopeful he can get a nice, clean stalking trip where he’s comfortable and he has horse left down the lane.”