Flintshire eyes rich payday on Travers undercard
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The six supporting stakes leading up to the Travers at Saratoga on Saturday should be more than enough to keep everybody occupied as they wait for Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to take to the track in the day’s main event.
Five of the six undercard stakes are Grade 1 races, and the other is a Grade 2. The Sword Dancer, Forego, Ballerina, and Personal Ensign are Win and You’re In races for their respective Breeders’ Cup divisions.
The Grade 1 Sword Dancer, a 1 1/2-mile turf race, has had its purse doubled from last year and is now worth $1 million. The increase was enough to lure Flintshire from Europe. Last fall, Flintshire finished second in both the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Following those two races, trainer Andre Fabre sent Flintshire to the Group 1, $2.1 million Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin, where he defeated 10 rivals.
Vincent Cheminaud, a 21-year-old champion jump jockey in France who has been riding on the flat for Fabre this year, has the mount.
Flintshire’s opponents include Twilight Eclipse, who finished a troubled third last out in the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park, and Messi, who has won his first two U.S. starts but will be stepping up in class. The field also includes Imagining, War Dancer, Red Rifle, Guardini, and Fixador.
Here’s a quick look at the other races:
◗ Grade 1, $700,000 Forgeo: The seven-furlong Forego will match Belmont Sprint Championship winner Private Zone against The Big Beast, Salutos Amigos, and Wildcat Red.
◗ Grade 1, $750,000 Personal Ensign: This 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares has attracted the champion Untapable, Stopchargingmaria, and Sheer Drama.
◗ Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina: La Verdad, a perfect 4 for 4 this year, will face Dame Dorothy, who has won the Grade 1 Humana Distaff and the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses in her last two starts. The Humana Distaff and Bed o’ Roses were both at seven furlongs, the same distance as the Ballerina.
◗ Grade 1, $500,000 King’s Bishop: Holy Boss should be favored in this seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds. Holy Boss, trained by Steve Asmussen, has won four consecutive races at six or 6 1/2 furlongs, including the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga, the Chick Lang at Pimlico, and the Bachelor at Oaklawn Park.
Also entered in the King’s Bishop is Competitive Edge, who will be turning back to a sprint following his fourth-place finish to American Pharoah in the Haskell Invitational.
◗ Grade 2, $400,000 Ballston Spa: This 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares is topped by Tepin, the winner of the Grade 1 Just a Game on Belmont Stakes Day and the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day. Tepin was beaten a nose last out in the Grade 1 Diana.
The Ballston Spa also includes Coffee Clique, the winner of the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial at Parx last time out.