Golden Tempo has first workout at Saratoga in prep for Travers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Golden Tempo, the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, has gotten reacquainted with Saratoga’s main track this week, culminating Sunday morning with his first workout here, going a half-mile in 48.65 seconds, per Daily Racing Form.

With regular jockey Jose Ortiz aboard and equipped in the blinkers he typically wears in training and racing, Golden Tempo breezed on the inside of a stablemate, the 4-year-old filly Being Myself. The two were basically together through factions of 12.55 seconds, 24.12 and, after hitting the wire in 48.65, Golden Tempo continued out in 1:01.75 and then left his workmate through six furlongs in 1:14.34 and seven furlongs in 1:28.12.

It was Golden Tempo’s second workout - his first came on July 17 at Keeneland - after he missed some training time due to an illness that knocked him out of consideration for next Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes. Instead, Golden Tempo is training up to the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 29.

“I’m really pleased with his work, had a really nice gallop out and came back and looked good,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “I’m really pleased with where he’s at right now. I just think we need to tighten the screws a little bit going into the Travers. We’re on a really good time frame and he’s responded really well to his training.”

It was at the end of May when DeVaux said Golden Tempo began showing signs of possible pneumonia, but that it was caught early enough where it never got too serious. DeVaux said Golden Tempo missed about 10 days of training.

“When he was sick, he did lose some weight and did lose some condition, but as soon as he started back galloping, he looked fantastic and gained any weight that he lost back and is not too heavy,” DeVaux said. “He’s got a propensity to get a little heavy, but he’s really at a good spot right now physically.”

Golden Tempo will try to become the third horse in 22 years to win the Travers after having won the Belmont Stakes without a race in between. Birdstone (2004) and Arcangelo (2023) were the others. Golden Ticket (2012), having not run since finishing second in a May 5 allowance race, dead-heated for the win in the Travers with Alpha.

DeVaux acknowledges the difficulty in getting a horse to run 1 1/4 miles off a 12-week layoff, but is confident that her horse will be fit and ready to run come Aug. 29.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” DeVaux said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and responded well, trains well, very agreeable to what we asked him to do. As far as that aspect of it, he’s got that in his favor.”

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