King of the hill

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - He is owned by a prince, and Point Given proved Saturday that he is the king of the Thoroughbred world.

Before a crowd of 60,486 - the largest ever to witness the Travers Stakes - Point Given blew past E Dubai approaching the furlong marker and rolled to a 3 1/2-length victory. E Dubai, who dueled with Free of Love early, held second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Dollar Bill.

Completing the order of finish were A P Valentine, Free of Love, Scorpion, Volponi, Hadrian's Wall, and Harrisand.

The victory in the $1 million race enabled Point Given to duplicate the feat of his sire, Thunder Gulch, who won this race in 1995. Like his father, Point Given was a 3-5 favorite. He returned $3.30 to win.

Point Given is owned by Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation. Salman dedicated the win to his brother, Prince Fahd Salman, who died suddenly last month.

"I wanted to win this race and dedicate it to him," said Salman, a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. "I'm sure he's watching in heaven. This is the best race I ever won."

It was the fourth consecutive victory for Point Given, who added the Travers to a resume that includes the Preakness, Belmont and Haskell Invitational.

"I know he's definitely the best horse I've ever been around," said trainer Bob Baffert, who won his first Travers. "He just shows us more every time he runs."

Point Given looked like a winner every jump. After a breaking a step slowly and a little sideways, Point Given settled into stride entering the first turn and raced three wide outside of A P Valentine and Scorpion, but within striking distance of Free of Love and E Dubai.

With a relatively soft pace of 23.73 seconds and 47.70, Point Given moved into third position down the backside while E Dubai and Free of Love continued to battle. E Dubai put away Free of Love around the turn, and Point Given challenged E Dubai at the quarter pole.

Turning for home, Stevens went to work on Point Given and after Point Given lugged in a step he straightened away nicely and drew clear. He covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.40.

"Jerry [Bailey] took a look behind and did a double take," Stevens said of E Dubai's rider. "'Yup, I'm here already.' "

E Dubai, who had not raced since winning the Dwyer on July 8, did well to hold second in his first attempt at 1 1/4 miles.

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