My Man Sam prepping for Travers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – My Man Sam, the Blue Grass Stakes runner-up, will make his first start since his 11th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby in a first-level allowance Saturday at Saratoga.

The 1 1/8-mile race drew a field of six, including Tale of Verve, the runner-up to American Pharoah in last year’s Preakness.

Trainer Chad Brown said he is hoping to use this race for My Man Sam as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 27.

“His energy level is back to where it was before the Derby,” Brown said. “I’m happy with that horse. Hopefully, we can use this as a bridge to the Travers. We still think a lot of this horse. We think it makes a lot of sense running in a race like this first race since the Derby and off a layoff.”

Meanwhile, Brown said he is still trying to decide where to run Gift Box and Connect, two other 3-year-olds he is hoping to get to the Travers. Both horses are nominated to next Friday’s Curlin Stakes and to the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy on July 30.

“I want to see how they train, and I want to see how these fields shape up,” Brown said. “I think there are some other question marks with other horses, and it matters to me what everyone’s doing.”