Next stop Travers for Laoban

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Eric Guillot is still haunted by the 2013 Travers.

The Guillot-trained Moreno, a 31-1 shot, looked like he was going to upset the Travers only to get nailed in the final jump by Will Take Charge.

“That hurt me. That took something off my life,” Guillot said. “There were 50,000 people roaring. I wanted all of them to go home. I wanted my pirogue [canoe in French] painted.”

Guillot will get another chance at getting a pirogue painted in his owner Mike Moreno’s blue, white, and yellow silks when he runs Laoban in the $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 27.

Winless in his first seven starts, Laoban earned his spot in the Travers by pulling off a 27-1 front-running upset in Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes. Laboan beat Governor Malibu by 1 1/4 lengths while Belmont Stakes runner-up Destin finished third, four-time Grade 2 stakes winner Mohaymen finished fourth, and Belmont Stakes winner Creator finished sixth.

Guillot expects a gate full of challengers in the Travers.

“I’m sure all the big boys will be calling their owners ‘hey, you know our horse just ran six furlongs in an allowance, we’ll have a shot in the Travers,’ “ Guillot said.

Guillot said Laoban came out of the Jim Dandy in good order. Guillot had run Laoban in five stakes before then, but noted that the horse ran his best when he was stabled for an extended period at the track at which he raced. Laoban was stabled at Aqueduct for 12 days before finishing second in the Grade 3 Gotham. He was stabled at Keeneland when he ran a decent fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass.

“I school the [heck] out of him because he gets all worked up,” Guillot said. “I can’t really train him that hard; he doesn’t do well if I overtrain him. That’s why I work him fast because I keep fitness in him. He just jogs. He never gallops.”

Laoban ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.39 and earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Asked about Laoban negotiating another eight of a mile in the Travers, Guillot said, “If anything, the last five or six jumps I separated myself from them another half-length. It wasn’t like they were closing on me and I was coming to a crawl.”

Many of the horses Laoban defeated in the Jim Dandy will point to the Travers.

Governor Malibu, who outfinished Destin to get second by a neck, will aim for the Travers, trainer Christophe Clement said.

“He will stay, that not’s the problem,” Clement said about the 1 1/4 miles. “If the horse is healthy he will be there.”

Todd Pletcher said Destin remains a bit of an unfocused horse and that he may experiment by using a shadow roll.

“I think part of it is just experience and him learning how to polish off a race,” Pletcher said. “We might play with a shadow roll or something like that, probably experiment a little bit in his breezes.”

Creator, who did little running in the Jim Dandy finishing last, will point to the Travers said Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm, which owns the colt along with Bobby Flay. Walden said trainer Steve Asmussen told him that Creator a few cuts on a front leg, but otherwise was okay.

Walden also said he hopes to run Gettysburg in the Travers. Gettysburg acted as a pacesetter for Creator in the Belmont Stakes. Gettysburg could run in Saturday’s West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer, Walden said.

Mohaymen was a huge disappointment in the Jim Dandy running fourth, in what was his first start since the Kentucky Derby. Though Mohaymen stumbled at the start, neither trainer Kiaran McLaughlin nor jockey Junior Alvarado felt that was a legitimate excuse.

“I thought he recovered quickly and it wasn’t a big deal,” McLaughlin said. “I just felt like the trip wasn’t ideal, in tight all the way taking dirt a long way - not that he hasn’t taken dirt before. We talked about trying to get outside in the clear early but it didn’t work out. It’s disappointing any way you look at it, fourth beaten five lengths. Unusual result, just an unusual race; who won it and how they won it.”

McLaughlin said he would talk to Rick Nichols of Shadwell Farm to discuss whether to run back in the Travers.

“We don’t have a plan yet,” McLaughlin said. “He cooled out in four minutes, took three sips of water, just hard to figure out what’s going on. He’s become a little bit of a puzzle for us.”

Others pointing to the Travers include Connect, Gift Box, and Forever d’Oro - the top three finishers from Friday’s Curlin Stakes - and My Man Sam, the Blue Grass runner-up, who finished second in an allowance race here on July 23.