Travers 2021: Essential Quality makes clear he's 3-year-old division's best

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Three of the first four Eclipse Award winners who raced Saturday at Saratoga were beaten at a place known to be heavy for those who wear the crown.

Essential Quality, the fifth and final champion to compete on a day of stars, was not ready to give up his throne.

Chasing a loose-on-the-lead Midnight Bourbon from the outset, Essential Quality outfought that rival through a stirring stretch drive to win Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers by a neck.

The two were five lengths clear of Miles D, who got third by a neck over Keepmeinmind. King Fury was fifth, followed by Masqueparade and Dynamic One.

In winning the 152nd Travers, Essential Quality became the 10th 2-year-old champion to win the Travers, and the first to do so since Street Sense in 2007. The only other one to make it since then was American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner who was upset by Keen Ice in the Travers.

Essential Quality, a Godolphin Racing-owned homebred son of Tapit, added the Travers to a 3-year-old resume that includes the Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy, Blue Grass, and Southwest, virtually clinching the 3-year-old title. His only loss was the Kentucky Derby, in which he fell a length short while finishing fourth.

“He’s danced a lot of dances, he’s shown up,” trainer Brad Cox said. “His only defeat was in the Kentucky Derby, where we felt like he was right there in the mix. He’s done nothing wrong, really proud of what he accomplished this year. He’s a very good horse with a fantastic resume.”

Essential Quality’s versatility is what makes him so successful. In races with speed, he can sit back and make a run like he did in the Belmont Stakes. In races without pace, he can lay close and chase the lone speed and persevere past. Essential Quality did that in the Breeders’ Futurity at 2 and the Blue Grass at 3. He did it again Saturday.

With Midnight Bourbon, under Ricardo Santana Jr., looking like the lone speed of the Travers, jockey Luis Saez made sure to get Essential Quality in a stalking position early and was second.

Midnight Bourbon opened up a 3 1/2-length advantage after running a half-mile in a soft 48.96 seconds. Saez moved Essential Quality within 1 1/2 lengths of Midnight Bourbon entering the far turn and was right off that one’s hip after a mile in 1:38.81.

The two were on even terms at the three-sixteenths pole and threw it down from there, Essential Quality on the outside of Midnight Bourbon. Ultimately, Essential Quality got in front and to the wire first.

“I always felt like I had so much horse that I could make my move and keep going,” said Saez, who won his second Travers. “You know how it is, he just passed the horse and he just stays there, he don’t waste his energy too much.

“For me, he’s the best horse, the Horse of the Year, and he deserves all the credit,” Saez added.

:: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more

Essential Quality covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.96, getting a 107 Beyer Speed Figure, and returned $2.90 as the 2-5 favorite, the last of nine favorites who won here Saturday. He joined Gamine, last year’s female champion sprinter who won the Ballerina earlier on Saturday’s card as the second 2020 Eclipse champion to win Saturday. Eclipse Award winners Channel Maker (sixth in the Sword Dancer), Swiss Skydiver (fifth in the Personal Ensign) and Whitmore (fifth in the Forego) were not as fortunate.

Midnight Bourbon, second in the Preakness, was making his first start since he clipped heels with Hot Rod Charlie, stumbled and unseated jockey Paco Lopez in the Haskell on July 17. That cost the colt some training time, but he bounced back with a terrific effort.

“We got the racetrack, the set up, and the chance that we wanted,” Midnight Bourbon trainer Steve Asmussen said. “I thought Ricardo gave him the right trip and I’m very proud of the horse. “He kept running. What a constitution he’s got.”

*** All-sources handle Saturday was $51,381,515, the third-highest Travers Day handle behind 2019 ($52,129,344) and 2018 ($52,086,597).

Paid admission was 44,507.