Travers 2021: Essential Quality odds-on to stay atop 3-year-old division
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – At the end of the Belmont Stakes, following a demanding quarter-mile stretch battle that he won over Hot Rod Charlie and at the end of the long Triple Crown season, Essential Quality should have been a tired horse.
Instead, he was looking for more.
“One of the greatest things about the Belmont was when he crossed the wire and pricked his ears up, he was like, ‘Do you want to go around here again?’ ” said Brad Cox, the trainer of Essential Quality. “That’s what’s scary. I was like, ‘Wow, what kind of horse this!’ ”
The champion 2-year-old of 2020, Essential Quality is the clear leader of the 3-year-old division, a position he hopes to strengthen when he starts as a likely odds-on favorite in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
Essential Quality is one of five reigning Eclipse Award winners scheduled to run on Saturday’s 13-race Saratoga card. Gamine (female sprint champion), Whitmore (male sprinter), Channel Maker (male turf), and Swiss Skydiver (3-year-old filly) are all entered to run in Grade 1 stakes on the program, which begins at 11:35 a.m.
Only Gamine, in the Grade 1 Ballerina, figures a shorter price than Essential Quality, who has already beaten five of the six rivals he faces Saturday.
Essential Quality, a Godolphin homebred son of Tapit, was only a half-length winner over Keepmeinmind in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy here on July 31, but had to travel several paths wider than Keepmeinmind down the lane.
It was similar ground loss that Cox felt inhibited Essential Quality in the Kentucky Derby – the colt’s only defeat in eight career starts – where he finished fourth, beaten one length by winner Medina Spirit.
“I still believe – and no one’s going to change my mind – he was the best horse on Kentucky Derby Day,” Cox said.
The Travers, run at 1 1/4 miles, was defined as the summer goal for Essential Quality immediately following the Kentucky Derby. His performances in the Jim Dandy and two subsequent workouts have Cox convinced Essential Quality is primed for another top effort.
“What gives me the confidence is how he’s doing, how he’s training, how he physically is behaving around the barn,” Cox said. “We’re 4-5, we’re the horse to beat. With a good trip and a big effort we should be in good shape.”
Luis Saez, the meet’s leading rider, has the call on Essential Quality from post 2.
There doesn’t appear to be much speed in the Travers, so Essential Qualify figures to lay a little closer to the pace than usual. Cox noted that Essential Quality was effective from a stalking second in both the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity last fall and the Grade 2 Blue Grass in April.
Midnight Bourbon won the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds in January in front-running fashion. He has not won since, though he finished second in the Preakness.
Midnight Bourbon, who will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr, has the rail.
“His only win this year is gate to wire,” said Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Midnight Bourbon. “I would be very surprised if he’s not on the lead. I have no control over what everybody else does. I don’t know if we can get a mile and a quarter, but we’ll sure as hell try.”
Midnight Bourbon is coming out of the Haskell Invitational where in deep stretch he clipped heels with Hot Rod Charlie, stumbled, and unseated jockey Paco Lopez. Midnight Bourbon proved to physically be fine, although Asmussen said in the first week or so after the Haskell he went a little easier in the colt’s training than had the incident not occurred.
“It definitely cost us a work,” Asmussen said.
Keepmeinmind is 0 for 5 against Essential Quality, though he came within a half-length of him in the Jim Dandy.
Poor starts compromised Keepmeinmind in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Trainer Robertino Diodoro put blinkers on Keepmeinmind for the Ohio Derby and got rewarded with an improved effort. Keepmeinmind finished a close third behind Masqueparade in the Ohio Derby and then second in the Jim Dandy.
Joel Rosario rode Keepmeinmind for the first time in the Jim Dandy. The horse was a little keen early, forcing Rosario to take a hold of him going into the first turn. Rosario is hoping for a more settled Keepmeinmind on Saturday.
“Essential Quality is a really good horse,” Rosario said. “I thought we had a chance to beat him. He ran really well [despite] being a little keen. If he settles, yes, I think he has a chance to compete with him because we just got beat the other day.”
Keepmeinmind finished behind Masqueparade and King Fury in the Ohio Derby. Both of those horses are in the Travers. Masqueparade came back to run third in the Jim Dandy while King Fury, forced to miss the Jim Dandy due to a quarantine situation, ran 10th in the Saratoga Derby on turf.
Trainer Al Stall Jr. said he had gone easy on Masqueparade’s training in between the Ohio Derby and Jim Dandy. Masqueparade worked four furlongs in 48 seconds at Saratoga last Saturday.
“I thought he struggled a little bit in the race,” Stall said. “He really got on his toes afterward. His breeze on Saturday was by far and away the best of his career.”
Stall expects a stalking trip from post 6 under Miguel Mena.
King Fury won the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland in April but was forced to miss the Kentucky Derby due to a fever. In the Ohio Derby, he came with a late run to finish a half-length behind Masqueparade and a nose in front of Keepmeinmind.
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“We got shuffled back on the second turn, had to rally and still almost won,” McPeek said. “This is a good colt and he’s going to make his presence felt. It wouldn’t be the first time I ran a longshot in a race like this and actually did well.”
In the 2012 Travers, the McPeek-trained Golden Ticket, a 33-1 shot, dead-heated for the win with Alpha.
Dyanmic One and Miles D finished one-two in the Curlin Stakes here on July 30. For Dynamic One, the victory was a nice bounce-back from an 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
“He has to take another move forward,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Dynamic One. “Felt like the Curlin was in some ways a breakthrough performance for him. He was able to finish the race off more professionally than he had previously.”
Miles D has only made three starts in his career, and his trainer, Chad Brown, said his colt is going to have to run the best race of his career “by a lot” to have a chance Saturday.
“I respect there’s a true champion horse in this race that’s so impressive, and there are some other horses that are in good form,” Brown said. “It’s arguable that our horse has the most upside of the field outside of the champ. I’m hoping to build on that upside and leapfrog some of the horses that are more seasoned than we are.”
The Travers will be shown on FOX during a 90-minute broadcast from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Coverage of Saratoga’s card begins on FS1 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. before switching to FS2 from 3-5 p.m. The card wraps up on FS2 from 6:30-7 p.m.