Travers expected key race as second season begins with division up for grabs
After a Triple Crown season that saw a different horse prevail in all three jewels, plus a horse who ran second in the first two make a case that he might have been best in both, the 3-year-old male division heads into the second half of the year without a clear-cut leader. That makes for several anticipated, compelling showdowns in coming months for divisional honors.
Rich Strike won the Derby, then skipped the Preakness, which Early Voting won. Early Voting, in turn, skipped the Belmont, which Mo Donegal won after finishing fifth in the Derby and bypassing the Preakness. Epicenter, a gallant second in both the Derby and Preakness, was kept out of the Belmont. Those four, along with horses like Cyberknife, Taiba, and Zandon – all of whom won major Derby preps – are in the mix heading into the summer and fall – as is Jack Christopher, who missed all the Triple Crown races but remained unbeaten on Saturday at Belmont Park with a dynamic victory in the Woody Stephens.
The Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes at 1 1/4 miles Aug. 27 at Saratoga is the next race that could attract all of the leading contenders. Most are likely to prep in either the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at 1 1/8 miles July 30 at Saratoga, or the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth on July 23.
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On Monday at Belmont Park, Early Voting and Zandon took their first steps toward their second-half campaigns, as did Epicenter at Churchill Downs, with easy half-mile workouts. Early Voting, in his first drill since the Preakness, was timed by Daily Racing Form in 49.28 seconds, while Zandon, third in the Derby after winning the Blue Grass, was timed in 47.80 seconds by Daily Racing Form.
Those two are both expected for the Jim Dandy, as is Epicenter, who received a time of 51.40 seconds from Churchill Downs clockers for his half-mile breeze, his first since finishing second to Early Voting in the Preakness. Epicenter also was second in the Derby, that following his victory in the Louisiana Derby.
The Jim Dandy is a tune-up for the Travers, but it’s shaping up as a terrific race in and of itself, as Belmont winner Mo Donegal is expected there, too, per trainer Todd Pletcher on Sunday morning at Belmont Park. Mo Donegal has won two important races this year, as he captured the Wood Memorial prior to the Derby.
Rich Strike, sixth in the Belmont after his upset victory in the Derby, will likely not have a prep race and head straight to the Travers, trainer Eric Reed said Sunday.Trainer Chad Brown said the Haskell will be the next start for Jack Christopher, who crushed his rivals in the Woody Stephens after his comeback victory five weeks earlier in the Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. The Haskell will be the two-turn debut for Jack Christopher. Every other top contender for the title already has won around two turns, but he’ll undoubtedly be favored to do so in the Haskell.
Brown is flush with quality 3-year-olds. He also trains Early Voting and Zandon, so if all three are going to run in late-July preps for the Travers, he’ll be forced to run two against one another.
Cyberknife, who flopped in the Derby and finished 18th after his victory in the Arkansas Derby, returned to winning form on Sunday at Churchill Downs with a narrow score in the Matt Winn. He’ll head next to the Haskell, where he will have to take on Jack Christopher.
Like Cyberknife, Taiba also hit reboot after finishing well back in the Derby after taking a major Derby prep, in his case the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. Taiba has been busy. After getting a few weeks off after finishing 12th in the Derby, he worked June 3, June 8, and then again Monday, all at Santa Anita, his Monday drill a half-mile in 49.20 seconds.
So, Taiba has plenty of time to gear up for the Haskell if his connections desire to travel, or he could await something like the Shared Belief at Del Mar on Sept. 3 and have a Southern California-based campaign in advance of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where 3-year-olds must face elders, at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
– additional reporting by Mike Welsch