SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When it’s come to Dornoch, trainer Danny Gargan has put himself out there on multiple occasions. His faith in the horse – well before Dornoch ever ran – has been rewarded with what may be his horse of a lifetime. A horse Gargan almost couldn’t afford to buy due to a lack of commitment from clients, Dornoch could be on the verge of becoming a champion when he bids for his third consecutive Grade 1 stakes victory in Saturday’s $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga. Dornoch, who now has five ownership interests, is looking to add the Travers to a résumé that includes Grade 1 triumphs in the Belmont Stakes and Haskell as well as the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Gargan became enamored with Dornoch at the 2022 Keeneland yearling sales when he was just known as hip 391, a son of Good Magic out of the dam Puca. At the time, Dornoch’s full brother, a colt named Mage who sold as a 2-year-old in May 2022, hadn’t made it to the races. Dornoch sold for $325,000 on Sept. 12, but Gargan needed help from Megan Jones, a close friend and bloodstock agent, to help buy him because he didn’t have that much money. Gargan had one other client, Larry Connolly’s West Paces Racing, who was interested in the yearling, but only for 33 percent. Gargan had other clients who declined to buy in, but was able to get Vito Cucci, who races under the moniker Belmar Racing, to take 25 percent. That left Gargan, who prefers to train horses, not own them, with a 42 percent interest. :: Gain a competitive edge at Saratoga with DRF's premier handicapping data — purchase our meet packages today and bet with confidence. Later that day, Gargan said he saw Jayson Werth, the former major league baseball player who has gotten into horse ownership, at the sales grounds. Gargan told him he just bought a yearling he thought had potential to make the Kentucky Derby and asked Werth if he’d be interested in buying 10 percent. Werth said yes, but the agreement was done over drinks so who knew if anyone would remember the conversation the next day. A week later, Gargan said, Werth called and said he was serious about buying in. Sold. That left Gargan with a 32 percent interest. Gargan maintained that interest until Mage, a debut winner at Gulfstream Park in January 2023, finished second to Forte in the Grade 1 Florida Derby that March. After that, Randy Hill bought a 27 percent interest and Mark Pine of Pine Racing bought the other 5 percent. Good thing they did because five weeks later Mage would upset the Kentucky Derby at 15-1, obviously making Dornoch much more valuable. “We saw Mage in Maryland,” Gargan said. “Everybody liked him, but nobody bought him. He didn’t sell for stupid money [$290,000]. Mage was a smaller, not as good-looking horse.” Dornoch, Gargan added, “is a bigger, better-looking horse than Mage.” Hill, who has been in the game for three decades, said he originally turned down Gargan’s inquiry the previous September to get in on Dornoch because his stable was going through a losing streak at the time. “In this game, when you’re an owner and you’re getting bills and no winners, it kills your idea about buying horses,” Hill said. “I was on a bad streak, I said, “Danny, no I don’t need anything.’ ” Hill, who was part-owner of the Grade 1-winning sprinter Vekoma, is glad he got a second chance to buy in. “I love this horse, I really do,” Hill said. “He’s like me, he’s blue collar, streetfighter, he does not want to be passed. This horse has more heart than any horse I’ve ever been around.” When Gargan got Dornoch as a 2-year-old, he had only trained him a little while before he realized the horse was every bit as good, it not better, than he thought when he bought him. Gargan, who has trained on his own since 2013, wasn’t bashful about telling people about it and when he told Daily Racing Form last July, “This is the best horse I ever trained” before he even ran, it raised some eyebrows. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. Dornoch’s first race came in a July 29 maiden race where he finished second to Seize the Grey, who would become this year’s Preakness winner. After finishing a troubled-trip second in the Sapling at Monmouth Park, Dornoch won a two-turn maiden race in early October at Keeneland. Dornoch’s nose victory over Sierra Leone in the Grade 2 Remsen last fall at Aqueduct was pretty impressive when you consider he took pace pressure early, bumped the rail in upper stretch, and got passed by Sierra Leone in deep stretch as the rider of that horse, Jose Ortiz, made contact with him. Yet, Dornoch still came back to win. The result wasn’t totally appreciated at the time because Aqueduct’s track that day was favoring inside speed. Dornoch kicked off his 3-year-old season with a victory in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, a victory also met with skepticism because the field’s top contenders all scratched. Dornoch, at 1-5, had to fight off 27-1 longshot Le Dom Bro to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Dornoch, who missed 10 days of training shortly after the Fountain of Youth due to a quarter crack, finished fourth in the Grade 2 Blue Grass when an attempt to rate him failed. In the Kentucky Derby, breaking from the rail, Dornoch encountered early trouble and finished 10th. Those defeats resulted in Dornoch being sent off at 17-1 in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. Dornoch set a pressured pace, was passed by Mindframe in midstretch but, under Luis Saez, came back to win by a half-length. A similar scenario presented itself in the Haskell at Monmouth when he was headed by Timberlake and passed again by Mindframe in the stretch only to come back on again to win by 1 1/4 lengths. “We knew he was super talented and could run but did you know he’d have a fight like that? No,” Gargan said. “I’ve been in racing my whole life and I’ve never seen a horse get passed in three big races and still win. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  “Believe me, it’s scary to watch sometimes. Mindframe ranges up like he’s going to go right on by and somehow he finds something and just keeps running. I don’t know how he does it.” Dornoch comes into the Travers trying to join Point Given (2001) as the only horses to win the Belmont, Haskell, and Travers. “If we could win this race it’d be huge for all the owners and most importantly it would be really big for the horse because he deserves everything he’s doing because he’s a fantastic animal,” Gargan said. Something Gargan knew from the start. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.