Travers matches Forte against winners of the three Triple Crown races
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A bruised foot kept Forte out of the Kentucky Derby and subsequently the Preakness. While he made it to the Belmont Stakes, it was asking a lot to win that 1 1/2-mile classic off a 10-week layoff.
That Forte was able to finish second only served to further validate him as an extremely talented horse.
With a victory in last month’s Jim Dandy Stakes under his belt, Forte goes into Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on equal footing with the likes of Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Preakness winner National Treasure, and Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo.
“You’re never going to make up for not getting to run in the Kentucky Derby,” Todd Pletcher, trainer of Forte, said over the weekend. “It would be, I suppose, some sort of a consolation prize if we were able to win the Travers against the three classic winners.”
Forte, Mage, National Treasure, and Arcangelo were four of the seven 3-year-olds expected to be entered Tuesday for Saturday’s Travers, the centerpiece race of the biggest day of the 40-day meet.
Disarm, the Grade 3 Matt Winn winner; Tapit Trice, the Grade 1 Blue Grass winner; and Scotland, winner of the Curlin Stakes; were the others expected to be entered Tuesday. A post position draw event was to be held Tuesday night at the Adelphi Hotel in downtown Saratoga Springs.
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Forte, a son of Violence, has finished first in seven of his nine career starts. His victory in last summer’s Grade 1 Hopeful is in jeopardy after the horse was found to have the medication meloxicam in his system in a post-race test. The New York Gaming Commission has disqualified the horse and issued a suspension of Pletcher, but both are being contested by his connections, including co-owners Mike Repole and Vinnie and Teresa Viola.
At 3, Forte won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby, which would have sent him off the Kentucky Derby favorite until his foot issue became apparent days before the race. He was ultimately scratched the morning of the race.
Forte ran a gutsy second in the Belmont Stakes, but still finished 1 1/2 lengths behind Arcangelo, who was coming off a win in the Peter Pan. Equipped with blinkers in the Jim Dandy, Forte fought his way to a nose victory over Saudi Crown, perhaps bothering Angel of Empire in upper stretch in the process.
Pletcher believes Forte’s last three races are an indication of his will to win.
“In the Florida Derby, he seemed to salvage victory from what looked like a sure defeat coming by me at the eighth pole,” Pletcher said. “To accelerate like he did and make up that much ground on the eventual [Kentucky] Derby winner, I was proud of him. In the Belmont, he was taking all the worst of it, got a bit of a wide trip coming off a 10-week layoff, and was still gaining on the winner at the end. In the Jim Dandy, he had a lot do with a sixteenth of a mile to go, but he’s got that personality that he wants to get there first.”
Forte and the three classic winners will likely be the top four betting choices in the race. Two horses that could slip through the cracks from a wagering perspective put in their final workouts Sunday and Monday for the Travers.
Scotland, who has won 3 of 4 starts, including the Curlin last out, worked a half-mile in 47.56 seconds Sunday over the Oklahoma training track – the fastest of 69 works at the distance that morning – getting his final quarter in 23.29 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.99.
That’s his third work since the Jim Dandy.
Since the Curlin, “his works have improved,” trainer Bill Mott said.
On Monday, Disarm, who finished fourth in the Jim Dandy, worked a half-mile in 49.62, getting his final quarter in 24.03 over the Oklahoma training track. It was his second straight work in blinkers, equipment he will wear for the first time during a race in the Travers.
“He’s going to have to run better than he’s ever run to win the Travers, but we expect him to run better than he’s ever run,” said Disarm’s trainer Steve Asmussen, who won last year’s Travers with Epicenter.
The expected Travers field, in alphabetical order, with riders: Arcangelo (Javier Castellano), Disarm (Joel Rosario), Forte (Irad Ortiz Jr.), Mage (Luis Saez), National Treasure (John Velazquez), Scotland (Junior Alvarado), and Tapit Trice (Jose Ortiz).
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