Travers: Pharoah casts giant shadow

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The news that Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is coming to Saratoga for Saturday’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes was met with angst and consternation from most of the trainers looking to run their 3-year-olds in the race.

The main exception was Keith Desormeaux, the trainer of Jim Dandy Stakes winner Texas Red, who still isn’t convinced that American Pharoah is coming and welcomes the challenge if he does.

“He’s not coming, I’m telling you,” Desormeaux said Monday, tongue only partly in cheek. “Usually, the best trainers, the ones that keep the clients the longest, are the ones who come up with the superb excuses for getting beat. [Bob] Baffert’s got a whole box full of superb excuses. I still don’t believe he’s coming. I won’t believe it until I see it.”

American Pharoah, who put in a strong work at Del Mar on Sunday that convinced Baffert to run, is scheduled to be flown from Southern California to New York on Wednesday, arriving at Albany International Airport at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern. He likely will be at Saratoga by 3:30 p.m., jog over the main track Thursday, gallop over the surface on Friday – the public can see him and other Travers horses train from 8:45-9 a.m. on Friday – and run Saturday.

As of Monday afternoon, nine horses were entered against American Pharoah in the Travers. Post positions for the race were to be drawn Tuesday at Druthers, a downtown Saratoga bar. Trainers could enter or withdraw their horses up until the 6 p.m. draw time.

The field, with riders, as of Monday afternoon was: American Pharoah (Victor Espinoza), Frammento (Jose Ortiz), Frosted (Joel Rosario), Keen Ice (Javier Castellano), Mid Ocean (Manny Franco), Smart Transition (John Velazquez), Tale of Verve (Gary Stevens), Texas Red (Kent Desormeaux), and Upstart (Irad Ortiz Jr.). Trainer Ken McPeek entered King of New York in Saturday’s Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx but was still mulling a Travers bid.

Madefromlucky, the West Virginia Derby winner, was not entered in the Travers and instead will point to the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 19, trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Provided American Pharoah starts in the Travers, the purse increases to $1.6 million from $1.25 million. The winner’s share is $850,000, and the purse is paid out to eighth place, that share being $45,000.

Rick Violette, the trainer of Haskell Invitational third-place finisher Upstart, said he entered his horse in the Travers “out of self-defense” in the event American Pharoah doesn’t ship or run. Violette would prefer not to run against American Pharoah, but he knows his horse likes this track and had a superb workout last weekend.

Violette said in addition to American Pharoah being such an imposing presence, that horse also has the advantage of being the primary speed in a paceless race.

“I don’t think the race shape works in anybody’s favor unless somebody wants to help everybody else out,” Violette said.

Keith Desormeaux said his horse has an advantage in that Texas Red has been training at Saratoga for five weeks and won the Jim Dandy over this surface Aug. 1.

“It’s just a totally different surface than what American Pharoah’s accustomed to training on,” Desormeaux said. “That’s going to definitely play to our advantage. There’s not an adverse reaction to his coming at all. We welcome it. It’s going to be fun.”

Kiaran McLaughlin, the trainer of Frosted – second to American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes – isn’t looking forward to facing American Pharoah again.

“It doesn’t change anything for us. We’re ready to go. You just preferred he would have gone elsewhere,” McLaughlin said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for the horse.”

It will be fun for those who have a ticket. The New York Racing Association has capped paid attendance at 50,000 and has stated that the Travers is sold out. However, as was the case for the Belmont Stakes, where the attendance was capped at 90,000, the secondary market is littered with tickets.

The Travers is scheduled as race 11 on a 13-race card that will include five other Grade 1 races – the Ballerina, Forego, King’s Bishop, Personal Ensign, and Sword Dancer – and the Grade 2 Ballston Spa. Entries for those races were to be taken Wednesday.

NBC will televise the Travers in a two-hour program from 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern. The Travers is slated for 5:46 p.m.

The long-range forecast calls for partly sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid-80s with no chance of rain.