SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In a conservative sport rife with conservative decision-making, it was good to see the unconventional move to run Catholic Boy in Saturday’s Travers Stakes rewarded when the colt ran off with Saratoga’s signature event to score as tons the best. While old-school thinking might have considered it a gamble, the decision to move Catholic Boy to dirt from the turf, on which he ran so well and courageously to win the recent Belmont Derby and Pennine Ridge Stakes, was completely understandable. And for a variety of reasons. First, Catholic Boy had already enjoyed success making the turf-to-dirt switch, going from a tough trip as fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf to a runaway score in the Remsen last fall. So even though Catholic Boy’s subsequent journey down the Road to the Kentucky Derby was aborted, it was known that going turf to dirt was something he could do successfully. Another consideration was after Arlington's Secretariat Stakes, which Catholic Boy passed on, the really big turf races for 3-year-olds were over. So if Catholic Boy were to continue to target big grass races, he’d have to move in with older horses. In the Travers, Catholic Boy could remain in his age group while also competing in a big spot, a right he had earned in his recent performances. And really, why the heck shouldn’t Catholic Boy take a shot in the Travers? I mean, after Triple Crown winner Justify retired, the 3-year-olds still standing shouldn’t have scared anyone. Most have questions concerning quality and/or distance, questions Catholic Boy had already positively addressed. Conservative minds might have taken Catholic Boy’s presence in the Travers as taking a shot, but it made plenty of sense, and it paid off handsomely. Catholic Boy is now a Grade 1 stakes winner on both turf and dirt, exponentially increasing both his value as a stud prospect, and his future options career-wise. He is a true two-surface threat, and a pretty darn good one. We don’t see nearly enough of those, and it’s going to be fun watching where Catholic Boy goes, and what he does next. Saratoga’s main track has been very kind, if not outright biased, toward speed on several days this month, and that was the case again on Friday and Saturday. That, however, should not detract from Catholic Boy’s fine performance, or the performance from Travers runner-up Mendelssohn, whose early pace Catholic Boy pressed. Mendelssohn, who capitalized on a strong track bias when he won the UAE Derby, was a lot better Saturday than he was when a dismal third in last month’s Dwyer, and it does seem as though he is rounding to top form. As for some of the other Travers participants, Bravazo ran okay finishing third, but King Zachary did well to rally from last and finish fourth, and he remains an intriguing horse with real upside. Gronkowski broke slowly again and had no shot with the way the track had been playing, but he also never really moved a muscle. Good Magic was empty at a distance he doesn’t want, and Wonder Gadot was predictably overmatched. Those three were three of the most popular horses going into this Travers, but they were the last three under the wire. Travers Day Notes: ** That’s two straight years Abel Tasman edged Elate in a major Saratoga stakes race and, depending on your perspective, it’s also two straight years Abel Tasman could have come down for a stretch infraction. On Saturday, in a tremendously entertaining Personal Ensign, Abel Tasman prevailed by a neck over Elate after a bumping incident between the two in deep stretch. Abel Tasman came out at least one path late and bumped Elate, who might have come in about a half-path. The stewards decided to leave the result alone, much to the chagrin of the boo birds in the crowd who serenaded Abel Tasman in the winner’s circle. For what it’s worth, I thought the call could have gone either way, and if that’s how you feel about a foul claim, that it’s only 50-50, that alone is reason enough to let the result stand. As an aside, there was only a foul claim after the Personal Ensign. There was never a posted or announced stewards’ inquiry, which I find amazing. Or not really. Anyway, last year, Abel Tasman put Elate in tight on the rail late in the CCA Oaks and just held on by a head. I thought Abel Tasman very easily could have come down for that one, but she didn’t. The as-is call in the Personal Ensign had ramifications beyond pari-mutuel ones. With Unique Bella retired and unlikely to retain her position at the top, the Older Dirt Female division is now up for the taking, and the outcome of the Personal Ensign means Abel Tasman is currently in the division’s driver’s seat. ** Marley’s Freedom made it two straight Grade 1 wins on the card for Bob Baffert-trained Del Mar shippers with a decisive score in the Ballerina. Marley’s Freedom is now 3 for 3 since moving into Baffert’s barn last spring and is prominent in any discussion concerning leading female sprinters. ** Promises Fulfilled established himself as the best active 3-year-old sprinter in the land by completing a sweep of Saratoga’s stakes for sprinters of his age class with a workmanlike score in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes. Promises Fulfilled wasn’t as sharp Saturday as he was when he won the Amsterdam four weeks ago. But his Amsterdam was so big – Promises Fulfilled earned a 108 Beyer Figure that day, 12 points higher than his previous career best – that it is plausible he regressed a bit in the Jerkens, yet still won. ** It's an interesting point that the Forego was the narrowly slowest of the three Grade 1, seven-furlong stakes today at Saratoga - slower than the Ballerina for fillies and mares, and slower than the H. Allen Jerkens for straight 3-year-olds. The Forego, won by Whitmore, went in 1:21.46. The H. Allen Jerkens, won by Promises Fulfilled, went in 1:21.44 after a comparable early pace. The Ballerina, won by Marley's Freedom, went in 1:21.39, and that after a considerably slower opening quarter-mile. This suggests one of two things: Either the Forego wasn't that much of a race even though it appeared to be the strongest of the three on paper, or that the track has changed a bit. It must be noted that trips meant just about everything in the Forego, specifically Whitmore’s unobstructed rail run versus runner-up City of Light’s silly five-wide journey. ** It turns out that Glorious Empire’s dead-heat win in the Bowling Green earlier in the Saratoga meet with Channel Maker was not the complete function of a very deep turf course that it appeared to be at the time. That is because on firm turf Saturday, Glorious Empire led from flag-fall to finish to upset the Sword Dancer over, you guessed it, Channel Maker. Glorious Empire, who was claimed by owner Matthew Schera for $62,500 in May of last year, could have been claimed one start before the Bowling Green for $65,000 at Delaware Park. He has since split the combined first and second money from the Grade 2 Bowling Green, and he took down the front end of a $1 million pot in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer. And the male turf division remains as inscrutable as it has ever been. ** A Raving Beauty was a big disappointment in the Ballston Spa, finishing an empty fourth at odds-on in her weakest performance since coming to the U.S. That’s okay; Quidura, also trained by Chad Brown and making her second start for him, ran one of her best races ever to take the Ballston Spa decisively.