All week I've shared some former winners of the Travers, and tonight I'll break down this year's field.
1.. Hold Me Back - Julien Leparoux
2. Charitable Man - Ramon Dominguez
3. Warrior's Reward - Calvin Borel
4. Quality Road - Johnny Velazquez
5. Our Edge - Alan Garcia
6. Summer Bird - Kent Desormeaux
7. Kensei - Edgar Prado
Right away I'm throwing out Hold Me Back, as I think he is the one that doesn't belong. Chartiable Man hasn't shown that 2yo form with the exception of the Peter Pan. Warrior's Reward is Medaglia d'Oro's best chance to get a quality G1 winner not named Rachel. Quality Road is the one to beat, however he's stepping up from three quarters of a mile to a mile and quarter. Our Edge is the darkhorse of the group and has the speed to stay with Quality Road. If Summer Bird shows his early speed again, he may be able to stay in the top three, but he is a better closer. Kensei replaces his more famous stablemate, but being the "B Team" is not bad, as he won the local prep the Jim Dandy.
Many people think Kensei won't be able to go the mile and quarter because of his pedigree. But you take chances, and that's what horse racing is. For this reason, I'm going with Our Edge in the Travers for a few reasons. 1. He's got the speed to stay with Quality Road (which is what I said before), 2. His sire was second in the Travers in 04 (The Cliff's Edge) 3. The last time his owner/trainer/jockey teamed up with a longshot, last year when Da' Tara shocked the world and upset Big Brown in the Belmont (I wasn't suprised Big Brown lost, but I was suprised by who did win a little bit). For second I'm going with Warrior's Reward, his jockey rode Street Sense in the 07 Travers (as well as his Derby win), and his trainer is trying to step out of his mentors shadow. Summer Bird to pick up the pieces in third. But this is why you run the race.
So good luck to everyone! I'll have a recap of all of this weekend's races on Sunday. Hope everyone has a great Saturday!
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