They are all in the gate and they are off in the Legend Travers! Going to the lead it's Forty Niner, he's followed by Native Dancer, Gallant Man Annihilate 'Em is next with Ruthless behind those two. After her it's Alydar and Runaway Groom, Holy Bull is next followed by Easy Goer. Summer Bird is next with his father Birdstone and last is Street Sense. Forty Niner still leads with Native Dancer next, Ruthless has made her way to third with Annihilate Em' and Gallant Man biding their time. Alydar, Runaway Groom, Easy Goer follow with Summer Bird, Birdstone and Street Sense still trail the field. Forty Niner has given the lead to Native Dancer! Ruthless is next and here comes Holy Bull, and he brings Easy Goer with him. Summer Bird is making his move, Birdstone is coming too and Street Sense is bottled up in traffic, Annihilate 'Em has thrown in the towel as has Gallentman. Native Dancer has the lead as the field turns for home, Alydar is second closing in. Holy Bull is flying, it's still Native Dancer. He's got a length lead, and Alydar with one last gasp. Will not be enough as Native Dancer wins the Legends Travers! Alydar was second with Holy Bull finishing in third, Summer Bird fourth.
This was a little bit of a harder race to write since several of the horses I'm not sure about their running styles. So I had to figure it out by thinking. I appologize if I got anything wrong. Previews will be coming tomorrow.
Welcome to the Legends Race for the Travers! We have 11 boys and 1 girl going a mile and a quarter today. Lets me the field!
In Post 1: He won the Belmont and Jockey Club Gold Cup the same year he won the Travers and he's in the Hall of Fame, it's 1957 winner Gallant Man and Bill Shoemaker.
In Post 2: The 1978 winner whose arch rival actually crossed the wire first, but was DQ'ed. Alydar and his jockey, Jorge Velasquez.
In Post 3: In 2007, this colt made history by being the first BC Juvenile winner to win the Kentucky Derby, he also won the Jim Dandy and Travers it's Street Sense and Calvin Borel.
In Post 4: The year was 1988 and this colt was 2nd to Winning Colors in the Derby, he would win the Travers as a consolation prize. It's Forty Niner and Chris McCarron.
In Post 5: He denied Smarty Jones the Triple Crown in 2004, and won the Travers the same year. It's Birdstone and Edgar Prado.
In Post 6: He won defeated the Derby, Preakness and Belmont winners in his Travers win in 1982. It's Runaway Groom and Jeffery Fell.
In Post 7: This son of Alydar had his own rival who he denied the Triple Crown to in 1989. Easy Goer is his name with jockey Pat Day.
In Post 8: He defeated older males in the Woodward on his way to Horse of the Year honors, before that he won this race in 1994, it's Holy Bull and Mike Smith.
In Post 9: He wasn't the best 3yo in 1973, but he won the Travers. It's Annihilate 'Em with Ron Turcotte.
In Post 10: He would go onto become one of the most influentical names in pedigrees, before that in 1953 he won this race. Native Dancer and E. Guerin.
In Post 11: In 1867, she won not only the Travers, but the first edition of the Belmont. It's Ruthless and her jockey G. Gilpatrick.
In Post 12: He defeated Derby winner Mine That Bird, and ran a gallent second to future Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra. And that was before he won this race on his way to 3yo Championship honors in 2009. It's Summer Bird and his jockey Kent Desormeaux.
That's the field for the Legends Race Travers edition!
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!
Welcome to the final night of the Travers Vault. I appoligze if I missed any of your favorites, but these where ones that I felt that where interesting and involved some of my favorite horses. I've got some good ones for tonight. They are Alydar (1978), Holy Bull (1994), Medaglia d'Oro (2002) and Birdstone (2004). Tomorrow night the preview for this year's Travers.
Alydar- 1978 Winner (By DQ)
Affirmed and Alydar, Alydar and Affirmed. When you say one, you have to say the other. Starting as two year olds, Affirmed and Alydar butted head. Unfortanlly is a relativly one sided affiar. In matter of fact, Alydar finished behind Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races. However their final match-up would be the most memorable, although Affimed crossed the line first, Alydar would be placed first as Affirmed was disqualified for interference. And although Alydar won the battle that day, Affirmed won the war with the score 7-3 (That includes Alydar's Travers win). Sadly, Alydar would break his leg in 1990 and be euthanized soon afterwards. But not before he sired champions such as Turkoman, Easy Goer and Althea. However, his most famous foal was "America's Horse", Alysheba who won did something his father couldn't win a Triple Crown race by winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. And although he was denied the Triple Crown in the Belmont, he went on to finish second behind Ferdinad in the Breeder's Cup Classic, and went on to win the BCC the next year. Alysheba happens to be the broodmare sire of the late great George Washington. Sadly Alysheba was euthanized earlier this year, do to a nurlogical condition, but he will go down as Alydar's best foal. Affirmed did not have the success at stud that he did on the track. However, he did sire a Triple Crown winner in Canada in Petski. He's also the broodmare sire for an up and coming colt named Backtalk (Smarty Jones). But like Alydar, he had a fan favorite foal. The Tin Man didn't win the Derby or Preakness, like Alysheba did. But he did win the 2006 Arlington Million and just missed repeating in 07. He now lives out in California where he's owners live. Both Alydar and Affirmed are Racing's Hall of Fame.
Holy Bull- 1994 Winner
His owner passed away and his trainer became his owner. Holy Bull went in the 1994 Kentucky Derby as the favorite, however finished dismaly (like Hansel before him and Bellemy Road and Friesan Fire after him). But that was just the begging of this son of Great Above. "The Bull" would bounce back and take the Met Mile, Haskell, Travers and Woodward (as a 3yo). Concern who he held off, would go on to win the Breeder's Cup Classic that year, but it was too little too late. Holy Bull had done enough to win 3yo championship and Horse of the Year. Unfortanlly Holy Bull was pulled up in the 1995 Donn Handicap (won by eventual 2 time Horse of the Year Cigar). Holy Bull now stands at Darley at Jonabell, where he has sired Derby winner Giacomo. Concern stands in Oklahoma, where his most accomplished foal is the 2 time Eclipse winning steeplechaser Good Night Shirt.
Medaglia d'Oro- 2002 Winner
Who knew that this Travers winner would go on to be the hottest stallion this year? Not me, now of course I didn't start following horse racing until a year after this, but still. Now I will admit that Bobby Frankel is not my favorite trainer, and his owner Edmund Gann isn't my favorite owner (ironicly Mr. Gann doesn't have any horses left with Frankel, and I'll get into the interesting thing about MDO and Dolphus Morrison (You know whos breeder/former owner) at the end of this profile), but you gotta respect this son of El Prado. 4th in the Derby, he ran poorly in the Preakness (as the favorite), before finishing second to a longshot in the Belmont. Medaglia won the local prep the Jim Dandy. But it was as a four year old where he would really shine, this was when he won the Whitney, Donn and finished second in the BCC for the second stright year (he did so as a 3yo as well, both times beaten by longshots). He finished his career with a 2nd place finish in the Dubai World Cup. At his first year of stud, he stood at Hill N' Dale and got a veratiy of mares. The foals would grow up to be stakes winners Gabby's Golden Gal, Renda, C.S. Silk, Retracable, Payton d'Oro, and stakes placed Warrior's Reward. But there is one foal missing from this list. Humm I wonder... In the perenthesis I said that at the end there is something interesting about MDO and Dolphus Morrison. Here's what it is, Edmund Gann owned a filly named You, the breeder? Dolphus Morrison. Of course, Mr. Morrison sent another homebred of his to MDO, a Roar mare named Lotta Kim. He would name the resulting foal after his granddaughter. Little did he know that Rachel Alexandra would take him on a wild ride and now his daughter will try to beat the older boys next Saturday in the Woodward. Among the horses who might face her include It's a Bird (owned by you guessed it, Edmund Gann). Medaglia now stands at Darley at Jonabell after being bought just after the end of the NH breeding season. He has Warrior's Reward in this year's Travers. Not bad for a horse whose humble beginings include spending time in Montana. (See Steve Haskin's post about his beginings on Bloodhorse.com)
and last, but not least!
Birdstone- 2004 winner
Birdstone will go down as one of the most unpopular Belmont winners sadly. A son of 1996 Derby winner Grindstone and half brother to 2003 KY Oaks winner Bird Town, Stone upset fan favorite Smarty Jones in his quest to win the Triple Crown. While Smarty would not make a start after the Belmont, Stone would make 2 more including a win the Travers where he beat Haskell winner (and Derby runner-up) Lion Heart. And while a finalist for 2yo champion and 3yo champion, he would be denied both times by Action This Day and Smarty respectivly. Birdstone has gone off to a remarkable start at stud. He has a champion in Canada (2yo) and this horse happend to go off as the 2nd longest shot to ever to win the Kentucky Derby. Of course I'm talking about Mine That Bird, he also has Summer Bird the Belmont winner and stakes winner Livin Lovin. Has he had the buzz MDO has? No, but with Mine a gelding we can expect him to be running for years to come. He has Summer Bird in this year's Travers.
I hope everybody enjoyed the Travers Vault. I don't plan to do this next week for the Woodward, but I probley will bring this back for the Breeder's Cup. Before I wrap up for the night, one of my favorite members of the TC class of 06. Sunriver passed away today. The younger brother of all time leading money earner for fillies, Ashado, Sunriver won one G1 at four and finished 3rd behind Jazil (Rags to Riches brother) in the 06 Belmont.
Welcome to Night 3 of the Travers Vault. And tonight, an even bigger post as I will be highlighting three of my favorite King's Bishop winners.
Tonight for the Travers, I'm doing the 1995 winner Thunder Gulch, the 2003 winner Ten Most Wanted and the 2007 winner Street Sense. Thunder Gulch- 1995 winner
The 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner wins by coming from behind. Not bad for the least likely of his trainer's Wayne Lukas, 3 pronged attack in the Derby (the other two where Serena's Song, who of course is now 1 of two fillies to win the Haskell, and Timber Country who would come back and win the Preakness, before TG won the Belmont). Thunder Gulch, now stands at Coolmore's US operations Ashford Stud. Among his most accomplished horses include 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given. Pryamid Peak who was second to Serena's Song in the Haskell and ran second here to her stablemate also stands in Kentucky at Nuckols Farm. One of his foals is the stakes winner Peak Maria's Way.
Ten Most Wanted- 2003 Winner
I looked everywhere, but for some reason I can't find a video of this race. :( However I did find an article which you can find here. With Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide ill and Belmont winner Empire Maker also not particpating (he would end up not racing again), Wally Dollace would send out TMW as the second choice to Bobby Frankel's "B Team". However the B Team which is made up of Peace Rules, was no slouch. Owned and Trained by the defending owner Edmund Gann and trainer Bobby Frankel, Peace Rules had won the Blue Grass S. before finishing 3rd behind Funny and EM in the Derby. However there was no use denying the son of Deputy Commander, himself a Travers winner. Dollace became only the second trainer to send out a father-son winning combo. Peace Rules finished second and Jim Dandy upset winner, Strong Hope third. Unfortanlly TMW has been moved around in his stud career, he started in Kentucky, then went to New York and now stands in California. Peace Rules returned to his home state of Florida, where I believe he's one of a handful of G1 winners standing there (I think it's him Wildcat Heir, Pomory and Showing Up. Proud Accolade was there too, but he passed away).
Street Sense- 2007 Winner
The 2007 3yo class is the one that is often compared to this year's (even though as it turns out the 07 class was much healthier). This was the year that we had Street Sense, Curlin, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday and Rags to Riches. Add in Dreaming of Anna, Lear's Princess, Octive, Cotton Blossom, Xchanger and King of the Roxy, you had a really nice set of 3yo's. Street Sense was the Kentucky Derby winner with Calvin Borel on him. Although he lost the Preakness by a nose and eventually the 3yo champions. However he did come back to win the Prep the Jim Dandy and this race beating the upset minded Grasshopper. Street Sense now stands at Darley at Jonabell in Kentucky with Hard Spun. Grasshopper is still in training however he hasn't been the same horse since.
I had planned to do my three favorite King's Bishop winners, however due to a lack of time (Vol. job ends the pre-season tomorrow), I wasn't able to get it done. However, I do plan to feature Lost in the Fog, Hard Spun and Visionaire sometime in the future. When? I'm not sure yet. Tomorrow will be the final day of the Travers Vault and it's a good one with four winners. Alydar (1978), Holy Bull (1994), Medaglia d'Oro (2002) and Birdstone (2004).
Welcome tonight's Travers Vault! I'll be reviewing Unshaded the 2000 winner and Chief's Crown the 1985 winner. Unfortanlly both of the videos the embeding is disabled, so you will have to click on the links in order to see the videos.
Chief's Crown was the 1984 2yo champion male, who became the first horse to lose all three Triple Crown races while being the favorite betting choice in all of them. He did bounce back and win the Travers defeating Turkoman who would become a Horse of Year contender in 1986. Chief's Crown had an okay stud career, before passing away in 1997. Turkoman would go on to be the broodmare sire of 2001 Preakness and Belmont winner Point Given, plus 2007 KY Derby and Breeder's Cup Classic runner-up Hard Spun.
With Belmont winner Commendable in the field, the gelding Unshaded was able to upset him. The second place finisher was Albert the Great who would go on to sire 2007 Wood Memorial winner, Nobiz Like Shobiz. Also in the race would be Dixie Union who would become the sire of stakes winners such as Justwhistledixie and Milawaukee Brew who has sired the past two Woodbine Oaks winners.
Tomorrow: Street Sense (2007), Ten Most Wanted (2003) and Thunder Gulch (1995). Plus the King's Bishops of Lost in the Fog (2004), Hard Spun (2007) and Visionaire (2008).
Welcome to the Travers Vault, all this week (Except for Friday), I will be sharing each day two to three winners of the Travers and how each winner has done since that win. Today, I will be talking about Forty Niner (1988) and Sea Hero (1993) respectivley.
Forty Niner- 1988 Winner
With no Derby winner Winning Colors or Preakness and Belmont winner Risen Star, Forty Niner clashed against Jersey Derby winner Dynaformer and Haskell runner up Seeking the Gold. Also in the race was Brian's Time who was second in the Preakness and won the local prep the Jim Dandy. It was a stretch duel like the Haskell between Seeking the Gold and the 1987 Juvy champ Forty Niner. And just like in the Haskell, the Derby runner-up prevailed, with Seeking the Gold second and Brian's Time third.
In retirement: Forty Niner and Seeking the Gold would both start their careers at Claiborne Farm. Forty Niner would eventually be sent to Japan, but not before he sired two stakes winners who would go on to be very important this year. The first is Roar, who would go on to sire stakes winner Lotta Kim. But she is more known as the dam of Rachel Alexandra. The other horse he would sire is Distorted Humor who would become the sire of several G1 horses including Commentator, Flower Alley and Hystericalady. Oh yeah and a New York Bred gelding whose name is Funny Cide! In Japan he became the sire of Godolphin Mile winner, Utopia. Seeking the Gold became known as a fillies sire with Flanders and Heavenly Prize being his more accomplished foals. However, he did sire Cape Town (the sire of Bird Town who won the Oaks the year Funny won the Derby), Dubai Millnium (Dubai World Cup winner, who passed away too soon) and Jazil (Belmont winner, but more known as the big brother to Rags to Riches and Casino Drive). Brian's Time was sent to Japan, according to Pedigree Query he has had a successful career over there, but not 100% sure since PQ is not the most actrete site in the world. Dynaformer would go on to be more known as a turf sire, with such fillies as Riskaverse and Film Maker, as well as the highley touted Nicanor. However, he has had some good dirt horses as well with Perfect Drift being his second best dirt horse. The #1 spot belongs to Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, another horse who passed away too soon.
Sea Hero- 1993 Winner
The 1993 Triple Crown was won by three very interesting jockeys who would all be in the Hall of Fame. First up was Sea Hero with Jerry Bailey winning the Derby, Praire Bayou with Mike Smith won the Preakness becoming the first gelding in several years to win a TC race, and Colonial Affiar with Julie Krone who became the first female jockey to win a TC race. Sadly Praire Bayou broke down and was euthanized in the Belmont, and Sea Hero was not the same horse as he was in the Derby. However this Travers win was huge for him as he held off the Haskell winner Kissin Kris. Sea Hero now stands in Turkey, Kissin Kris sired Kissin Saint who ran in the 2003 Preakness. Also in the race was Cherokee Run who would go onto be a Breeder's Cup Sprint winner, and sire War Pass the 2007 BC Juvy Champ.
Tomorrow: Unshaded (2000) and Chief's Crown (1985)
Please consider that the Delaware Oaks and Delaware Handicap (Pending the outcome of the Personal Ensign), to become Grade 1's next year. If you have watched the past 3 years, you would know that the winners of the Delaware Oaks have had a 4th (Moon Catcher) and 2 wins (Proud Spell and today, Careless Jewel) in the Alabama. The Delaware Handicap, the past four years has had 3 G1 wins after for the winner of the DelCap (This includes a Personal Ensign win (Fleet Indian) and two Beladme wins (Fleet Indian and Unbridled Belle), this year's winner Swift Temper will try to add on to this history in next Sunday's Personal Ensign.
Sincerely, Rachel A. Levine fan
Now of course I know that the AGS will not listen to just me, and will look at more factors then just the winners. However, Malibu Prayer who ran second in this year's DE Oaks was second again last weekend in the Monmouth Oaks to Just Jenda (I should note that the defending champ was last year's DE Oaks 4th place finisher Maren's Meadow). Also DelCap runner-up Icon Project could upset Swift Temper IF Rachel Alexandra is not in the race (I should note Icon has a very simliar running style as her nephew Munnings, if you don't know what happend to him when he faced Rachel go see Invatational, Haskell, but I think you have already seen that.)
All kidding aside, Careless Jewel put away a very nice filly in Milwaukee Appeal, Funny Moon looked like the fluke and not CJ. With that being said, I'm not sure she can beat Rachel yet. The reason being is like Rachel, she has been beating up on a very weak 3yo divideson. Stardom Bound, War Echo, Sara Louise, Mani Bhavan, and Garden District all have either not started this year (Sara Louise), injured (War Echo), or just haven't shown their 2yo form (Stardom Bound, Mani Bhavan and Garden District). Now the other thing is Careless Jewel did not make a start until this year, and apprently she had a fit before today's race. What would happen if she faces Rachel or Zenyatta? Those will be about twice the size crowds that she saw today just for the fact of who it is. Last and but not least, Rachel has almost broken 2 track records and I don't think Careless Jewel has been close. Nothing to take away from her, since I've seen her in person, but as of right now she's the #2 3yo filly, where as Rachel is clearly #1. Although, Canada is bringing some nice horses to the US (Mine That Bird, Careless Jewel) this year. Here is a vid of Careless Jewel's Alabama.
Now lets hope that tomorrow, Barbaro runner up It Happend Again does well in his Canadian debut for his new connections. Next weekend is a huge weekend with Quality Road vs Summer Bird vs Warrior's Reward vs Kensei/Rachel? vs Our Edge (Who I think could be the best Barbaro/Lenoard Richards winner in awhile... well since Sun King that is). We will find out on Monday or Tuesday (hopefully) where Rachel is going next. More then likely the Woodward.
I do appologize for not having Part 2 of this weekend's preview up, some shit (pardon my French) came up, and I had to take care of that. Starting tomorrow, I will be going back in time and posting videos of past Travers, among those that will be posted include: Ten Most Wanted, Alydar (if I can find it), Street Sense, among others. So look for those everyday except Friday where I will do the actual preview. I may throw in Hard Spun and Visonaire's King Bishop wins since I'm a huge fan of those two horses as well. But we'll see!
