no, not if you think the timing of the race if wrong, and/or if AGS has not bounced back fully from the last race. perhaps he feels that another big effort right now will leave AGS out of position to recover and peak on the day he wants, BC day. getting a win in the travers would be great but if it comes at the expense of having his horse ready for the classic maybe thats not a risk he wants to take.

i don't know, I'm just trying to put myself in his shoes and try to imagine why he is skipping the travers. if the travers was the endgame he would run.

Yeah, it doesn't thrill me either. Just makes more financial sense than throwing an extra $500,000 into the purse without having any idea if it will impact the field.

The problem is too many people are taking the attitude that running 2nd in the Travers is worse than skipping the Travers altogether. Everyone is way too afraid to lose with their stallion prospects.

and Girls. :)

going with a winning formula, no doubt trying to duplicate his success in the bc races last year.









:rolleyes:

Scrap the Jim Dandy. Have Monmouth move up the Haskell a week or even two weekends. Then there should be no excuse about not showing up for the "midsummer" Derby...

That idea would make both big 3-year-old races better.....

With that said, it will never happen.

Travers update.....

DRF...

Travers gets Tiz Wonderful instead of Curlin
By DAVID GRENING
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Steve Asmussen said he was never planning to run Curlin in the Travers. But on Monday, he removed all doubt saying that the Preakness winner will make his next start in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on Sept. 30.

After watching Tiz Wonderful breeze six furlongs in 1:14.22 Monday morning, Asmussen said that horse would run in the Travers.

Asmussen is of the belief that Saratoga's main track does not fit Curlin's style. Also, after running Curlin in all three Triple Crown races, he doesn't want to overrace him in the second half of the year. He chose to run Curlin in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth - where he finished third behind Any Given Saturday - because that's where the Breeders' Cup Classic will be run on Oct. 27. In his one start at Belmont, Curlin was beaten a head by Rags to Riches in the Belmont Stakes.

"The reason the Jockey Club is a lot more attractive to me than the Travers is how well he ran at Belmont,'' Asmussen said Monday morning. "Even without having success, the fact that he ran well over it, he came out of it good and he hasn't run at Saratoga, which isn't exactly kind to most racehorses. I've had horses run down up here that have run several times and never run down, and horses that have bled up here that don't even work on Lasix. That's not an area I'm looking to go into with what I have planned for him at the end of the year.''

Asmussen said Curlin was expected to return to the work tab this week.

Meanwhile, Asmussen was very happy with what he saw from Tiz Wonderful on Monday. Over the Oklahoma training track, Tiz Wonderful came home his last quarter in 23.79 seconds during his six-furlong workout.

"He was sharp and fast; came home beautifully,'' Asmussen said.

Tiz Wonderful suffered his first defeat when he finished last in the Jim Dandy here July 29. He had won all three of his starts at 2, but was sidelined earlier this year with a tendon injury. In the Jim Dandy, he was a bit rank early, throwing his head up in the air three times in the first quarter-mile. He was in the race till the quarter pole when he began to back up.

"He got all wound up before the race," Asmussen said. "C P West broke great and kind of into him, hit his ass, and his head came up a couple of times. None of it was right, but he needed it badly. He came out of it a little feet sensitive and a little body sore, but he worked right on out of it.''

A total of 24 horses were nominated to the Travers. As of Monday, those expected to run included Street Sense, C P West, Sightseeing, Loose Leaf, and Tiz Wonderful. Todd Pletcher nominated seven horses to the Travers, though has said it is "doubtful'' he would run anything.

Just a month or so ago, it looked like the Travers could be loaded...now it's the Jim Dandy all over again. :mad:

I like Street Sense, but there are just too many options for horses to be able to duck one another now.

The options are the same but nowdays the elite choose not to participate. Though the "he may bleed" excuse was original. It is funny how the media portrayed the Curlin connections to be such sportsmen for running in the Belmont. Now we dont want to overrace him has led to conceding the Travers to Street Sense. Pipe up now Bill Finley. Or are you too busy spending your blood money from the TRF?

I was thinking the same about their 'sporting' behavior...I guess since half the ownership isn't available for bail anyway they don't need the money. :D

Great point. My take was that most would be outspoken critics of Street Sense and his connections, most would jump to criticize Curlin and his connections, but Pletcher would get a pass on being criticized here.

Personally, I thought it was BS and ludicrous to criticize Nafzger and Taffel for passing on the Belmont, but that's neither here nor there. I also think Curlin didn't throw anywhere near his best in NJ and passing on the Travers is a call Assmusen should and did make. As far as Pletcher passing, OK, I don't have a problem with it. He can and will manage his horses the way he thinks is best, and he is more qualified than me to do so. I think he is also more qualified than anyone else when it comes to his horses, but that too is neither here nor there as well.

Eric

I don't criticize horses or trainers on here since I got in trouble for the Strong Pretender debacle but believe me, in other places of cyberspace I've been all over Pletcher and now Asmussen. I've never liked Hard Spun but really think they are doing the right thing, they ran him in all three TC races plus the Haskell and he couldn't get it done so now it is time to try and get him a G1.

No, the current situation of putting the BC over these prestigious races like the Alabama and Travers is driving me absolutely nuts. Like both aren't possible. The Euros still run in the Arc and then worry about the BC and that is like two weeks out and requires shipping. I hope the trainers that are so concerned with getting a "fresh" horse to the BC rather than a well campaigned and fit one get burnt. Invasor won the BC despite the layoff last year, not because of it. With the training decisions this year you'd feel like trainers don't feel that way.