[King Glorious]

I honestly have never heard of a single one of these other than Grasshopper and only heard of him in the weeks leading to the Travers. It's just unbelievable how this race has fallen. It used to be routine to get one of more of the leading 3yo's to this race. Some of the top ones:

In it's first year, 1980, 3yo champion (Ark Dby, Belmont, Travers) Temperance Hill.
1981, Belmont winner Summing.
1983, Blue Grass/Travers winner Play Fellow. Ky Dby/Ark Dby winner Sunny's Halo.
1984, Preakness winner Gate Dancer and Swaps winner Precisionist.
1985, Belmont winner Creme Fraiche.
1986, Haskell/Travers winner Wise Times.
1987, Ky Dby/Preakness winner and 3yo champion Alysheba.
1988, Seeking the Gold (2nd Wood, Haskell, Travers) and Swaps winner Lively One.
1989, SA Dby, Ky Dby, Preakness winner and 3yo champion Sunday Silence.
1990, Fla Dby, Ky Dby winner and 3yo champion Unbridled.
1993, Canadian TC winner Peteski.
1994, Ark Dby winner (2nd Travers, 3rd Preakness/Haskell) Concern.
1996, Belmont winner (2nd Fla Dby, 3rd Preakness/Blue Grass) Editor's Note.
1997, Travers winner Deputy Commander.
1999, Haskell/Blue Grass winner (2nd Ky Dby/Preakness) Menifee.
2000, Belmont winner Commendable and a horse named Tiznow.

Since then though, the race has really gone downhill. I can only think of two upper level 3yo's that have gone there since then, Ten Most Wanted (Travers, 2nd Belmont) and Lawyer Ron (Ark Dby). In it's first 11 runnings, eight times there was a Classic winner there and in two of the three years u didn't, u had Wise Times (who very easily could have been 3yo champion in 1986), Seeking the Gold (two noses and 1/2 length kept him from winning the Haskell, Travers and BC Classic). It can be argued that over those first 11 years, and perhaps even through 2000, the Super Derby was a more desireable race than the Travers was. What the hell has happened?