8/26 (SAR): 148th Travers Day (5 G1's, G2 undercard)

[RolloTomasi]

Arnaud Delacour seems to be coming into the weekend with a hot hand for the Forego (Divining Rod) and Allen Jerkens (No Dozing). Not sure if Divining Rod will make the quick turnaround in 2 weeks from his last race, but love the parallel cut-backs for both horses and the twin small field 7 furlong minor stakes tuneups at Laurel for these Grade 1s.

Divining Rod was on the cusp of breaking out last year when he gave the much-heralded but ultimately ill-fated Connect all he could handle in the Cigar Mile. If he pulls this off he and Accelerate will keep the BC Dirt Mile legit for at least another year.

No Dozing has a lot to prove, especially against the bunch lining up for the Allen Jerkens, but he's unbeaten at less than a mile (3 for 3) and at the very least he will do enough to warrant summer book favorite for the Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct.

[RHT2004]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Arnaud Delacour seems to be coming into the weekend with a hot hand for the Forego (Divining Rod) and Allen Jerkens (No Dozing). Not sure if Divining Rod will make the quick turnaround in 2 weeks from his last race, but love the parallel cut-backs for both horses and the twin small field 7 furlong minor stakes tuneups at Laurel for these Grade 1s.

Divining Rod was on the cusp of breaking out last year when he gave the much-heralded but ultimately ill-fated Connect all he could handle in the Cigar Mile. If he pulls this off he and Accelerate will keep the BC Dirt Mile legit for at least another year.

No Dozing has a lot to prove, especially against the bunch lining up for the Allen Jerkens, but he's unbeaten at less than a mile (3 for 3) and at the very least he will do enough to warrant summer book favorite for the Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct.

He's a very solid trainer, but i think both of those horses are in deep.

[RHT2004]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Arnaud Delacour seems to be coming into the weekend with a hot hand for the Forego (Divining Rod) and Allen Jerkens (No Dozing). Not sure if Divining Rod will make the quick turnaround in 2 weeks from his last race, but love the parallel cut-backs for both horses and the twin small field 7 furlong minor stakes tuneups at Laurel for these Grade 1s.

Divining Rod was on the cusp of breaking out last year when he gave the much-heralded but ultimately ill-fated Connect all he could handle in the Cigar Mile. If he pulls this off he and Accelerate will keep the BC Dirt Mile legit for at least another year.

No Dozing has a lot to prove, especially against the bunch lining up for the Allen Jerkens, but he's unbeaten at less than a mile (3 for 3) and at the very least he will do enough to warrant summer book favorite for the Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct.

BC mile? Isn't that Mor Spirit's long term goal?

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by RHT2004

BC mile? Isn't that Mor Spirit's long term goal?

Considering Mor Spirit's last work was 10 days ago and was 70/70 I don't know how much of a factor he is going to be the rest of this year.

[Kasept]

The Travers field, in post order and with riders and morning-line odds:

1. Cloud Computing (Castellano, 8-1)
2. Giuseppe the Great (Tyler Gaffalione, 20-1)
3. West Coast (Mike Smith, 4-1)
4. Tapwrit (Jose Ortiz, 7-2)
5. Good Samaritan (Joel Rosario, 5-1)
6. Girvin (Robby Albarado, 10-1)
7. Always Dreaming (John Velazquez, 6-1)
8. Lookin At Lee (Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1)
9. McCraken (Brian Hernandez Jr., 12-1)
10. Irap (Mario Gutierrez, 8-1)
11. Gunnevera (Edgard Zayas, 20-1)
12. Fayeq (Luis Saez, 30-1)

[cakes44]

7 horses that ran in the KD are in. That has to be some kind of record for the Travers.

[SniperSB23]

Derby, Preakness, Belmont winners, top 2 from the Dandy and Haskell, Derby runner up, and by post time none of them will likely wind up the favorite. Not the fastest Travers field ever assembled but certainly has to be the best in terms of recent top two finishes in top races.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

Derby, Preakness, Belmont winners, top 2 from the Dandy and Haskell, Derby runner up, and by post time none of them will likely wind up the favorite. Not the fastest Travers field ever assembled but certainly has to be the best in terms of recent top two finishes in top races.

The 1987 Travers didn't have the runner-up in the Jim Dandy (Pledge Card) drawing just the 3rd place finisher (Cryptoclearance) instead. But the field also included the 1-2 finishers from the Whitney (Java Gold and Gulch) with the winners of the Grade 1 American Derby and Grade 1 Swaps thrown in as well. The only classic-placed horse missing was Avie's Copy, otherwise the race would have had the 1-2-3 finishers in all 3 Triple Crown races.

The overall career accomplishments of the field is staggering.