Yours truly is fresh off four days in Saratoga and the trip was…Spa-tacular! It was the 17th time side-kick Will and I have made the trek northward to Saratoga for Travers week. At the conclusion of this year’s sojourn, we both agreed that this was the best ever. It’s difficult to put a finger on […]
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A year after Arrogate, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has another big-time late-blooming 3-year-old. Arrogate began 2016 as an unraced maiden and put together a strong campaign during the second half of 2016 in a meteoric rise to superstardom. In his stakes debut, he won the Grade I Travers Stakes by 13 1/2 lengths […]
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Reversing the maxim ‘Go West young man,’ West Coast shipped East and dominated Travers foes. Agreed, the performance wasn’t nearly as astonishing as the one delivered a season ago by barn-mate Arrogate in the same event. Still, message delivered: There’s a new star in the nighttime sky! During winter and spring, as sophomores mature and […]
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Travers is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s right up there alongside Thanksgiving, Kentucky Derby, Preakness and whenever the wife and I go on holiday. That’s because for roughly the last 15 years during Travers Week my pal Will and I have visited Saratoga for racing and to hit, chase and replace […]
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Annually, during the first few months of the year, there is no shortage of Kentucky Derby lists. Indeed, for the past several years, this column has participated in the exercise by offering a Kentucky Derby Top 10 list in the weeks leading up to the first Saturday in May. Of course, following the Run for […]
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When people who do such things recap the racing summer of 2016 they undoubtedly will include as a memorable moment Frosted’s record-setting, 14 ¼-length, Grade 1, $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap victory at Belmont Park. In fact, it probably will rank right up there as the summer’s most memorable moment, right alongside Arrogate’s annihilation of a […]
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Travers Day 2016 didn’t have to be special. The stage was set for a memorable afternoon, but, as we all know, hype often outraces performance. The NFL’s Super Bowl is a national obsession, theoretically matching the two best football teams in the world. That, however, doesn’t guarantee an entertaining game. How many times in history […]
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Each season, at Saratoga, the Travers Stakes attracts a crowd. Normally, it’s ‘standing room only’ in the grandstand and clubhouse. This season, ‘sold out’ also applies to the starting gate where 14 runners are expected to dispute the outcome of the Mid-Summer Derby—largest starting lineup since 1977. Here’s a horse-by-horse rundown of the Travers, reflecting […]
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