Saratoga Picks | Travers Stakes 2024

Aaron previews the 2024 Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course & gives his top win pick from Saturday’s feature horse race.

Dornoch holds a hot hand after winning the Belmont Stakes (G1) & the Haskell Stakes (G1), but could the Kentucky Oaks (G1) champion Thorpedo Anna defeat him in a “Mid-Summer Derby” classic?

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The press release:

More than two decades have passed since the winner of the Grade 1 Haskell trekked north to Saratoga Race Course to capture the prestigious Grade 1 DraftKings Travers, but dual Grade 1-winner Dornoch brings career-best form to a strong field of eight as he hopes to complete the rare double in Saturday’s 10-furlong $1.25 million test for sophomores.

The Travers [Race 13, 6:10 p.m. Eastern] is one of five Grade 1s scheduled for Saturday’s lucrative 14-race program at Saratoga, which also features two Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers with the Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer presented by Resorts World Casino [Turf] in Race 9 and the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina [Filly and Mare Sprint] in Race 10; as well as the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego in Race 11 and the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial in Race 12.

First post at Saratoga is 11:20 a.m., with gates opening to the public at 9 a.m.

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Just seven horses have captured the Haskell and Travers, and Dornoch vies to add his name to the list that includes Holding Pattern [1974], Wajima [1975], Wise Times [1986], Forty Niner [1988], Holy Bull [1994], Coronado’s Quest [1998] and, most recently, Point Given [2001]. Two of those victors, Holy Bull and Point Given, were awarded both Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and Horse of the Year honors, and were later inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame. Wajima was also named Champion 3-Year-Old Colt for his standout season.

Dornoch also looks to join Point Given as the only horses to have won the Belmont Stakes, Haskell and Travers. Trainer Danny Gargan, who has seen the greatest successes of his career with Dornoch, said it is an honor to be atop a strong crop of sophomores this year, which includes Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Fierceness and the three-time Grade 1-winning filly Thorpedo Anna.

“It’s hard to win three Grade 1s in a row, and it’s a really tough race,” said Gargan. “I thought this year’s colts were really strong. The filly is special, and she’s as good as anybody. Sierra Leone is as good as any horse in ten years, it’s just unfortunate he’s found a year where there’s a lot of horses who are good. And Fierceness, if he shows up, he’s spectacular. If he shows up, we’re all in trouble.

“If he [Dornoch] can win this race, it would be a big deal,” Gargan added. “We just want him to have as big of a resume as he can get before he retires.”

Owned by West Paces Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing and Pine Racing Stables, Dornoch is a full-brother to last year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Mage, who finished seventh in the Travers at Saratoga in the final start of his career. Dornoch has more than lived up to his familial expectations, beginning in December with a resurgent nose victory over familiar rival Sierra Leone in the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct Racetrack.

He returned three months later to make a triumphant sophomore debut in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park ahead of an even fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass when experimenting with stalking tactics after notching three of his first four victories in gate-to-wire fashion. Dornoch secured enough qualifying points for a start in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, where he finished a troubled 10th after drawing the rail and checking hard at several points in the 10-furlong test.

The public’s faith in Dornoch had wavered ahead of the 10-furlong Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, where the strapping bay was sent to post at odds of 17-1, a far heftier price than the favored Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone and the lightly-raced second choice Mindframe. Nevertheless, a confident Gargan never lost faith in his prized colt, and felt he did not have a real opportunity to show his true ability in the oft-tricky 20-horse Kentucky Derby.

Guided by regular pilot Luis Saez, Dornoch was well-drawn in the Belmont Stakes, and emerged from post 6-of-10 to press the pace set by Grade 1 Preakness-winner Seize the Grey, who marked splits of 22.99 seconds, 47.25 and 1:10.67 over the fast footing. Rounding the turn, Dornoch overtook command from Seize the Grey with Mindframe making his move in tandem and Sierra Leone rallying from last. Mindframe stuck his head in front at the stretch call, but a tenacious Dornoch dug in valiantly on the inside and took the lead back in the final furlong, inching clear to win by a half-length in a final time of 2:01.64.

“If you look him in the eye, you’ve got to pass him,” said Gargan. “My only concern is someone getting by him at the last second and beating him at the wire. But if they range up on him too early, they’ll have a hard time because he’ll come back at them.”

Incredibly, the Grade 1 Haskell would produce a near identical result to the Belmont as Mindframe would once again edge Dornoch in upper stretch before the latter came back and drew off to a 1 1/4-length score.

“If you watch the race, he looks beat because he’s sitting there on the inside and two or three horses passed him,” Gargan said. “Not many horses can get passed like that. It’s kind of crazy to watch. He fools you, and the same thing happened in the Remsen. He got passed in the Belmont. I would like to be on the outside and not be beat up the whole way. He’s tough, and he’s a warrior.”

Bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine, Dornoch was a $325,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Saez returns to the irons from post 7 [5-2ML].

“I’ve always thought he was this horse, and we’ve always expected this from him,” said Gargan. “We’re just blessed that we were lucky enough to have him and to be on this journey and this ride with him. We’re just enjoying it.”

Dornoch faces two returning rivals from the Belmont Stakes in the Travers, with a major threat from Grade 1 Blue Grass-winner Sierra Leone [post 2, Flavien Prat, 7-2ML] as he reopposes off a strong runner-up finish to Fierceness in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun on July 27 here at Saratoga.

Sierra Leone, trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown for owners Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing and Peter Brant, is regarded as one of the top contenders in the division after two near-misses in two-thirds of the Triple Crown.

The Gun Runner dark bay, a $2.3 million purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearlings Sale, finished a narrow second a nose behind Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby, and again gave a strong effort in the Belmont Stakes to finish third 1 1/2 lengths back of Dornoch.

While both of those efforts, which garnered a 99 Beyer Speed Figure, included some drifting in the stretch, the Jim Dandy was a much smoother trip for Sierra Leone, save for a mid-stretch bump by the reopposing Batten Down to force him down deep on the rail as he made his signature late surge at Fierceness. Sierra Leone gave his all, but Fierceness dug in gamely to turn back the bid by one length. Sierra Leone was awarded a career-best 102 Beyer for the effort.

Brown, who has frequently expressed his desire to win a Travers, said his faith in Sierra Leone has never wavered.

“I’ve felt good every time I’ve run him. With his running style, he’ll have to work out a trip. He’s consistently getting faster with his numbers,” said Brown. “It seems he runs into a horse on their best day every time, but that’s horse racing. Often times it’s been his best number, too. These are high-level races. He’s just going to have to come with another career number and race and effort and hopefully work a trip out.”

A native of nearby Mechanicville, Brown spent his childhood attending the races at Saratoga with his family, fostering an appreciation of the sport that led him on the path to becoming one of the training titans in North America.

Brown said Sierra Leone is his best chance yet of winning the Travers, a race he has finished third in on two occasions. 

“He’s been rock solid. It takes a very special horse to endure all the traveling, all the workouts and the racing. He’s a very special horse and some might look at it as he comes up short a lot – I look at it as he’s consistent and he always shows up – actually the opposite,” Brown explained. “He’s a nose and a head away from a couple big wins and nearly being undefeated. I think he’s a horse that always shows up. Sometimes I’m disappointed with the result, I’m never disappointed with this horse’s effort.”

While Brown’s most likely chance at an elusive Travers conquest lies with Sierra Leone, he’ll have two chances this year as he also saddles Klaravich Stables’ undefeated Unmatched Wisdom [post 3, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 8-1ML]. The lightly-raced son of Cairo Prince is 3-for-3, including a last-out victory in the nine-furlong restricted Curlin on July 19 here at Saratoga.

The Curlin saw Unmatched Wisdom make his stakes debut with a strong wire-to-wire performance, leading comfortably at each point of call to post the tidy one-length score over returning rival Corporate Power. The effort was awarded a lifetime best 99 Beyer.

Brown expressed confidence in the colt’s versatility after winning his first two starts with a stalking trip ahead of the pacesetting Curlin win.

“He’s got very good positional speed. If nobody goes, he can go,” Brown said. “If he has a target, he’s fine – maybe better. Hopefully, he breaks clean and can be very forward in this race.”

While Dornoch attempts the rare Haskell/Travers double and Sierra Leone looks to provide a sentimental victory for his conditioner, perhaps the most compelling storyline in this year’s Travers lies with the filly Thorpedo Anna, whose very presence in the starting gate will be historic as only the fifth filly to contest a Travers since 1962. A win would make the regal daughter of Fast Anna the eighth filly to capture a Travers, and the first to do so since Lady Rotha in 1915.

Trainer Kenny McPeek, who sent out the filly Swiss Skydiver to beat males in the Grade 1 Preakness in 2020, said he has enjoyed the public interest in his star pupil, whom he has shared daily updates about on his “X” account.

“I enjoy sharing her,” said McPeek. “I think access to good horses is what this is all about. People love seeing her and she’s had a lot of visitors.”

Thorpedo Anna has captured the hearts of race fans after a sublime first half of her sophomore season that has seen her notch three Grade 1 victories, led by her first with a 4 3/4-length dismantling of the Kentucky Oaks on May 3 at Churchill Downs. She followed with equally impressive triumphs at Saratoga in the DK Horse Acorn on June 7 and the Coaching Club American Oaks last out on July 20 over Candied, who narrowly lost the Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales on August 19 here at Saratoga.

Owned by Nader Alaali, Mark Edwards, Judy B. Hicks and Magdalena Racing, the near-perfect Thorpedo Anna is 6-for-7 lifetime, including an additional graded win in the Grade 2 Fantasy in March at Oaklawn Park. She is easily the most high-profile candidate McPeek has ever led over for the Travers, a race he captured in 2012 in dramatic fashion when longshot Golden Ticket dead-heated for the victory with the favored Alpha.

“I don’t know that I’ve had a horse that was one of the lower betting choices before,” said McPeek. “I don’t think too much about it. I think she’s perfectly capable and she’s doing super.”

McPeek has previously characterized Thorpedo Anna as a “grizzly bear,” and often notes the filly’s ease in which she does everything that is asked of her. With a tremendous amount of press coverage leading up to the Travers, McPeek has decided words are no longer sufficient to describe America’s darling filly.

“We’ll let her do the talking Saturday,” McPeek concluded.

Regular pilot Brian Hernandez, Jr. has the call from the inside post [3-1ML] with Thorpedo Anna assigned 121 pounds, five less than each of her rivals.

The depth of this year’s Travers field is only increased by the presence of reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Fierceness [post 8, John Velazquez, 3-1ML], who rematches with Sierra Leone off his tenacious one-length coup of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy last out on July 27.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for owner and breeder Repole Stable, Fierceness is yet to string together back-to-back victories, but appears the most prepared in his career to do so after showing good energy to battle back and win the Jim Dandy with a smart stalking trip engineered by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.

Pletcher said he is hopeful Fierceness has outgrown his propensity for the hot and cold cycle, which includes a lukewarm third in the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream in his February seasonal bow.

“I hope he’s getting tired of it. That’s what I need. I need him to step up,” Pletcher said. “I think the Holy Bull is a little overly criticized. If you don’t count that one as a bad effort… I don’t have a great explanation other than most of his races he hasn’t gotten off to a good start, so hopefully he will get a clean start here (at Saratoga).”

This year, Fierceness boasts a tremendous 13 1/2-length trouncing of the Grade 1 Florida Derby, notching a field-best 110 Beyer for the wire-to-wire tour de force in March at Gulfstream Park. The win was his first since taking down the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 6 1/4 lengths at odds of 16-1 in November at Santa Anita Park, an effort that – along with a strong debut maiden romp last August here at Saratoga – propelled him to Champion honors as the nation’s leading juvenile.

While Fierceness fell flat when running 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, he rebounded well into the Jim Dandy and ultimately reassert himself as one of the nation’s leading sophomores, a development the two-time Travers-winning Pletcher said is more than welcome.

“His appetite has been great. He looks good. So, hopefully we have another good week,” Pletcher said. “It is a high quality field as you’d expect. It adds some intrigue with the filly. It seems extra special, so it is an exciting race.”

The Travers also features a group of up-and-coming challengers with a chance to shake up the sophomore picture, including Grade 3-winner Batten Down [post 5, Junior Alvarado, 20-1ML] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Like Dornoch, Batten Down already boasts a win at 10 furlongs, and like Unmatched Wisdom, he has also bested elders. Unlike his two rivals, he has achieved both feats at once when annexing a 1 1/4-mile maiden for 3-year-olds and up in April at Churchill Downs. He followed with a successful stakes debut with a wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby on June 22 at Thistledown, one start before an even third to Fierceness in the Jim Dandy.

Batten Down is a full-brother to active multiple graded stakes-winner Scylla [entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Ballerina] and the now-retired dual graded stakes-winner Tacitus with all three horses – and their mother, the Champion Close Hatches, trained by Mott. The veteran conditioner acknowledged his contender has a tall task ahead of him.

“We are certainly not one of the favorites. There are some other horses that will get a lot more action at the windows than us,” Mott said. “We are in there and we are going to give it our best shot. It is a nice race, and we think he deserves a shot. We haven’t talked about strategy yet – we will sit down and see what it looks like on paper. The horse is doing well.”

Also looking for a breakout win is Ribble Farms, Michael Eiserman, Earl Silver, Kenneth Fishbein and Dave Fishbein’s Grade 2-winner Honor Marie [post 6, Tyler Gaffalione, 20-1ML], who adds blinkers as he enters off a rallying fourth in the Belmont Stakes for trainer Whit Beckman.

The Honor Code bay notched a two-length victory in last year’s Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Cub at Churchill Downs, and returned as a sophomore to run a respective fifth and second in the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby en route to a respectable eighth in the Kentucky Derby after a rocky start saw him trail in last-of-20 early. He endured a similar start in the Belmont before closing willingly under Florent Geroux to land 5 1/2 lengths back of Dornoch.

Beckman, who chases his first Grade 1, said racing fresh can be tricky business.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” said Beckman. “In some ways, you’d like them to have that race cycle going into it but he’s not a really big horse, and he’s pretty easy to keep fit. The best thing we could get is a strong pace ahead of us and a fair track.”

Completing the robust Saratoga field is Courtlandt Farms’ Corporate Power [post 4, Javier Castellano, 15-1ML] for Hall of Fame conditioner Shug McGaughey. The son of Curlin was last seen finishing second to Unmatched Wisdom in his sire’s namesake race after stalking the pace and making a mild bid late.

The bay colt, a $925,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, was a tenacious nose winner of the restricted Sir Barton in May at Pimlico Race Course and makes his graded debut for McGaughey, who seeks a record-equaling fifth Travers score at Saratoga.

“I thought he ran pretty good in the Curlin, I thought he improved,” McGaughey said. “I think he came out of it to where he will improve some more. Whether it’s good enough, who knows? It’s a pretty solid bunch.”