Artorius Hoping to Follow Arrogate's Lead in Travers

Artorius  is not just a son of Arrogate.

The 3-year-old has a bond with his late daddy by trying to follow in his sire's famous hoofprints in a rather remarkable way.

While Artorius is a newcomer to grade 1 competition, few horses have enjoyed a stretch of races as brilliant and dazzling as Arrogate, who passed away in June 2020.

In 2016-17, he streaked to wins in the Travers Stakes (G1), Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the inaugural Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), and Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) to amass the bulk of his $17.4 million in earnings for trainer Bob Baffert.

That first hint of what was to happen in all those rich races was the Travers, when Arrogate set a track record of 1:59.36 for the 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga Race Course and romped home by 13 1/2 lengths in just his fifth career start and initial appearance in a stakes.

While expectations that Artorius can match all of his sire's accomplishments are lofty, to say the very least, there are at least some similarities as the Juddmonte homebred approaches the Aug. 27 edition of the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers for 3-year-olds at the Spa.

For Artorius, the Travers, at an imposing 10-furlong distance, will be just his fourth career start and his initial try in a graded stakes, reflecting both his inexperience and the high hopes his owners and trainer Chad Brown have for the inexperienced runner.

"Arrogate won the Travers in his fifth start, but he was one of the all-time greats and that helped him buck a trend against what he was trying to do," said Garrett O'Rourke, the manager of Juddmonte USA. "We know it's not easy to win the Travers off just a handful of races, but you put your trust in the trainer and when they see all the right signals, you try. It's the Travers and that's the kind of race you take a chance in. It's one of the biggest prizes in racing, and while you would ideally love to have more experience, you'll take a chance when it's his last chance to chase such a big prize in a race just for 3-year-olds."

Artorius is one of three Travers starters for three different owners for Brown and is well behind the other two in terms of seasoning in the best 3-year-old races. He was still a maiden with a single career start when Jeff Drown's Zandon  finished third in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Klaravich Stables' Early Voting  captured the Preakness Stakes (G1) for Brown.

Yet on the day before the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), Artorius posted his maiden win in his second career start and then followed it up July 29 with an impressive 4 3/4-length score over Travers starter Gilded Age  in the Curlin Stakes, a race that was a perfect fit for him. The 1 1/8-mile stakes was restricted to 3-year-olds without a stakes win at a mile or more in 2022, allowing the Arrogate colt to avoid making his two-turn debut against Travers favorite Epicenter  as well as Zandon and Early Voting in the much tougher Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) a day later at the Spa.

"The maiden win was a confirmation of the high hopes we have for him and the Curlin was the confirmation that he could carry that speed around two turns," said O'Rourke, who tabbed the Curlin as the next start for Artorius immediately after the June 10 maiden win at a one-turn mile. "Now the Travers is the biggest test."

With Artorius the 9-2 third choice in the Travers, the Curlin was surely an eye-opener for a colt who did not make his debut until April 16 at Keeneland due to shin issues. Yet so far he has displayed enough talent to win the Travers, just as 2014 Curlin winner V. E. Day  did, and he also has a strong enough pedigree to become a grade 1 winner based on having Arrogate as a sire and the multiple grade 1-winning sprinter Paulassilverlining  as his dam. 

"With his pedigree, you obviously have high hopes for him," O'Rourke said about Paulassilverlining's first foal. "He's going farther than he ever has, which he should handle because he has strong Arrogate genes. His dam side could work against that, but Chad's not worried about it. The horse is such an efficient and relaxed runner."

But does he have enough experience to prevail in a field with four grade 1 winners? Especially when two of those top-level victories came in the Triple Crown, courtesy of Early Voting and Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike . While Artorius has just three career starts to his credit, the other seven Travers starters have a combined 54 races under their belt for an average of 7.7 each.

"The inexperience is a bit of a concern," O'Rourke said. "He's going up against horses who are battle-tested and some who are battle-tested in the classics. But that might ease a bit with an eight-horse field compared to a 20-horse field in the Kentucky Derby. Still, it's a big step up in class that will be the biggest test yet for him. He's never run against this caliber of horses before."

Six years ago, the same kind of words were being spoken about Arrogate before the Travers. So, will it be a case of like-father-like-son? Come Saturday, a mile-and-a-quarter trip around Saratoga will provide the answer.