American Pharoah Staring Down Significant Test in Travers

American Pharoah has not been tested in his last three races as he was in the Kentucky Derby (above), but that could change Saturday in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has seemingly been wary of shipping American Pharoah to Saratoga Race Course for the Travers Stakes since the morning after the Belmont Stakes.
Hours after his electrifying colt established himself as the first Triple Crown champion in 37 years, Baffert noted that none other than Secretariat was upset at a track known as the “Graveyard of Champions,” when he lost to Onion by a length in the Whitney Handicap in 1973.
“I don’t want to find any Onions,” he said of the treacherous road ahead.
Pharoah did not find any Onions when he was the easiest of winners in the William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park on Aug. 2, his first race since his Belmont Stakes romp. Victor Espinoza, his regular rider, allowed him to take control from the first few jumps in the Haskell. He eased the accelerator well before the finish line.
The bay son of Pioneerof the Nile takes an eight-race winning streak into the Travers on Saturday, with the lone blemish on his record coming when his inexperience showed in a fifth-place finish in his career debut last August at Del Mar. His most recent workout — seven furlongs in a sizzling 1:23.20 last Sunday at Del Mar — led Baffert to get on board with Ahmed Zayat, the owner who longed to showcase the colt at one of the most charming venues in all of sports.
Baffert suggested American Pharoah might not have peaked.
“The older they get, they start maturing,” he said. “I can see it. He’s still maturing.”
Nine Travers challengers, though, are eager to see if six demanding races this season, coupled with miles and miles of travel from the West Coast to the deeper East Coast tracks, created any vulnerability in a colt who often looks unbeatable. Pharoah relished a wet track in splashing home by seven lengths in the Preakness at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. His coronation in the Belmont Stakes was never in doubt. He stormed home by 5 ½ lengths.
Dale Romans, who trains Haskell runner-up Keen Ice, believes the Travers may present a stiffer challenge for Pharoah.
“He got his reputation by earning it. No one gave it to him,” Romans said. “He will have to continue to earn it.”
KEEN ICE

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Romans noted that it would require a sub-par performance by Pharoah to keep him from joining Whirlaway (1941) as the only Triple Crown winners to also win the Travers, renowned as the “Mid-Summer Derby.” Gallant Fox, another Triple Crown champ, was fully expected to prevail in 1930, only to be tripped up by Jim Dandy at 100-to-1.
“If every horse runs his best race,” he said, “he’ll run first.”
Keith Desormeaux, who is based on the West Coast, has been so focused on overthrowing Pharoah that he brought Texas Red to New York two months ago. His strategy already produced one reward when the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner bested Frosted in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes. That race, and not the Haskell, is typically used to prep for the Travers.
TEXAS RED WINNING JIM DANDY

Photo by Adam Coglianese/NYRA
“We have been in New York since July 1. We’ve been at Saratoga since July 16. We’ve had a race over the track. We’ve basically been based here,” Desormeaux said. “We are not shipping in from out of town, trying to get the money and run.”
Desormeaux added: “We’ve structured his training around getting to this race in the best shape and, to me, that required us to be here this long a time.”
Still, American Pharoah was listed as an overwhelming 1-to-5 favorite despite a couple of elements that are cause for concern. Baffert is 1-for-5 in the Travers, breaking through with Point Given in 2001. Espinoza has not ridden at Saratoga in 12 years.
If American Pharoah continues to move forward, as Baffert suspects he might, the strategy, the competition, the worrisome history will not matter. The crowd, capped at 50,000 spectators, would be treated to an extraordinary performance by a horse of a lifetime.
“It’s like you and I running beside Usain Bolt,” Baffert said, referring to the world’s greatest sprinter.
$1,250,000 Travers S.Saturday, Saratoga Race Course, Race 11, 5:46 p.m. ET1 ¼ miles, dirt, 3-year-oldsTV: NBC from 4-6 p.m. ET

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

Odds

1

Upstart

Irad Ortiz Jr.

Rick Violette

Ralph M. Evans and WinStar Farm

15-1

2

American Pharoah

Victor Espinoza

Bob Baffert

Zayat Stables

1-5

3

Mid Ocean

Manuel Franco

George Weaver

Bermuda Limestone Thoroughbreds

50-1

4

Texas Red

Kent Desormeaux

Keith Desormeaux

Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar, Lee Michaels, Keith Desormeaux, et al.

8-1

5

Frammento

Jose Ortiz

Nick Zito

Mossarosa

30-1

6

Frosted

Joel Rosario

Kiaran McLaughlin

Godolphin Racing

6-1

7

Keen Ice

Javier Castellano

Dale Romans

Donegal Racing

12-1

8

Tale of Verve

Gary Stevens

Dallas Stewart

Charles E. Fipke

30-1

9

King of New York

Julien Leparoux

Ken McPeek 

Harold Lerner

50-1

10

Smart Transition

John Velazquez

John Shirreffs

Arnold Zetcher

20-1