No Plans Yet for Travers Winner West Coast

Plans for the rest of the year are up in the air for Travers Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner West Coast, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Aug. 27.

Gary and Mary West's Flatter  colt will jet back to Southern California first thing Monday morning with the contingent of horses that contested stakes races at Saratoga Race Course over the weekend. 

Baffert, who also captured the Forego Stakes (G1) with reigning champion sprinter Drefong and watched American Anthem finish third in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) Saturday, said that he is not yet targeting the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) or any other spot for West Coast.

"We don't even know what his next start is, or even if he's going to be in the Classic," Baffert said. "Right now, we just want to get him home and then we'll figure out a game plan. Right now, we're not thinking anything for him."

West Coast, who along with his stablemates emerged from their efforts in good order, scored by 3 1/4 lengths under Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith.

"We knew he was doing well. We knew we might have to put him near or on the lead, but we weren't sure how he was going to handle that," Baffert said. "We're happy it worked out."

Baffert said he was also extremely pleased with Drefong, but at the same time was scratching his head over the performance of American Anthem.

"We're just trying to figure out what happened to American Anthem. He didn't run his race. It happens," the trainer said. "Drefong is a fast horse. It all worked out great with him. It was really nice winning the Forego because it's a very prestigious and important race."

After winning last year's Travers with Juddmonte Farms' Arrogate, Baffert and Smith became the first trainer-jockey team to win back-to-back editions of the race. 

Margoth's multiple graded stakes-winner Gunnevera, who ran second in the Travers, was scheduled to leave Sunday evening for a van ride back to South Florida. Trainer Antonio Sano said he should rejoin his string at Gulfstream Park West Tuesday morning.

"The horse goes to North Carolina, rests half a day, and then comes right back to Florida," Sano said. "He's very happy today. Everything is good."

Racing for just the second time since his fifth-place finish in the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 20, Gunnevera overcame bumping from both Irap and Fayeq at the start, and an objection from Irap's jockey, Mario Gutierrez, regarding the stretch run to finish 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Irap.

"The fractions were very easy up front. It was very slow," Sano said. "I thought West Coast would battle with Always Dreaming but there was no speed in the race, so it was easy for West Coast. When Zayas decided to make his move with my horse, it was an excellent idea. He told me the horse was going very easy. He made a nice move."

Sano said the initial plan is to train Gunnevera up to the Breeders' Cup Classic, but left open the possibility of a start before the Nov. 4 race. Entering the Travers, Gunnevera romped over four overmatched rivals in the Tangelo Stakes Aug. 6 at Gulfstream Park.

"Right now the plan is to maybe go directly to the Breeders' Cup, (but) we might look to race again if the horse is very good," he said. "It was a good race and he came back good, which is very important.

"I am excited and proud for my horse. The result is very good for me," he added. "In his last race, he won only breezing. In the Travers, I hoped to win but being second for me against those horses ... he was outside horses, he got a little bump at the five-eighths (pole), a little bump at the start, and still only got beat a few lengths."

Always Dreaming will head to WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky., Monday, where he will receive a physical examination and then have a break, trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday.

Always Dreaming finished ninth, 18 lengths behind winner West Coast, in the Travers. Since his Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) victory, the Bodemeister  colt finished eighth in the Preakness, third in the Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2), and again out of the money Saturday.

"After he arrives, he'll get a complete physical at Rood & Riddle (Equine Hospital)," Pletcher said. "We'll make a determination on the next steps after that once we get the information back."

Pletcher's other Travers entry, Tapwrit, finished fourth and will now target either the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) Sept. 23 or the Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational (G1) Oct. 7 at Belmont Park.

"We'll spend the next couple of weeks processing how he comes back before we decide on which race," Pletcher said.

Tapwrit, the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner who was the morning-line Travers favorite, was making his first start since the final leg of the Triple Crown. 

"We got the trip we wanted with both horses; Always Dreaming just didn't fire and I thought Tapwrit ran well. It just seemed like it was a hard track to make up a lot of ground down the stretch," Pletcher said. "When (Tapwrit) came off the turn, I thought he was in the right position and finished steadily but couldn't make up any real ground."