Popular Filly Wonder Gadot Brings Top Form to Travers

In the spring of 2017, the dark bay filly didn't yet have a name.

To buyers at the 2017 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, she was hip 717 in the Eisaman Equine consignment. On trainer Mark Casse's shortlist, she was the Ontario-bred Medaglia d'Oro  filly with the beautiful neck and shoulder and a catalog page that fit the profile of what his father taught him durability looks like. To owner Gary Barber, she was the youngster Casse told him he should—no, needed—to buy, and after getting the $325,000 filly to his Ocala-based training facility, she became the reason why her new conditioner was on the phone with his client telling him to go ahead and get his hopes up.

"Sometimes after the 2-year-old sales, the horses go through stages and they take a little while to get over them. Not her. She was a monster," Casse recalled on a rainy Aug. 22 morning as he watched the subject at hand walk coolly through his Saratoga Race Course shedrow. "I mean, I can remember telling Gary a week after we had her at the training center, 'I think this filly is special.'"

The filly most assuredly has a name now: Wonder Gadot. In part because of the inspiration behind her moniker, she has developed a fan base that is flirting with transcending the sport. Ironically, many still struggle with its pronunciation, and to that end, Casse has a potential solution.

By the evening of Aug. 25, he won't care whether Wonder Gadot's name is botched as long as it's while she's being announced as the first filly since 1915 to capture Saratoga's most heralded test.

The plate on her halter simply reads, "Wonder Woman," a nod to both her namesake—actress Gal Gadot portrayed the comic book heroine on the big screen—and the audacity she has prompted. When the field of 11 for the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) breaks Saturday, the distaffer out of post 2 will have history on her shoulders as Wonder Gadot aims to become the eighth filly to prevail in the race's 149-year history and first since Lady Rotha achieved the feat via disqualification more than a century ago.

Since Casse confirmed his and Barber's plans to take on the likes of champion 2-year-old male and classic-placed Good Magic, grade 1 winner Catholic Boy, and classic-placed Gronkowski in the 1 1/4-mile Travers, Wonder Gadot's bubbling popularity has followed her recent form in reaching its greatest heights. She enters off a pair of wins against males, having easily captured the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, and the Casse team has created buttons in advance of the Travers depicting the graded stakes winner in cartoon form adorned with—you guessed it—the Wonder Woman costume.

As compelling as a 'battle of the sexes' narrative is, Casse feels Wonder Gadot's appeal is rooted both in her outward success and innate mettle. Since breaking her maiden in an allowance race debut at Woodbine in August of 2017, Wonder Gadot has made at least one start every month, amassing eight of her 13 outings this season. She is, in essence, giving fans what they often clamor for from the sport's stars, racing ambitiously and often, while testing herself against all comers.

"I think her popularity is for a number of reasons. One is her name. I think her name has made her very popular," Casse said. "When she won (the Queen's Plate Stakes) and beat the boys there, that added to her popularity. But anymore, I think the fans appreciate when a horse can run and keep running. I think she does have a lot of fans because she does run all the time.

"My dad, when I was growing up, would say to me, 'You need those mares that throw runners. Not that they have to be great horses, but they have to stay around.' And I never forgot that. So I do believe when I'm out looking at horses and looking at pedigrees in trying to get those mares who themselves ran a long time or who have produced foals that ran for a long time. And (Loving Vindication, dam of Wonder Gadot) does have that."

Both Wonder Gadot's dam and her full brother, Solemn Tribute, made double-digit starts in their careers. Hence, her own hardiness is not a stunner. It's one thing, however, to repeatedly handle being tossed into competitive fires. It takes an entirely different type to emerge emboldened for more—which is exactly why Casse found himself enamored with his charge's ability to recover and improve from each start.

After Wonder Gadot endured a troubled trip and finished sixth in the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) in November, the plan was to take her back to Casse's Ocala operation and freshen her for her 3-year-old season. The filly never got that memo, though, and after some attempts to keep her on the ground, Wonder Gadot was sent to the Dec. 2 Demoiselle Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack, where she won by 3 3/4 lengths.

"We brought her back to Ocala thinking we would give her a break, and she was wild," Casse said. "I said to Gary, 'I don't even want to give her a break, I'm going to gallop her.' She was galloping so good … so we got her ready (for the Demoiselle) at our training center. And then she comes back and is getting bigger and stronger."

The 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle proved to be both an indicator of how well Wonder Gadot handles her workload and how much she thrives when given more ground with which to work.

While she put in respectable, on-the-board efforts in her first four prep races of the year, she didn't get to stretch herself at nine furlongs or beyond again until the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), where she was second, beaten a half-length by brilliant divisional leader Monomoy Girl. After running second by a head in the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser, she blossomed in the 10-furlong Queen's Plate and 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales Stakes, winning the two Canadian classics by a combined 10 1/2 lengths.

"She won the Demoiselle at 1 1/8 miles, and her next 1 1/8-mile race was the Oaks, where she ran extremely well," Casse said. "Then she got to go the 1 1/4 miles in the Queen's Plate and then the 1 3/16 miles. So, to me, it's really about the distance with her."

Given that Monomoy Girl has shown every rival the door during a season that has already seen her amass four grade 1 wins, Casse shot down the notion that a victory by Wonder Gadot would create divisional controversy at the top. What this big swing is more about, he said, is giving a filly with stamina to burn, tactical speed, and proven ability on big stages the opportunity to use her gifts in the manner in which they work their best.

And the fact she will even enter the starting gate Saturday proves to Casse that the first call name he had for her is one that still sticks.

"The Travers is the Travers, and to win it with any horse would be great," he said. "But if you could win it with a filly, that would even be more special."