In what is shaping up to be the biggest race from the biggest meet of the 2009 Summer racing season, Mine That Bird’s odds of an appearance in the 140th running of the Travers Stakes. Some of this year’s Triple Crown contenders are expected to appear with Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird and former Kentucky Derby favourite Quality Road both strong contenders to line up on August 29th at Saratoga.
There have been rumours circulating that Rachel Alexandra is being prepped for an appearance here ahead of a possible showdown with Zenyatta in October. Either way, this looks to be one of the strongest races we will likely see outside of the Triple Crown or the 2009 Breeders at Santa Anita.
In a training session on August 16th, Quality Road put in a very solid-looking 1:12:76 over six furlongs over Saratoga’s main track. Quality Road picked up the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes over a field of six that included Captain Candyman Can. We all remember Quality Road making headlines on Derby day with a morning scratch seemingly undoing all of his momentum he’d gained earlier in the year when he triumphed in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes- both run at Gulfstream. The only splotch on his record came in January, also at Gulfstream, where he finished 2nd in an allowance race to Theregoesjojo. He got his revenge over Theregoesjojo in the Fountain of Youth.
Quality Road looked like he didn’t miss a beat, and with some higher profile names soaking up much of the parimutuel action, I could see him being a very juicy shot come post-time.
Mine That Bird doesn’t need an introduction. The Derby champ produced the miracle in the mud at Churchill Downs, shocking the world with a 50-1 victory. However, he remains winless the rest of the year with his most recent disappointment at the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer where he finished 3rd to Soul Warrior. This is the type of horse that needs a bit of help to win- he needs a clear path and the absence of another good closer, but when the stars aline- there’s no finer gelding over the final 1.5 furlongs. He came out of surgery today for an entrapped epiglottis and his trainer Chip Wooley says he won’t miss a beat. I’m tempted to believe him.
Charitable Man had a lot of press behind him at one point heading into the Belmont Stakes, where he was expected to produce a real performance. He’d just struck in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes over the same surface just a month beforehand, but he was undone by the finishing power of Summer Bird. That race would have been Rachel’s for breakfast had she lined up for it.
Summer Bird put in as good a shift as you could ask for during the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth, a race where I not only hit the winner, but the straight triactor. It was a fairly predictable race, but not many put the Belmont winner ahead of the Preakness winner that day. It was Rachel’s show and Summer Bird knew it. I think the distance for the Travers suits Summer Bird’s style, although he may have wanted an extra furlong or so. I think he’s a contender.
And that leaves us with Rachel. Not many of us are unfamiliar with this powerhouse filly and we all know that it’s hard to handicap this race until we get a line on whether she’ll make an appearance or not. Her record shows that she’s beatable, but on this surface at this point in the season… God, this one is anyone’s guess.
