Travers Stakes

LNJ Foxwoods' Scotland (Good Magic), last-out winner of the July 21 Curlin S., tuned up for Saturday's GI Travers S. with a four-furlong move in :47.60 (1/68) over the Oklahoma training track Sunday in Saratoga. "It was a good, useful work," said trainer Bill Mott. "He galloped out well and seemed to have good energy and to be moving well. It was fast enough. I think we're fit enough." A debut winner at Gulfstream in March, Scotland was nosed out of an allowance victory at Keeneland in April before taking...

Godolphin's Cody's Wish (Curlin) had his final work ahead of the Aug. 5 GI Whitney S. Sunday at Saratoga, going four furlongs in :48.28 (9/69) over the Oklahoma training track. With Neil Poznansky aboard, the multiple Grade I winner clocked the first quarter-mile in :24 2/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 and seven furlongs in 1:27. "I thought it was perfect. If there is such a thing as a perfect work," trainer Bill Mott said. "Neil did a perfect job. The warm-up was good, the breeze went...

Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo (Arrogate), most recently winner of the GI Belmont S., tuned up for the Aug. 26 GI Travers S. with a five-furlong work in 1:01.23 (2/10) over the main track at Saratoga Wednesday. Trained by Jena Antonucci and piloted through the work by Javier Castellano, Arcangelo was caught by NYRA Clockers through splits of :24 1/5 and :36 2/5 before galloping out in 1:14 2/5 and 1:27 flat. "He was great. It was a beautiful work. Javier was very pleased," Antonucci said. Wednesday's work was Arcangelo's third...

Pin Oak Stud's Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) exited his victory in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. in good order, trainer Richard Mandella reported Sunday. The victory earned the lightly raced colt an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and Mandella said he has several routes to consider to get to that Nov. 4 race at Santa Anita. The Sept. 23 GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx, the Sept. 2 GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar and the Sept. 30 GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita are...

The team around Arcangelo (Arrogate) was still basking in the glory of his GI Belmont S. victory Sunday morning, even as trainer Jena Antonucci admitted no future plans had been mapped out for the gray colt who was taking a power nap nearby. "There is zero idea," Antonucci said of a potential next start for Arcangelo. "We know what the calendar is and what's where, so we'll let him come out of this and tell us. [The Aug. 26 GI Travers] is on our radar, but the stakes schedule is...

Season passes for the upcoming Saratoga Race Course summer meet will go on sale Wednesday at NYRA.com/Saratoga. Available for $75 through the end of May, a season pass provides fans with admission for all 40 days of the Saratoga meet, including the Aug. 26 Travers Day card, at the equivalent of less than $2 per day. Without a season pass, Travers Day advance general admission is $25. Starting June 1, season passes will be available for $85 and beginning July 1 for $95. The summer meet will open July 13...

Grade I winner Epicenter (Not This Time), who suffered a displaced condylar fracture to his right front leg during the running of the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, on Friday was sent to Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, KY, where he will stand his first season at stud this year, Winchell Thorougbreds racing manager David Fiske tweeted. The winner of last year's GI Runhappy Travers. S. and GII Jim Dandy S. had been recuperating from the injury and subsequent surgery, conducted by Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood...

Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}--Reunited, by Dixie Union), winner of the 2019 GI Runhappy Travers S. and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, was euthanized Friday after suffering a bout of colic. Bred and raced by W.S. Farish, the 6-year-old stood his first season at stud at the Farish family's Lane's End Farm this past spring. Trained by Shug McGaughey, Code of Honor was second in the 2018 GI Champagne S. He won the GII Fountain of Youth S. the following March before finishing third in the GI Florida Derby...

Trainer Steve Asmussen sent five Breeders' Cup contenders out to work Sunday at Keeneland. Grade I-winning fillies Clairiere (Curlin) and Society (Gun Runner), working in company, went five furlongs in a bullet :59.80 (1/34) in preparation for the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The duo worked through fractions of :11.80, :23.80, :35.60, :47.60, :59.80 and out six furlongs in 1:13.20. Epicenter (Not This Time), off since winning the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 27, worked five furlongs in company in 1:00.20 (3/34) in preparation for the Nov. 5 GI...

It was a relatively quiet Thursday last week when jockey John Velazquez registered his 1,000th victory at Saratoga, extending his record as the winningest jockey in Spa history. Sifting through the archives to get a feel for what was going on in the sport when Johnny V. won his first career race at Saratoga back on Aug. 5, 1990, yields a heady mix of nostalgia tinged with kismet. Although not considered a truly "historic" day of racing at the Spa, there are enough intriguing nuggets buried within the charts and...

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter (Not This Time) was in fine shape Sunday morning, a day after his emphatic victory in the GI Runhappy Travers S. at Saratoga. "He's doing beautifully. He's very proud of himself," trainer Steve Asmussen said. "The race went beautifully and it was everything we hoped for. We're very proud of his win and excited about who he is." The Travers was the first Grade I win for Epicenter, who was runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. "We wanted it for him and for...

Our sport thrives on anticipation; our business, on outcomes. But actually it can take a while to unpick one from the other—especially when even a race as storied as the GI Travers S. is not just an end in itself, but also a potential means to viability for the whole program of whoever is lucky enough to own the winner.