SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Perhaps D. Wayne Lukas summed it up best when asked who is the current leader of the 3-year-old male division.
“What day are we talking about?” the 88-year-old Lukas said.
For the sixth straight year since Justify swept the Triple Crown in 2018, there were separate winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Dornoch won Saturday’s Belmont at Saratoga in a 10-horse field in which Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan finished seventh and Preakness winner Seize the Grey, trained by Lukas, finished eighth.
Add to the equation there were 20 different winners of the 25 U.S. stakes that offered qualifying points leading up to the Kentucky Derby, and it should be an interesting summer in the race for divisional honors.
In the last three years, and six of the last 11, the Travers Stakes at Saratoga has been a key race in determining a champion. Arcangelo (2023) and Essential Quality (2021) parlayed victories in the Belmont Stakes and Travers into an Eclipse Award. In 2022, Epicenter was voted champion 3-year-old after victories in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga and the Travers following runner-up finishes in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
This year’s Travers, on Aug. 24, has been mentioned as the target for all three Triple Crown race winners as well as many others. It is highly likely Mystik Dan will train up to the Travers, trainer Kenny McPeek said. Mystik Dan, who was second in the Preakness, had mucus in his lungs following his seventh in the Belmont and McPeek plans to give the horse an easy month before getting back to serious training.
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Seize the Grey, who won the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Derby Day before winning the Preakness two weeks later, shipped back to Churchill Downs on Sunday. Lukas said he would consider the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 20 or the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 27 for Seize the Grey’s next start before the Travers. Following the Travers, another key race in the division is the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 21.
In addition to his victory in the Belmont Stakes, Dornoch won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park in March. In between, he ran fourth in the Blue Grass and 10th in the Kentucky Derby, both with difficult trips.
“He’s a tough horse,” said Danny Gargan, the trainer of Dornoch. “The Derby’s a toss, the Blue Grass is my fault. What’s he done wrong? He’s as good as any of them.”
Gargan capped a memorable weekend when Society Man, 16th in the Kentucky Derby, won Sunday’s Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill. He could be a candidate for the Jim Dandy.
Neither Arrogate (2016) nor West Coast (2017) participated in the Triple Crown races but did enough in the second half of their 3-year-old campaigns to be crowned champions. Both Bob Baffert-trained horses won the Travers. West Coast added the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby while Arrogate won the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
In 2013, Will Take Charge, after getting beat a combined 45 lengths in the three Triple Crown races, won the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby, got beat a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and beat older horses in the Grade 1 Clark in November to win the award.
Muth, trained by Baffert, won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, defeating among others Mystik Dan. Muth, who also won the Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita, missed the Preakness after developing a fever after shipping from Southern California. Baffert is hopeful of getting Muth to the Haskell.
Fierceness, last year’s 2-year-old champion, finished 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby but passed both the Preakness and Belmont. He is scheduled to return to the work tab on Friday and is being pointed to the Haskell as well, trainer Todd Pletcher said.
Pletcher also trains Mindframe, who won his first two starts before finishing second in the Belmont. His lack of experience likely hurt him when he drifted out from jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.’s left-handed whip.
Add in the fact Mindframe is a May 13 foal and there appears to be plenty of upside for the son of Constitution. Pletcher could target the Jim Dandy or Haskell with him.
While anointing a division leader at this point is difficult, Pletcher gives a slight nod to Mystik Dan.
“I guess when everyone’s won one Grade 1 you got to give the edge to the [Kentucky] Derby winner,” Pletcher said. “But as we know, voting doesn’t end today.”
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Sierra Leone won the Grade 1 Blue Grass and Grade 2 Risen Star before finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and third, as the favorite, in the Belmont. His late-running style and tendency to lug in has hindered the son of Gun Runner. Trainer Chad Brown has the Travers as a target but has not yet decided whether to run him beforehand.
Stronghold, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby, is possible for the Haskell, trainer Phil D’Amato indicated Monday. The horse worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 at Santa Anita on Monday.
Newcomers to the mix, such as Batten Down, could emerge as races like the Ohio Derby (June 22), Indiana Derby (July 6), and Iowa Derby (July 6) are run in the next few weeks.
The summer’s coming. The 3-year-old division is heating up.
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