SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott had a simple answer when asked Sunday morning why the Travers Stakes is so important to him.
“I have never won it,” said Mott, who is winless with 13 starters in 12 runnings of the Travers going back to 1995. “The majority of [winners] probably tried the Triple Crown, if they’ve gone through that and then can still manage to run in there, they’re usually nice horses.”
Sovereignty has proven he’s a very nice horse. He won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and, on Saturday, he came off a seven-week layoff to win the Grade 2 Jim Dandy by one length over Baeza, whom he previously beat in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont. It was nearly 10 lengths back to the rest of the field. Sovereignty earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for the Jim Dandy - run over a fast track - the same figure he earned in the Kentucky Derby, a race run over a sloppy surface.
The Jim Dandy was run at 1 1/8 miles and the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers, on Aug. 23, will be run at 1 1/4 miles - the distance at which he won the Derby and Belmont.
“From what we’ve seen, it seems like it’s to his benefit,” Mott said about getting back out to 1 1/4 miles. “He’s 2 for 2, it’s not like he hasn’t done it. That is one thing that he’s proven and he was kind of going away both times.”
Unlike his victory in the Kentucky Derby, when he rallied from 16th in the 19-horse field, Sovereignty was involved early on in both the Belmont and again in the Jim Dandy. Though he dropped back to last approaching the far turn on Saturday, Sovereignty quickly got involved again under Junior Alvarado, was just outside the leaders at the quarter pole, and was moving away from Baeza, also ridden forwardly by Hector Berrios, in the final sixteenth.
“Naturally, I watched, but I think [Alvarado] was just letting him get into his stride,” Mott said. “They were at the 4 1/2- or five-furlong pole when that happened, it looked like the others were asking. [Alvarado] thought if they’re hee-hawing at the half-mile pole, they’re in trouble.”
Mott said Sunday that Sovereignty came out of the Jim Dandy in good order and would likely have two works leading up to the Travers. Sovereignty will seek to become the fourth horse in the last five years to win the Jim Dandy and the Travers.
The question is, what will the competition be in the Travers? The connections for Journalism and Baeza will take their time in deciding whether or not to run their horse against Sovereignty.
Naturally, a meeting with Journalism would spice up the Travers. Journalism finished second behind Sovereignty in the Derby and Belmont and in between won the Preakness Stakes - a race in which Sovereignty did not compete - in dramatic fashion. Last week, Journalism shipped cross-country and dramatically won the Haskell at Monmouth Park. He is back at Del Mar with trainer Michael McCarthy.
Journalism has the option of staying home in California and running against older horses - most notably Nysos - in the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 30. Conventional wisdom suggests that is what will happen.
“But he’s not a conventional horse,” said Aron Wellman, president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which is majority owner of Journalism. “That’s why we’re going to reserve judgment on where we send him and when, because he’s different like that. Second morning back on the track [Sunday], he was bucking and squealing going around there. He’s a different animal and that's why Michael and I don’t want to jump to any conclusions.”
Trainer John Shirreffs said Baeza was shipping back to Southern California after the Jim Dandy. Shirreffs wants the horse with him and he likes the consistent weather and track conditions at Del Mar. For as game as Baeza has run finishing third in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont and second in the Jim Dandy, the fact is he’s 0 for 3 against Sovereignty and only 1 for 6 in his career.
“I think he ran a really good race, much improved from the Belmont, so I really like that,” Shirreffs said Sunday. “For sure, it’s always tough when you’re in the one hole, you sort of have to maintain your position, can’t take any breathers. If you drop back, you get behind a bunch of horses. I thought he ran really well and Hector Berrios did a beautiful job riding him.”
One Southern California option for Baeza would be the Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds on Aug. 31, or he could try the Pacific Classic.
Trainer Chad Brown, who sent out Hill Road to a third-place finish in the Jim Dandy and who finished first and third in Thursday’s Curlin Stakes with Chancer McPatrick and Strategic Focus, indicated he would not be running anybody in the Travers.
Mo Plex, fourth in the Jim Dandy, has not been ruled out of Travers consideration, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said. Sandman, who finished fifth in the Jim Dandy, won’t be pointing to the Travers, trainer Mark Casse said. Casse indicated the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing is a possibility, but he also planned to breeze him on the turf for a potential surface change this fall.
Among the horses who have yet to take on Sovereignty and who are at least considering the Travers are Magnitude, winner of the Grade 2 Risen Star and Iowa Derby; Gosger, second in the Preakness and Haskell; Goal Oriented, fourth in the Preakness and third in the Haskell, and Nevada Beach, winner of the Los Alamitos Derby. Goal Oriented and Nevada Beach are both trained by Bob Baffert, a three-time Travers winner.
“There's always a new situation and sometimes a new horse to deal with,” Mott said Sunday.
Whoever comes to the Travers, they will have to deal with Sovereignty.
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