Five weeks into a Saratoga Race Course meet that has had many sparkling performances from starting gate to finish line and one that has posted significant gains on the business front, Street Sense, this year’s
Kentucky Derby champion, starts as a deserving and anticipated favorite in the marquee race of the summer, Saturday’s 138th Travers at one mile and a quarter.
The Grade 1, $1 million Travers, presented by New York Lottery, is race 9 of a 12-race card that begins at 12:45 p.m. It has attracted a field of seven three-year-olds in search of the top prize in the Mid-Summer
Derby.
But let’s be realistic, Street Sense enters the Travers a man among boys, a colt who is all about firsts.
In May, Street Sense became the first horse in more than two decades to win the Kentucky Derby after having won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, putting an end to the dreaded and seemingly unstoppable `Juvenile Jinx.` Saturday, he is expected to complete the first ever Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Kentucky Derby and Travers triple. Talk about doing things on your own terms.
`He’s always done everything good,` said trainer Carl Nafzger, who conditions Street Sense for the colt’s owner and breeder, James Tafel. `He’s always been a natural. He’s always had a great mind.`
Even rival trainers like Shug McGaughey and Nick Zito, two guys that have won the Travers and are enshrined in racing’s Hall of Fame, can’t seem to get past Street Sense.
`You go into a race like this hoping your horse has a great day,` said Zito, who won the Travers in 2004 with Birdstone. `You also hope Street Sense has an off day. He is a champion.`
For those that can’t make it to historic Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, the Travers will be televised on ESPN during its two-hour broadcast that begins at 4 p.m. Eastern.
There is also plenty of pre-race action.
The New York Racing Association will offer a $1 million guaranteed all-stakes Pick 4 that starts with the seventh race, the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch at 4:20 p.m. There is also a $100,000 guaranteed Grand Slam that begins with the sixth race at 3:42 p.m.
Parking gates and admissions open at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Travers Day. Clubhouse admission is $10, while grandstand admission is $5. There is no free admission for breakfast on Travers Day and there are no tram tours.
In addition to a BC Juvenile, Kentucky Derby, Travers triple, Street Sense could become just the 10th horse in history to win the Kentucky Derby and Travers. The select few who have done it are: Baden Baden (1877), Hindoo (1881), Azra (1892), Omar Khayyam (1917), Twenty Grand (1931), Whirlaway (1941), Shut Out (1942), Sea Hero (1993) and Thunder Gulch (1995).
A Travers victory by Street Sense would also mean the world for the colt’s 65-year-old trainer, Carl Nafzger, who won his first Travers in 2000 with Unshaded. Nafzger, a former rodeo rider born in Texas, retired two years ago, but continues to train a small, select group of horses owned by longtime clients Tafel and Bentley Smith. Nafzger is definitely in the twilight of an illustrious career that has spanned nearly four decades.
`Historically, the Travers had always been a race I wanted,` Nafzger said. `It has happened, but I want it to happen again. I’m ready for it twice. I was fortunate to win with Unshaded. To win it twice would be a dream come true. It’s the kind of race equal to the Kentucky Derby in its historical significance. It’s what you want to do. If you’re running horses, you want to be on top.`
After winning last Saturday’s prestigious Grade 1 Alabama here with Lady Joanne, Nafzger can become only the second trainer in the last 31 years to win the Alabama and Travers in the same season; Hall of Famer Leroy Jolley accomplished it in 1976 with Honest Pleasure (Travers) and Optimistic Gal (Alabama.)
`We got the Alabama last Saturday,` Nafzger said. `I just hope we can hold it all together and pull the Travers off.`
This will be the first Travers mount for Street Sense’s popular jockey, Calvin Borel. Borel has already enjoyed a fantastic summer here ` his first ever riding full time at Saratoga ` winning the Jim Dandy with
Street Sense, the Grade 1 Sword Dancer with Grand Couturier and the aforementioned Alabama with Lady Joanne. You won’t find many professional athletes that are as easy to root for as Borel.
`Calvin was the kind of rider we wanted instantly on the horse,` Nafzger said. `We wanted a really good horseman as the jockey because we thought we had a horse with a lot of talent. Calvin is a good horseman, but we could also get the loyalty of him staying on the horse. We wanted consistency and someone to come back after a race and be able to relate to us on what we did. I’ve been riding Calvin Borel for 12 years. This is not something that happened overnight. It’s a good team and this horse relates to Calvin.`
Borel, who was invited to a white tie state dinner with
President George W. Bush at the White House days after winning the Kentucky Derby, continues to enjoy the ride of a lifetime with Street Sense. It may get even better late Saturday afternoon.
`He’s a once in a lifetime horse,` Borel said. `He’s a member of the family. I’ve always believed in him.`
As for Street Sense, he enters the Travers with a record of five wins, three seconds and two thirds from 10 career starts. He prepped for the Travers perfectly here on July 29th with a comfortable, measured victory
over Travers foes C P West and Sightseeing in the nine-furlong Jim Dandy. The Jim Dandy was Street Sense’s first start since the May 19th Preakness; Nafzger bypassed the Belmont Stakes in order to have a fresher horse for the Travers and fall.
In all, seven horses have successfully completed the Jim Dandy-Travers double since 1930. Recent horses include Medaglia d’ Oro, Flower Alley and last year’s champ, Bernardini.
`The Jim Dandy was a good, solid prep,` Nafzger said. `You should see a horse with more timing, more rhythm and more fitness in the Travers. He’s a dominant colt. He likes to play and he likes to roughhouse, but when it’s finished, he’s finished. He’s not mean. He’s a smart, kind colt and he likes people.`
Street Sense has drawn post 4 for the Travers. He is listed at 3-5 on the morning line – which might look like a bargain sometime around 5:50 Saturday afternoon.
Zito entered both C P West and longshot Helsinki in the Travers. C P West, a stubborn second to Street Sense in the Jim Dandy, is clearly the stronger of the two.
`I’ve got a fighting chance,` Zito said. `I got two nice horses going in, and like I said, if we have a great day and Street Sense has an off one, maybe you have a chance at beating him. Obviously, it’s not going to be easy, but we’ll take a shot.`
C P West, with meet-leading jockey Cornelio Velasquez riding, has drawn post 2. Helsinki, who is eligible for a second-level allowance and is winless in New York and Florida, has drawn the rail with jockey Julien Leparoux.
The Phipps Stable’s Sightseeing, winner of the Grade 2 Peter Pan in May, has been patiently handled by trainer Shug McGaughey with the Travers in mind. And McGaughey already owns three victories in Saratoga’s most famous race, having won the Travers with Easy Goer (1989), Rhythm (1990) and Coronado’s Quest (1998); and both Easy Goer and Rhythm were two-year-old champions. Battlefield (1951), Native Dancer (1953), Buckpasser
(1966), Honest Pleasure (1976), Chief’s Crown (1985) and Forty Niner (1988) were, since 1931, the other Travers winners who were also two-year-old champions.
McGaughey’s three Travers winners ties him with newly inducted Hall of Famer Frank McCabe, William Booth, James Rowe and Oscar White. Only Winbert `Bert` Mulholland, who saddled five Travers winners, and fellow Hall of Famer Elliott Burch, who saddled four winners, have more Travers victories.
This time around, however, McGaughey may need even more luck because of the presence of Street Sense. Sightseeing has only met Street Sense once, a 2-and-a-half-length defeat in the Jim Dandy.
`I don’t think it’s as easy as making up two and a half lengths on Street Sense,` McGaughey said. `I’d expect Street Sense to improve off the Jim Dandy, too. I’ve always believed Sightseeing is a true staying horse and I’m hoping he’s improved enough to catch up to this bunch. This horse isn’t as accomplished as (McGaughey’s previous Travers winners), but he is athletic. Up until this point, he’s taken baby steps. My game plan after the Wood Memorial was to get to Saratoga and around two turns. I’m hoping my thinking works.`
Jockey Edgar Prado, who won the 2004 Travers with Birdstone, has the mount on Sightseeing from post 7.
Grasshopper, a good-looking runaway allowance winner against older horses here on July 30th and longshots Loose Leaf and For You Reppo complete the field.
The Field for Saturday’s 138th Travers, presented by New York Lottery:
PP HORSE TRAINER JOCKEY
1 Helsinki Nick Zito Julien Leparoux
2 C P West Nick Zito Cornelio Velasquez
3 For You Reppo Helen Pitts Garrett Gomez
4 Street Sense Carl Nafzger Calvin Borel
5 Grasshopper Neil Howard Robby Albarado
6 Looseleaf Ken McPeek Kent Desormeaux
7 Sightseeing Shug McGaughey Edgar Prado
All starters carry 126 pounds.
Helsinki will race without blinkers.
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