Keen Ice Upsets American Pharoah in the Travers

The 'Graveyard of Favorites' has claimed another.

Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), favored at 1-5 in Saturday's GI Travers S. at Saratoga, gamely turned back Frosted (Tapit) in midstretch after being pressed by the gray throughout testing fractions and looked to be on his way to his ninth straight victory. But then Keen Ice (Curlin) entered the picture.

Off at odds of 16-1, the Donegal colorbearer came charging on the outside in deep stretch and forged past the Zayat homebred by 3/4 of a length to stun the capacity crowd of 50,000.

“I feel bad for the horse, getting beat like that,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert commented. “Just listening to [jockey] Victor [Espinoza's commentary], you can just tell, he wasn't on his A-game today. He tried hard, he looked like he was done way early and he kept fighting on. The winner ran a great race. Pharoah, he dug in today…he didn't bring his A-game.”

Whirlaway remains the only Triple Crown hero to annex the 'Mid-Summer Derby.' Onion pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Saratoga's illustrious history when defeating the mighty Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney. Baffert wasn't ready to comment on when or if we would see American Pharoah race again in the immediate aftermath. “I don't know, I wanted to see how taxing this race was on him,” Baffert responded. “This is something we have to sit and figure out, I'm not really used to being in the position with him, so it's sort of hard to digest right now.”

Keen Ice, meanwhile, chased home American Pharoah in his last three attempts, finishing seventh in the GI Kentucky Derby May 2, third in the GI Belmont S. June 6 and second in the GI Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Aug. 2.

Keen Ice tracked from fifth as American Pharoah was shadowed by GI Wood Memorial winner Frosted through solid early splits of :24.28, :48.30 and six furlongs in 1:11.48. Frosted had his nose in front turning for home, but the seven-time Grade I winner battled back and kicked clear in mid-stretch. Keen Ice was just winding up at that point, though, and came charging up on the outside to collar American Pharoah in the final strides and pull off the monumental upset.

“We were watching the race in the office and I think sprinting over [to the winner's circle] is the first time I've run in a long time,” trainer Dale Romans said. “[Owner] Jerry Crawford called me this morning and said, 'Let's put him in the race. We don't need to run second again in a Grade I, let's try to win.' We put him in the race and Javier [Castellano] rode him perfect. He was never far out of it and turning for home you could almost tell he was going to win.”

Keen Ice had not gotten his picture taken since a Churchill Downs maiden win at second asking last September. He showed late interest to complete the trifecta in the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct in November and the GII Risen Star at Fair Grounds in February. He earned his way to the Triple Crown series with a well-beaten fourth in the GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 28.

Castellano, now a five-time winner of the Travers, added, “I followed those two horses [American Pharoah and Frosted] and I just kept tracking and following with them. At some point when turning for home, I saw the horses slow down and start coming back to me so I knew that I had a chance to win the race. I expected this kind of effort from him today, after I worked him the one time last week. We had a good fit and I thought I had a real good chance to win the race. My horse ran a hard race and to beat American Pharoah, that's a good race.”

Keen Ice is listed as the only foal from produced by Medomak (Awesome Again), an unplaced half-sister to GIII Salvator Mile H. winner and Haskell runner-up Coal Play (Mineshaft). There are 25 partners in Keen Ice, according to Donegal head Crawford.

“First of all, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to Team Zayat for bringing American Pharaoh here today,” Crawford said. “The reason this is a great victory for us is because they were willing to be true sportsmen. They made this race as huge as it was, probably one of the biggest ever. So I'm grateful to them for being true sportsmen.”

He continued, “Our horse has gotten better every single race. He's been coming and coming and coming. You saw that in the Haskell, even though it was not his preferred distance. Today was a distance he likes a little better. I can't say I'm surprised by the outcome. Obviously, I'm pleased. I didn't think we were an even- money shot or anything like that, but I thought we were going to run really well.”

Saturday, Saratoga
TRAVERS S.-GI, $1,600,000, SAR, 8-29, 3yo, 1 1/4m, 2:01.57, ft.
1–#@&KEEN ICE, 126, c, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Medomak, by Awesome Again
2nd Dam: Wiscasset, by Kris S.
3rd Dam: Tara Roma, by Lyphard
($48,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV; $120,000 Ylg '13
KEESEP). O-Donegal Racing; B-Glencrest Farm LLC
(KY); T-Dale L. Romans; J-Javier Castellano.
$850,000. Lifetime Record: 11-2-1-3, $1,490,395.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. [bullet ad=”fourstar-salesgrad”][bullet ad=”kbif-g1″][bullet ad=”performance-genetics-sales-select”] 2–American Pharoah, 126, c, 3, Pioneerof the Nile— Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman.
($300,000 Ylg '13 FTSAUG). O-Zayat Stables, LLC;
B-Zayat Stables (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $270,000. [bullet ad=”vanmeter-american-pharoah-shell”][bullet ad=”taylor-made-raisedconsigned-for-zayat-stables”][bullet ad=”mckathan-brothers-training-grad”][bullet ad=”eqb-heartscanauctionclient”] 3–Frosted, 126, c, 3, Tapit">Tapit–Fast Cookie, by Deputy
Minister. O-Godolphin Racing LLC; B-Darley (KY);
T-Kiaran P. McLaughlin. $150,000.
Margins: 3/4, 2 1/4, 2HF. Odds: 16.00, 0.35, 7.60.
Also Ran: Upstart, Texas Red, Frammento, Smart Transition, Tale of Verve, Mid Ocean, King of New York. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.