Travers

'TDN Rising Star' and MGISW Forte (Violence), off since his disappointing fourth-place finish in the GI Travers S. Aug. 26, is receiving treatment for a quarter crack. His connections, including trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole, still believe there is time to prepare him for a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 4. Per the Daily Racing Form, farrier Ian McKinlay patched the quarter crack on Forte's left front foot and the horse has been training at Churchill Downs, where he galloped Sunday morning....

In many ways, it was a 'good' problem to have. Having added a maiden success in the GI Kentucky Derby to his Hall of Fame resume at long last aboard Mage (Good Magic) in early May, jockey Javier Castellano continued a magical ride when teaming with Jena Antonucci to make history in the GI Belmont S. on the progressive Arcangelo (Arrogate), as the connections of Mage turned their collective attention to the second half of the season. Mage resumed with a very good runner-up effort when reportedly not fully fit...

It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...

Norm Casse trainee Burning Bright (Empire Maker) crashed through the temporary rail in Wednesday's race 7 at Saratoga, the 1 5/8-mile John's Call S. on the grass, with all early reports indicating the 6-year-old gelding, who collapsed and died, sustained a probable cardiac event. The Equibase chart stated Burning Bright "suffered a fatal cardiac event on the second turn and hit the rail then fell." Jockey Luis Saez was alert and conscious following the spill, but was strapped to a backboard by attending paramedics and sent by ambulance to Albany...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With the three winners of the Triple Crown races gathered for just the fourth time in the GI Travers S. Saturday, will history repeat itself? Will a horse that did not run in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. or the GI Belmont S. deliver an upset in the 154th Travers? That is how it played out in 1918 with Sun Briar, again in 1982 with Runaway Groom and six years ago when West Coast won the 2017 running of Saratoga's oldest stakes race. If...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It turned out that a non-decision is precisely what settled who would ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Travers. Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano rode both horses to their victories in the Triple Crown series and had his choice of which one to ride in the Travers on Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course. He holds the Travers record of six wins. Mage's trainer, Gustavo Delgado, asked Castellano on Monday to give him...

OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) breezed five furlongs in 1:01.03 (5/9) at Saratoga Saturday in preparation for the GI Travers S. Aug. 26. NYRA Clockers caught the Gustavo Delgado trainee through splits of :12.58, :24.49 and :36.35 over the main track. "Very good, because it was very easy," Delgado said of the work, which was Mage's first breeze since finishing second in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. July 22. "The rider said to me, 'no complaints.' Very intelligent and concentrated....

West Will Power (Bernardini), a last-out winner of the GI Stephen Foster S., worked five furlongs in 1:02.24 (1/4) in company with the stakes-placed Tapit Shoes (Tapit) for trainer Brad Cox over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track Saturday. West Will Power, owned and bred by Gary and Mary West, is under consideration for either next Saturday's GI Whitney S. or the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Sept. 2 at the Spa. "It's a very prestigious race. It means a lot," Cox said of the Whitney. "We'll see how things unfold after...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Four days after his second-place finish in the GI Haskell S., GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) took some small, easy steps toward the GI Travers on Aug. 26, jogging Wednesday on the Oklahoma training track. Mage shipped from Monmouth Park in New Jersey to Saratoga on Monday and was given another day off on Tuesday. He made his first visit to the track on a cool, foggy morning under his regular exercise rider J.J. Delgado. Assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado held the colt while he...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--A decision will be announced Tuesday on whether Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) will run in the GI Haskell S.  July 22 or train up to the GI Travers S. Aug. 26, co-owner Ramiro Restrepo said Friday. Mage was given a break from training by trainer Gustavo Delgado after his third-place finish in the GI Preakness S. May 20. He had his fourth timed work Friday--six furlongs in 1:13.40--at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, Ky. "Gustavo just wants to watch the horse until Tuesday," Restrepo said....

The New York Racing Association, Inc. has announced post times for the 2023 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course, which will include 71 stakes worth $20.8 million in total purses. Highlighted by the GI Travers S. card Aug. 26, the 2023 summer meet will open on Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, Sept. 4. Following the four-day opening weekend, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day. First post time is...

Following his win the in GI Preakness S. Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert said that National Treasure (Quality Road) and Sir Barton S. winner Arabian Lion (Justify) would stay at Pimlico for a few more days this week and may go on to New York for races on the Belmont S. program June 10. Though he did not rule out Arabian Lion, he said National Treasure was a more likely candidate for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont S. Baffert said he did not want to send the colts back to his base...