Rich Travelers Stakes Brings Tremendous Field to New York’s Summertime Classic

The highly-anticipated Grade 1 Travelers Stakes headlines a tremendous weekend of racing in New York’s upstate wonderland. The 3 million-dollar classic race has drawn a full field of 3yo stars, including the champions of the Grade 1 Bluegrass Derby and the Grade 1 New Yorker. Every runner entered has won or placed in graded-stakes company, and six of them have already bankrolled over a million dollars.

The only disappointment was the defection of Middle Jewel winner Suicidal Dream, whose connections originally entered him here, but chose instead to try older runners including Hall-Of-Famer I Wont Look Back next week in next week’s Grade 1 Bob Woodard Memorial.

Even without that one, this is one heck of a field:

FAKE HONEYMOON comes to the Travelers on a bigtime roll, having won the Grade 1 Clerk Of Scales and missing by only half a length in the Grade 1 New Yorker before that. The Bernardini colt should be closing strong at 7/1 for conditioner lennyelite.

I WANNBE A PIRATE was on the fast track for major success after winning the Grade 1 Taughannock Falls Stakes, but successive poor performances in the Bluegrass and the New Yorker lowered his stock quite a bit, as reflected by the 20/1 odds. The Sea The Stars colt was recently sidelined for a couple months by trainer simroscoe7, who hopes the time off did him good.

BROKEN BOULEVARD has really picked it up since his bombout in a Derby Lock prep. After running 2nd to PATTERN OF LIES in the Grade 2 Captain Hook, the mastermbp trainee had two impressive runaway victories in Grade 3’s, the Affirmative and the Colorado Sophomore Classic. The scratch-bred Street Cry colt steps up in class here but with his current form a big payday is a distinct possibility as the 6/1 favorite.

K’S FORBES has been dominant vs. allowance foes at 9 furlongs or less, and has a 2nd and a 3rd in three tries in Grade 1’s. The Awesome Again colt closed well in the 9-furlong Among The Thirsty Stakes to be 2nd, and was 3rd at a longish price in the Middle Jewel. The 12-furlong New Yorker appears that it was just too darn far for him, so toss that… The xledwith6 trainee will need to fire a big one to contend here at 15/1.

SOPHIES APPLE TREE came up short while closing well in the Bluegrass Derby after having won the Grade 1 Florida Derby to punch his ticket to that dance. Then, he had a really tough day in the muddy Middle Jewel and took a nice long rest for this. The mucha trainee, a son of Tapit, could be dangerous at 14/1 if he can display the fine form he showed in Florida.

THERE WILL B A DAY has been just a bit off the top runners in 2015, but it hasn’t been for a lack of trying. Of the Take Charge Indy colt’s eleven starts, eight have been with graded-stakes company. This billzelite1 trainee, going off at 10/1, has a pair of wins at this lofty level but none since last August.

KEPLER EL FATO has tried graded-stakes company twice, winning the Grade 3 Derby de Swedish and getting a 2nd in the Grade 1 Eddie Haskell Stakes. Both were on “good” tracks, and they were his two fastest speed figures, leaving the obvous question; can this Medaglia D’Oro colt match that quality on a fast track? No idea here… The bobo trainee goes off at 9/1.

SLEWGAN AWE put himself right into the thick of the 3yo picture with two straight Grade 1 victories early this year, the Vermont Is 4 Lovers and the rich Sand Castle Derby. Unfortunately, the Awesome Again colt ran poorly in the Bluegrass Derby and the Middle Jewel. However, after a bit of a rest, the lethargic trainee ran a solid 4th in a Grade 2 and an even better 3rd last time out in the Grade 1 Eddie Haskell Stakes. Mixed signals at 10/1.

BAYOU BULLET started his career quietly, with just win in five starts. Then, the Bernardini colt caught fire bigtime. Maybe it was the ol’ dirt-to-turf-back-to-dirt thing, I dunno… But whatever dixiepokerace did, it really worked. On a five-race win streak, he won the Grade 2 Preppin Ain’t Easy Stakes at this disance and with great ease. How good IS this guy? Big test today at 9/1.

BELT LINE ROAD has only two wins in sixteen lifetime starts; how the heck has he managed to earn almost two million dollars? Lots of strong 2nd’s, including the Grade 1 Bluegrass Derby, that’s how… Unfortunately, the Henrythenavigator colt seems to have slipped lately, finishing far back in three Grade 1’s, the New Yorker, the Clerk Of Scales, and the Eddie Haskell Stakes. The super14 trainee has danced just about every big dance, but he needs to pick it back up to make those 17/1 odds have meaning.

NOT ON THE AGENDA has raced just six times since his career began this past February, but he already owns two trophies from graded stakes, the Grade 3 Derby Rejects and the Grade 2 Swamps Stakes . The speedy Street Cry colt has shown he doesn’t need the lead to win, making the 9/1 shot all the more dangerous. Trained by zen1, this guy is capable of knocking off the big names and putting himself right in the middle of the Breeder’s Bowl picture.

SUSPECT OF HERESY has had one heck of a year. After pulling off a minor upset in the Grade 1 New Yorker, the Galileo out of the incredibly productive Hall-Of-Fame sim-mare colt Dangerous Reward flew over the pond and won the Grade 3 Derby de Danish on the grass. The versatile futurestar trainee goes off at 8/1 after having won over two million dollars in just ten career starts.

SWINGING BIG SHAFT earned the roses in the Grade 1 Bluegrass Derby, but came up short in the Middle Jewel and was given a few extra weeks off by conditioner mtktoday before running4th in the Grade 1 Clerk Of Scales Stakes last month at Ontario. The Mineshaft colt’s reputation has taken a slight hit with those two losses and he looks to restore that luster at 11/1… and add a big prize to that fat $4M bankroll he already has, in only nine career races.

PATTERN OF LIES has the Grade 2 Captain Hook trophy, but the Symboli Kris S colt’s other graded-stakes tries have fallen short. despite the low 8/1 odds, this skunkworks trainee appears in over his head… Unless he can somehow re-create that Captain Hook performance.

 

 

Well… In handicapping this, I’ve scattered so many tea leaves that my carpet claims it has gotten all jittery on the caffeine, but has also lost 15 pounds of excess fat and is expected to live 10 years longer…

But here is what this highly scientific handicapping method has come up with.

1st – NOT ON THE AGENDA

2nd – SUSPECT OF HERESY

3rd – BROKEN BOULEVARD

 

Good luck all!