Best of the Best Line Up In the Travelers

The Travelers Stakes, also called the Mid-Summer Derby headlines a huge race card in New York this Saturday. Run at a mile and a quarter, just like the Bluegrass Derby it features the winners of that race as well as the New Yorker as well as nine other grade one winners. If you think scratchbreds don’t do well in the game just look at how many have made this field. Two sires have multiple entrants, Tapit with three and Gun Runner with two. Six horses are in single digit odds which shows just how close in quality this field is. Let’s take a look at our entrants.

#1 Honorable Soldier 6/1

Honorable Soldier exits a second place finish in the Grade One Eddie Haskell Stakes behind Drengiligr whom he will face again today. In that spot he took a decisive lead early on before getting run down in the lane while holding his placing. It was his best race since winning the Arkansas Juvenile Derby Lock Prep wire to wire with a 110 speed. In the two starts between he was fifth and seventh in the Bluegrass Derby and the Middle Jewel. In the Eddie Haskell he ran a career best 112 speed. He’ll most certainly be on the front end here. Whether he can hold that speed going this distance remains to be seen. He’s a scratchbred son of Soldier Hollow x Seattle Slew x Machiavellian. Interestingly the son of a German sire has never been tried on the lawn.

#2 Goodbye Forever 6/1

Co-favored with Honorable Soldier is Goodbye Forever. He’s also the first son of Tapit we’ll see here, this one out the first foal for a War Front x Street Cry mare. After winning the Grade Two Fountain of Ute he was runner up in the Florida Derby Derby Lock Prep earning enough points to get into the Bluegrass Derby field although he could only manage to finish eighth. Rather than return in the Middle Jewel he took a month off and came back in the Grade One Rod Edwards Commemorative Derby at a mile and an eighth and after stalking the early leaders he took the lead around the turn and coasted home a winner by two lengths. He returned in the Grade One Eddie Haskell where he was significantly farther off the early pacesetter Honorable Soldier and while he closed late he was no match for the winner or that rival, finishing third with a 111 speed.

#3 Post Twenty One 12/1

Post Twenty One didn’t need that many stalls in order to make the Bluegrass Derby field. He entered it off a win in the Grade One Green Mountain Park Derby going a mile and an eighth where he closed from next to last to just get up by a quarter of a length while running a 108 speed. He was again well back early in the Bluegrass Derby but he had no closing kick at all, finishing seventeenth. He followed Goodbye Forever’s path, running third behind that rival in the Grade One Rod Edwards Commemorative Derby with a 107 speed. Most recently he was seventh in the Grade One Clerk of Scales Stakes going a mile and three sixteenths. Off of that race and the Bluegrass Derby one wonders whether this son of Global Campaign wants to go this distance. His dam is a Smart Strike x Wild Again daughter and he is her first stakes winner of any kind.

#4 Vocal Two Sky 19/1

The longest shot on the board, Vocal Two Sky enters off a grade one win in the Clerk of Scales Stakes going a mile and three sixteenths. He closed from well back to get up to win going away by a length and a quarter with a 108 speed. That was his third try at that distance. He also won a listed with a 102 speed before running a poor eighth in the All Saints Derby Derby Lock Prep. The Clerk of Scales was his first race in about ten weeks suggesting that he not only likes some distance in his races but also that he’s matured over the summer. Given his results going a sixteenth shorter one has to think he’ll get the added distance here. He’s a scratchbred son of Audible x Pioneerof the Nile x Street Cry.

#5 Drengiligr 8/1

The Bluegrass Derby winner enters somewhat strangely as the third choice here. He enters off a win in the Grade One Eddie Haskell where he beat a number of these while running a 114 speed. He’s a stalker who easily gets the first jump on his opponents. Aside from the Bluegrass Derby and the Eddie Haskell he’s also won the Grade One Happy New Year before finishing third in the Grade One Vermont is 4 Lovers leading up to the Bluegrass Derby. He was also a very good two year old having finished third in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile. He’ s another son of Tapit this time a Sadler’s Wells x Storm Cat scratchbred.

#6 Beach Toy 10/1

Beach Toy is not a son of Tapit: he’s a grandson. The son of Omaha Beach is based on a graded placed stakes winning Tapit x Curlin hemare. He won the New Yorker two starts back going from tenth early on to winning by a length and three quarters with a 105 speed. He made the field for that race after running third in the Grade Two New Yorker Test at a mile and five sixteenths where he ran a 104 speed. While it might be tempting to think he needs more distance he is a grade three winner at a mile and an eighth. He also has a strong allowance win at a mile and three sixteenths. Still he enters off a dull effort in the Grade One Eddie Haskell where he finished seventh. On the plus side he did close from over seventeen lengths back to finish just four and a half lengths behind Drengiligr. That race should sharpen him up for this spot where he returns to a distance that might be more favorable to him.

#7 Doggystylin 14/1

Doggystylin has only won twice in twelve starts but he is a grade one placed runner. He did that when running second in the Arkansas Derby Derby Lock Prep back in April. The scratchbred gelded son of Tapit x Seattle Slew x Deputy Minister was well behind early on before making a rally, closing over seven lengths down the stretch while running a career best 108 speed. He didn’t have enough points to make the Bluegrass Derby field but he did return in the Middle Jewel where he finished a poor thirteenth, losing ground down the stretch. It’s possible that the sloppy track contributed to his dull performance as it was his only start on an off track. Most recently he was sixth in the Grade One Clerk of Scales, again closing a bit down the stretch but not enough to threaten the top finishers.

#8 Big Boy Pants LV 9/1

Another Derby Lock Prep race winner is Big Boy Pants LV. This guy took the Corkscrew Stakes by coming from near last to win by two lengths with a 111 speed. After running poorly in the Bluegrass Derby he returned to finish fourth in the New Yorker which may have been a touch too far for this colt but after that he was fifth in the Grade Two Shiny Glen Stakes at a mile and an eighth. He did run a 109 speed in that spot but his late run was just too little to catch the top finishers. Big Boy Pants LV is s son of Gun Runner out of a Medaglia D’oro x Ghostzapper mare and is her first foal.

#9 Golden Movement 12/1

After making eight starts as a two year old Golden Movement was dropped into a $100,000 claimer in his first start of 2023. He was plucked out of that race and immediately rewarded his new connections with an allowance win going a mile and an eighth with a 105 speed. Immediately following that win he wheeled back at the same distance and finished second, beaten just one quarter length in the Grade One Green Mountain Park Derby while second. Little did anyone know but the colt that beat him that day would go on to win the Bluegrass Derby. Golden Movement was then second in the Grade Two Buckeye Derby and most recently third in the Grade Two Swamps Stakes, all at the mile and an eighth distance. His career best speed was a 108 which he ran in the Green Mountain Park Derby but he’s run a 107 and 106 in the subsequent races. He’ll need to break through in a big way in this race to factor but it will be his first race at the distance and the late runner may just like that extra distance, especially given his pedigree as he is a gelded scratchbred son of Medaglia D’oro x Pulpit x Pleasantly Perfect.

#10 Ashgabat 10/1

Ashgabat is a stalker who is also making his first start at the distance. His best race came in his most resent start, the Grade One Clerk of Scales going a mile and three sixteenths where he finished second behind Vocal Two Sky. In that spot he was sixth early on before getting passed by that rival late. Still he was only a length and a quarter behind and he ran a career best 107 speed. He is a multiple listed winner who was also second in the Corkscrew Stakes Derby Lock Prep behind Big Boy Pants LV. He’s a scratchbred son of Quality Road x Deputy Minister x Storm Cat.

#11 American Fervor 14/1

American Fervor closed out 2022 with a win in the Grade Two Ransom going a mile and an eighth. He was given three months off before returning in the Grade One Vermont is 4 Lovers at the same distance where he sat just off the early leaders before getting up to win by a quarter lengths with a 105 speed. He added a third straight win in an allowance a month later before training up to the Bluegrass Derby. In that spot he was further off the pace but rallied to get up for second. Again he was given time off – nearly ten weeks – before running in the Eddie Haskell where he was eighth, beaten five lengths. His connections are hoping he needed a race and that he’ll appreciate the return to a mile and a quarter here. He’s a son of American Pharoah based on an Uncle Mo x A.P. Indy hemare.

#12 Lexitonian Again 12/1

A listed stakes winner who has perhaps been a touch unlucky in his graded efforts is Lexitonian Again. He was second in three straight grades, the Grade Two Sleepy Fan at a mile and a sixteenth, the All Saints Derby Derby Lock Prep (which he lost by just a neck) at a mile and three sixteenths and the Grade Two New Yorker Case going a mile and five sixteenths. His career best speed came in that All Saints Derby when he ran a 109. In those races he sat a stalking trip before making a late run. Most recently he was fifth in the Grade One Clerk of Scales at a mile and three sixteenths. He was a bit further behind early on in that spot which came nearly two months after the New Yorker Case. Perhaps he was just a bit dull and possibly he wants to go further in distance. Still it will be a tough task taking on this group. He’s a scratchbred son of Lexitonian x Awesome Again x Seattle Slew.

#13 Interrogator II 9/1

The second son of Gun Runner is this scratchbred from an A.P. Indy x Fappiano backend. He enters off a very strong win in the Grade Two Shiny Gem Stakes going mile and an eighth. In that spot he was eighth early on, at one point over thirteen lengths behind but he made a stout run to get up to win by two and a quarter lengths with a 113 speed. Prior to that he ran a 112 speed when winning a listed going a mile and a sixteenth. He’s never been this far but with his pedigree the distance should be no problem. He’s getting a class test but there’s a lot to like about this colt.

#14 Moment of Fright 9/1

Moment of Fright earned his way into the Bluegrass Derby by winning the Grade One All Sinners Derby at a mile and three sixteenths. He almost went wire to wire that day and ran a career best 110 speed. He sat second early on the Bluegrass Derby before fading to fourth but it was a respectable run. He took two months off before returning in the Grade one Clerk of Scales where he never got close to the lead early on but ran a solid third, beaten less than two lengths by Vocal Sky Two while running a 106 speed. It’ll be tough for him to get to the lead coming from the outside post and facing the speedy Honorable Soldier on the rail but he should be second early on and he doesn’t need the lead to run his best race. The distance shouldn’t be a problem and his pedigree backs that up. He’s a son of Ghostzapper based on a stakes winning Distorted Humor x Kitten’s Joy hemare who did his best running at a mile and a quarter.

Good luck to all!