Belmont S. (G1) winner SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone), one of the leading candidates
for the 140th running of the $1 million Travers S. (G1) on August 29, galloped 1
1/2 miles on Saratoga’s main track Thursday morning.
Trainer Tim Ice said the strapping chestnut continues told hold good form
after a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.97 last Saturday.
“Kent (Desormeaux) came back after that work and said this horse is doing
good,” Ice said, relaxing in the stakes barn. “He worked better for him Saturday
than he did before the Belmont and better than before the Haskell (G1). He’s not
a real great work horse, but he did it on his own.”
Ice said not to expect Summer Bird to battle on the pace in the Travers the
way he did with top sprinter MUNNINGS (Speightstown) and RACHEL ALEXANDRA
(Medaglia d’Oro) in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Summer Bird
pressed the pace through fractions of 22.99 for the quarter-mile, 46.43 for the
half and 1:09.92 for six furlongs on the sloppy, sealed track.
“Everybody was surprised he had speed,” Ice said. “I knew he had speed, but
that’s not going to be our strategy going into (the Travers). Saratoga plays a
lot differently than Monmouth Park. At Monmouth, you have to be up close. I hope
(this race) sets up like the Belmont did — sit five lengths off the pace.”
Ice expected Summer Bird to be two or three lengths behind the leaders in the
Haskell, not right up on them.
“But he did it on his own,” the trainer added.
With the blazingly fast QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality) attempting to win the
Travers off a track record-setting performance in the 6 1/2-furlong Amsterdam S.
(G2), Ice said he wouldn’t mind at all if Rachel Alexandra joined the party with
his horse and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone).
“I hope she does (enter),” Ice said. “Looking at her and Quality Road
battling it out in front me, I wouldn’t get too upset. I’d like to face her
running a mile and a quarter.”
In addition to those possible entrants, Summer Bird will also have to face
dual Grade 2 winner CHARITABLE MAN (Lemon Drop Kid) after trainer Kiaran
McLaughlin confirmed Thursday that the Jim Dandy S. (G2) third would make his
next start in the Travers.
“The race is coming up extremely tough,” McLaughlin said. “We talked about
the (September 7) Pennsylvania Derby ([G2] at Philadelphia Park), but if we can
win the Travers or run well in it, it will be a big deal for the horse.”
Charitable Man won the Futurity S. (G2) at Belmont Park last fall and the
Peter Pan S. (G2) this spring before running a well-backed fourth in the Belmont
Stakes.
“We had always been pointing towards the Travers, having prepped in the Jim
Dandy, but it’s an extremely tough field, everyone’s going,” McLaughlin said.
“Now, if Rachel Alexandra does decide to enter, then we’ll look at other
options.”
A decision on where the three-year-old filly will make her next start is
expected from owner Jess Jackson early next week. Rachel Alexandra has also been
nominated to two other races at Saratoga — the Personal Ensign (G1) against
females on August 30 and the Woodward (G1) against males on September 5 — as
well as the Pennsylvania Derby.
Other likely starters besides Mine That Bird and Summer Bird for the 1
1/4-mile “Mid-Summer Derby” are the Nick Zito-trained OUR EDGE (The Cliff’s
Edge), Jim Dandy runner-up WARRIOR’S REWARD (Medaglia d’Oro) and possibly
Jackson’s Jim Dandy winner, KENSEI (Mr. Greeley), depending on where his
stablemate Rachel Alexandra winds up. Questionable is Grade 2 scorer HOLD ME
BACK (Giant’s Causeway).
In other Travers news, Mine That Bird appeared healthy and happy in
his stall at the stakes barn two days after a minor surgery to repair an
entrapped epiglottis.
“We’ll scope him first thing in the morning (6:30 a.m. [EDT] Friday) and if
he’s good we’ll go to the racetrack (at 7:15 a.m.) and jog him a couple rounds,”
said trainer Chip Woolley, noting that Mine That Bird will only have missed two
days of training for the Travers if he gets back out on the track Friday.
Woolley has talked with fellow conditioners Todd Pletcher and D. Wayne Lukas
about their experiences with the surgery, and both said it shouldn’t be a
problem. Lukas told him Tank’s Prospect underwent the same procedure five days
before winning the 1985 Arkansas Derby (G1), Woolley said.
“The big thing is laying him down, getting him up; the surgery is minimally
invasive, no big deal, but the big worry is infection,” Woolley added.
Woolley indicated he considered one of the most important parts of the
episode to be getting information out to the public and not trying to hide the
problem.
“People deserve to know,” he said. “Those people (fans) put on the show. If I
lead him over for the Travers, people are going to bet $300,000, $400,000 on
him. I wanted everybody to know this is what we’re dealing with.”
Pletcher reported Thursday morning that Quality Road and Munnings were doing
“great” as they moved toward their engagements in the Travers and King’s Bishop
(G1), respectively.
Quality Road, the Florida Derby (G1) winner who was the early choice for the
Kentucky Derby before being sidelined with quarter crack problems, is expected
to be among the favorites for the Travers off his comeback here in the
Amsterdam, in which he set a track record of 1:13.74 for 6 1/2 furlongs.
“I don’t know if he will be the favorite,” said Pletcher. “I think a lot of
that depends on where Rachel Alexandra goes. She would be the prohibitive
favorite if she does.”
Munnings, who was third behind Rachel Alexandra and Summer Bird in the
Haskell Invitational in his most recent start, is shortening up from nine
furlongs to what might be his favorite distance, the seven furlongs of the
King’s Bishop.
“He’s doing very well,” said Pletcher. “He’s training enthusiastically, and
he’s had a lot of success at the distance, so we are expecting him to perform
well.”
Munnings is 2-1-1 from four tries at the King’s Bishop distance with
victories in the Woody Stephens (G2) against three-year-olds and the Tom Fool H.
(G2) against older horses, both at Belmont Park.