Saturday’s Travers (G1) undercard at Saratoga includes a pair of Grade 1 sprints for males at seven furlongs.
An exciting cast of 11, including Grade 1 winners Book’em Danno and Timberlake, are top draws in the $500,00 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for three-year-olds. One race earlier, John A. Nerud (G2) winner Mullikin has been tabbed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite among eight older horses in the $500,000 Forego.
A winner in four of his first five starts, including four stakes tallies, Book’em Danno shipped overseas to record an outstanding head second to Forever Young in the one-mile Saudi Derby (G3) in late February. The New Jersey-bred son of Bucchero came back 3 1/2 months later to annex the Woody Stephens (G1) on the Belmont (G1) undercard at Saratoga, and the Derek Ryan-trained gelding exits a nose score in the six-furlong Jersey Shore S. at Monmouth on July 19.
Last seen finishing third in the Haskell (G1), Timberlake will look to challenge on the cutback in distance for Brad Cox. The Into Mischief-trained colt will make his first one-turn start since a convincing win in the Champagne (G1) last fall.
Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Prince of Monaco, a head second when returning from a seven-month layoff in the Woody Stephens, is a contender in his second start back this season for Bob Baffert. Domestic Product, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) earlier this year, enters on the upswing for Chad Brown following a 7 1/4-length triumph in the one-mile Dwyer (G3), and World of Record will step in company off a 6 3/4-length win in the Amsterdam (G3) earlier this meet. Speak Easy, a convincing winner in his first two starts, is another intriguing prospect in his stakes debut for Todd Pletcher.
A 1 1/2-length winner of the seven-furlong Nerud in early July, Mullikin will look to stretch his win streak to four in the Forego. Rodolphe Brisset trains the four-year-old son of Violence, and Mullikin recorded commendable Brisnet Speed ratings winning a pair of allowances and the Nerud.
His main rivals include Cagliostro, who will cut back to seven furlongs off a comfortable win in a deep edition of the Hanshin S. at Churchill Downs. Churchill Downs S. (G1) winner Gun Pilot will look to bounce back after finishing third as the favorite in the True North (G2), and True North upsetter Baby Yoda rates as a rebound candidate following a fourth in the A.G. Vanderbilt (G1) earlier this meet.
