Roman Ruler, Flower Alley Top Travers Noms

Haskell Invitational (gr. I) winner Roman Ruler and Flower Alley, winner of the Jim Dandy (gr. II) at Saratoga earlier this meet, head a list of 16 nominations for the $1 million Travers (gr. I) Aug. 27.

Probable for the 1 1/4-mile "Mid-Summer Derby" for 3-year-olds are the second and third-place finishers in the Jim Dandy – Reverberate and Andromeda's Hero – as well as Don't Get Mad and Chekhov. Questionable for the Travers are A.P. Arrow and Closing Argument.

Although Bob Baffert is Roman Ruler's trainer, his former assistant and longtime friend Tonya Terranova will oversee the colt's preparation for the Travers.

Park Avenue Ball, who finished third to Roman Ruler and Sun King in the Haskell, is not likely to run in the Travers, according to his trainer James Ryerson.

"Right now, I'm going to say he's unlikely for the race," Ryerson said. "The timing is the key factor – three weeks may be too quick to bring him back for a race like the Travers."

Another deflection from the Travers is Freedom Isnt Free, who suffered a foot bruise and lost valuable training time, according to trainer Dominic Galluscio.