Trainer Todd Pletcher saw three of his possible starters in the Travers Stakes (G1) breeze early the morning of Aug. 18, with Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming going four furlongs in company with Outplay, and Tapwrit also working a half-mile.
McCraken turned in one of his snappier breezes Aug. 10, when he covered four furlongs in :49.03 over the Oklahoma Training Track, the fastest of 31 drills at the distance Thursday.
The opening weekend of the all-important race meet begins with five graded stakes, including opening day co-features of the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) for 2-year-old fillies and the Lake George Stakes (G3T) for 3-year-old fillies on turf.
Travers, Longines Sword Dancer, Personal Ensign, Priority One Jets Forego, Ballerina, Ketel One King's Bishop, Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa, Pat O'Brien, Anticipation, Torrey Pines and more.
The value of a Medaglia d'Oro filly consigned to the Keeneland September yearling sale increased after her half brother Arrogate romped to a Travers Stakes (gr. I) triumph in track-record time.
Arrogate blew apart the 3-year-old division with the fastest Travers (gr. I) performance in history, and a new track record for 1 1/4 miles Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course. The Unbridled's Song colt blazed under the wire in a final time of 1:59.36.
The 1 1/4-mile Travers (gr. I) has quite a different feel than last year, when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah arrived with all the pomp and ceremony of a visiting dignitary. This year, a divisional crown potentially hangs in the balance.
Initially concerned about rain forecast for the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., area over the weekend, trainer Keith Desormeaux decided to pass on the penultimate workout for Travers (gr. I) hopeful Exaggerator scheduled for Aug. 13.
With jockey Kent Desormeaux in the irons, the son of Curlin completed a half-mile in :51.69 on the main track.
The Preakness (gr. I) winner, one of only two horses this year to run in all three legs of the Triple Crown, emerged from an 11th-place finish in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont without an excuse, according to trainer Keith Desormeaux.
Donegal Racing's Keen Ice, the Curlin colt who beat Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) last year, has been moved from the barn of trainer Dale Romans to Todd Pletcher.
Dale Romans is conditioning a different Keen Ice in the afternoons and the mornings these days compared with the spring, and for the Kentucky-based trainer the development has been something to see.
Donegal Racing's Keen Ice breezed five furlongs in 1:01 2/5 Oct. 10 at Churchill Downs in preparation for the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I).
Keen Ice, who will train up to the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), went a half in :51 1/5 for trainer Dale Romans, while Dallas Stewart trainee Tale of Verve went five furlongs in 1:01 2/5.
Photos highlighting the 2015 Saratoga race meet.
If you blinked, you might have missed it. American Pharoah was on the Saratoga Race Course main track for all of five minutes for an easy gallop Aug. 27. It was the Triple Crown winner's first time on the track.
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah stepped off the van at Saratoga Race Course at precisely 3 p.m. Aug. 26 for his next assignment, the $1.6 million Travers Stakes (gr. I) coming up Aug. 29.
A quick hello from the Triple Crown champ at Blue Grass Airport en route to NY for the Travers Stakes (gr. I).
Zayat Stables has committed to donating a percentage of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah's purse earnings for the remainder of his racing career to support retired racehorses.
Beholder crushes the boys at Del Mar in the Pacific Classic and more in the August 29, 2015 issue of Blood-Horse magazine.
What is in the best interest of American Pharoah should be the top priority, and we all know by now that is, and has always been, first and foremost in the minds of his connections.
Trainer Nick Zito has Mossarosa's Frammento under consideration for the Travers Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course.
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah tops a list of 16 horses nominated to the $1.25 million Travers (gr. I) Aug. 29 at Saratoga Race Course.
Triple Crown champion American Pharoah turned in his first breeze since winning the Aug. 2 William Hill Haskell Invitational (gr. I) when he worked four furlongs in :47 3/5 Aug. 16 at Del Mar.
Tale of Verve, runner-up to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the May 16 Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I), arrived at Saratoga Race Course this week to train for a possible start in the Aug. 29 Travers (gr. I).
If Take Charge Brandi aces her comeback in the Aug. 8 Test Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga against her own division, a run against the boys could be possible in the Aug. 29 Travers Stakes (gr. I), said owner Willis Horton.
The 40-day meet at upstate New York track includes 69 stakes worth a record $18.7 million in purses.
Alpha, a son of leading sire and fellow Darley stallion Bernardini -- and the first horse to win both the Travers and the Woodward in nearly 15 years -- has been retired to Becky Thomas' Sequel Stallions in New York.
2014 Travers Stakes favorite Bayern gets a bath on Aug. 22, 2014, at Saratoga.
Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) runner-up Tonalist and third-place finisher Kid Cruz both came out of the July 26 race well, and their respective trainers confirmed they will point to the Travers Stakes (gr. I).
The 2014 Saratoga Race Course meet will feature a record $17.45 million in stakes purses, topped by the $1.25 million Travers (gr. I) Aug. 23 and the $1.5 million Whitney (gr. I) Aug. 2.
Jockey Joel Rosario continues to recover from the foot injury that caused him to miss major mounts over the Aug. 24 weekend, and is on course for a comeback around the first week in October, agent Ron Anderson said Sept. 4.
Trainer Eric Guillot has filed a complaint with the New York State Gaming Commission alleging that jockey Luis Saez carried an electronic device when he won the Aug. 24 Travers Stakes (gr. I) aboard Will Take Charge.
The overnight Nielsen rating for NBC Sports Group's "Summer at Saratoga" Aug. 24 broadcast highlighted by the Travers Stakes (gr. I) was 0.17, up 1% over last year's rating, according to the television ratings company.
Saratoga, Travers, Del Mar, Pacific Classic; Game on Dude, Monmouth, Calder, Woodbine
Jockey Joel Rosario fractured a bone in his left foot and will be sidelined for six weeks. He will be replaced by Jose Lezcano on Orb in the Travers Stakes; a rider is still needed for Game On Dude in the Pacific Classic.
Both trainer Ken McPeek and regular rider Alan Garcia were pleased with the way War Dancer performed in his final breeze Aug. 17 prior to the Travers Stakes (gr. I). Frac Daddy was also on the tab.
Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr.I) winner Orb grazes at Saratoga Aug. 10 shortly after arriving from Fair Hill. The Malibu Moon colt is prepping for a start in the Aug. 24 Travers (gr.I) for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey issued an upbeat bulletin Aug. 10 after Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Orb breezed five furlongs in :59 1/5 at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said top sophomores Palace Malice and Verrazano will breeze Aug. 10 at Saratoga. Also scheduled to breeze over the weekend is Moreno, third in the Jim Dandy for Eric Guillot.
Though Hall of Fame horseman Shug McGaughey originally planned to bring Phipps Stable and Stuart Janney III's Malibu Moon colt to the upstate New York racetrack Aug. 7, he could remain in Maryland until next week.
Trainer Nick Zito refelcts on what Saratoga means to him. Nick tells his story of the 2004 Travers with Birdstone, The Cliff's Edge and Marylou Whitney.
Fox Hill Farms' Normandy Invasion was examined by a hoof specialist July 12 at Saratoga and will miss the Travers Stakes (gr. I), but could still make the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II), owner Rick Porter said.
Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow is expected to return to the worktab July 6 or 7 at Churchill Downs, Calumet Farm manager Eddie Kane confirmed July 5. He will be the third Triple Crown classic victor to get back into action.
Kentucky Derby winner Orb returned to the worktab July 3 for the first time since his third in the Belmont, clocking an easy three furlongs at Fair Hill. Belmont winner Palace Malice is also back in training at Saratoga.
In its first full year receiving added money for purses from the Resorts World Casino New York City at Aqueduct Racetrack, the New York Racing Association registered strong pari-mutuel handle in 2012.
Multiple stakes winner Street Life has been retired with a career-ending soft tissue injury to his left front pastern, Dan Hall of Hidden Brook Farm confirmed Aug. 30.
Attendance and handle, both ontrack and all-sources, were up substantially from 2011 figures for the Aug. 25 running of the $1 million Travers Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course.
Suddenly, with the onset of Travers Week, the tone of the racecourse has shifted to horse racing. Saturday alone will feature four graded stakes. The horses that will race are among the best of their generations.
Last year's juvenile champion Hansen has been ruled out of consideration for the Aug. 25 Travers Stakes (gr. I) after sustaining a tendon injury and "likely won't race again" according to Dr. Kendall Hansen.
