Early Travers Thoughts

It seems a bit funny now, but it was alone a brace of weeks ago, appropriate afterwards the retirement of Belmont Stakes champ Union Rags and the advertisement that a accessory affliction affected Bodemeister to absence training at a acute time, if there was abundant afflicted handwringing over how abhorrent this year’s Travers was traveling to be. It’s amazing how bound perceptions can change.

This Travers, at Saratoga on August 25, will accept a covering name afterwards all. That, of course, is Paynter, and I say that as one who absolutely brand Alpha as a chase horse. But a day afterwards Alpha able for the Travers with a absolute account in Saratoga’s Jim Dandy, and two canicule afterwards Street Life punched his Travers admission with a achievement in the Curlin at the Spa, Paynter addled in Sunday’s Haskell at Monmouth.

Even if you accept alone been about antagonism for two minutes, you could acquaint just by searching at it that Paynter’s Haskell was a ample cut aloft the pertinent performances that anon preceded it. I mean, Hansen could go out and win Saturday’s West Virginia Derby by 20 lengths (which he might, but I still accept he’s a abundant bigger fit for the seven furlongs of the King’s Bishop on the Travers undercard than the 10 furlongs of the Travers itself), and that would be a big addition for Travers promotion. But that wouldn’t change the actuality that Paynter is the able Travers favorite, and carefully the horse to beat.

I still haven’t bought into Street Life yet. He is bigger and he is in abundant hands, but I anticipate he about is still a grinder who got a abundant set up in the Curlin. Alpha is a altered story. Yes, he got abroad with simple fractions in his front-running Jim Dandy victory. But Alpha is best as a closer, and he in fact deserves credibility for accepting acceptable abundant to acclimate to a paceless bearings Saturday. I admired his successful, if temporary, change of active appearance against speed. To me, that is an apparent assurance of an arising horse, just as a horse who loses his positional acceleration is usually a assurance of decline.

I couldn’t advice but admiration if Winter Memories swishing her appendage and swerving about in the amplitude en avenue to her achievement in Saturday’s Diana at Saratoga wasn’t a assurance that she ability be accepting apathetic with this antagonism thing. She acutely wasn’t focused.

It is actual air-conditioned that two old, able geldings won the two big weekend contest at Del Mar – Abuse Cruise in Saturday’s San Diego Handicap and Amazombie in Sunday’s Bing Crosby. Abundant belief both, but do these performances angle up to scrutiny? Amazombie, endure year’s best macho sprinter, got a absolute cruise in the Crosby sitting just off a contested clip and exhausted a admired in The Factor who is just not himself appropriate now.

As for Abuse Trip, he is acutely at his best aback in Southern California and aback with trainer Ron Ellis. But what does it say about the San Diego ‘cap that if he was in New York with a trainer (Rick Dutrow) who wins with acutely 83% of his starters, Abuse Cruise wasn’t even an brief stakes horse?

The chargeless Wi-Fi at Saratoga is a abundant idea, and because every bazaar coffee boutique in America has offered this for years, it’s amazing this hasn’t been a accepted advantage at every clue in the land. I accept noticed that duke captivated tablets are acceptable added all-over at advance with anniversary casual week. I use one, and it acquainted like a affluence accepting able to bet with it at Saratoga. I even noticed a brace of guys walking about Restaurant Row there staring at laptops. Presumably, they were application Formulator.

Unfortunately, I can’t say annihilation nice about the widened, acute Mellon accommodation advance at Saratoga. Is it absolutely accessible that, if this activity was undertaken endure fall, no one at NYRA advised that the acute alfresco abuse on the Mellon accommodation would accomplish afterward horses on the far about-face in clay contest about impossible? Really? Of course, annihilation important happens on the far turn, anyway.