This could be a challenge, given the traffic that will likely clog Union Avenue immediately after the race.
Whatever the case, for the mare who will become the first mare since 1915 to win the Travers – the biggest and most important race at Saratoga Race Course – it will be a challenge enough to beat the seven competitors who will compete against her.
They include the ‘Big Three’ of Dornoch, Fierceness and Sierra Leone, as well as an interesting mix of young talent and an outsider, Honor Marie, who will be hoping for a win amid a difficult campaign that has already included the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.
The scheduled start for the mile-and-a-half Travers is at 6:10 p.m., the 13th race on a 14-race card that includes four other Grade I races. As a mare, Thorpedo Anna will carry 121 pounds, while the colts will carry 126.
On-site parking opens at 8am, gates open at 9am, and first admission is at 11:20am.
The Travers field, in starting order and with odds, is: 1. Thorpedo Anna (3-1); 2. Sierra Leone (7-2); 3. Unmatched Wisdom (8-1); 4. Corporate Power (15-1); 5. Batten Down (20-1); 6. Honor Marie (20-1); 7. Dornoch (5-2); and Fierceness (3-1).
Dornoch is the slight favorite after winning the Belmont at Saratoga and the Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, both times showing his tireless desire to cross the finish line first.
Even though he ran in the Haskell race out of town on July 20 rather than the Grade II Jim Dandy on July 27, Saratoga is as much a home race for him as it is for anyone else in the field.
He has been housed here in the stable since April of his two-year season.
Point Given, the only horse to win the Belmont Festival other than Haskell and Travers, has a plaque across Union Avenue in the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Racing.
“It’s hard to win three Grade I races in a row,” said Dornoch trainer Danny Gargan. “It’s a really good, tough race. I thought the colts were really strong this year. There are five of us, four for sure, who would probably have won a normal Travers. I mean, the mare is special. She’s as good as any.”
Gargan wants jockey Luis Saez to be alert to Dornoch coming out of the starting gate and giving him a front position before the first turn.
There will probably be other guys with early speed trying the same thing.
“I want the race to be similar to the Belmont race, where we sit behind a horse if possible,” Gargan said. “If someone goes crazy on the inside, we just stay a half-length behind him and follow him there. And at some point Johnny (Fierceness’ jockey John Velazquez) has to make a decision about what he’s going to do on the outside of us.
“But it’s going to be a really good race. There are a lot of talented horses. I don’t think Johnny will try to lead from the outside. I think we’ll be in the lead or second. If that’s the case, Johnny will be third, right behind us.”
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Fierceness, winner of the 2023 Two-Year-Old Male Eclipse Award, has alternated wins and losses at every step of his career.
In the Jim Dandy he beat Sierra Leone, trained by Chad Brown, by one length.
“We were hoping to put the Kentucky Derby behind us,” Pletcher said. “I like the outside track. We were six out of six in the Jim Dandy. And this time we got a little further into the first turn, so I think it gives John Velazquez an opportunity to see what’s going on on the inside, see how the race develops and unfolds.”
“And the good thing about Fierceness is that he’s shown he can go from start to finish, like in the Florida Derby, or he can go with the pace, like in the Jim Dandy and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. So I think he’s versatile enough to do what John thinks is right.”
In addition to Sierra Leone, Brown, a Mechanicville native who is attempting to win the first Travers of his career, will also saddle Curlin winner Unmatched Wisdom, who falls into the up-and-comers category.
Sierra Leone, the late winner of the Grade I Blue Grass, has never failed to finish in seven starts and has never finished more than a length and a half behind the winner in any of his losses, including the Kentucky Derby (Nose) and the Belmont.
“His running style is pretty distinctive,” Brown said. “Hopefully he can develop a good pace ahead of him and run a clean distance without being stopped and get ahead with his late run. And hopefully it’s good enough after a mile and a half to get there in time.”
Unmatched Wisdom has only raced three times but is unbeaten after winning the Curlin over a mile and a half.
The two big questions for him are lack of experience and inexperience at a mile and a quarter mile. Thorpedo Anna and Corporate Power have also never run longer than a mile and a furlong.
“We always thought highly of this horse,” Brown said of Unmatched Wisdom. “Unfortunately he got very ill last fall when he was getting ready to make his debut. But before that I tested him with my best horses and he kept up quite well. So we had high expectations of him and when we got him racing he developed quickly but it was no surprise that the talent was always there.”
Thorpedo Anna has had a spectacular season despite competing against three-year-old mares.
She has won 4 of 4, with victories in the Grade II Fantasy, Grade I Kentucky Oaks, Grade I Acorn and Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks, the last two of which came at Saratoga.
“We get a break in weight and she’s here and she’s doing well and I’m not too intimidated by this group of stallions,” McPeek said. “The Derby win with Mystik Dan gave me an idea of where she fits in because she’s worked him regularly and always given him everything he could handle and maybe more. So that’s where we are at and it’s a good opportunity to find out how good or great she could be.”
“I think everyone here respects their opportunities and abilities,” Pletcher said.
One concern for McPeek is that Thorpedo Anna made a mistake at the start as the gates opened in the CCA Oaks.
She and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. handled it with no problems, but there were three mares, not seven stallions, and Thorpedo Anna has the inside track for the Travers. McPeek has trained her from the beginning at the Oklahoma training track since the CCA Oaks.
Trainer Whit Beckman adds blinders to Honor Marie’s equipment.
“His running style can give you the feeling of a heart attack,” Beckman said. “After the Belmont, I put blinders on him (in training) and it doesn’t change his attitude, he just responds a little better. I think they’ll keep him a little closer. I just don’t want him to be 14 seconds behind on the last turn. I need him within seven or eight seconds.”
There is a consensus among the riders that the pace at the front will be high early on.
Who contributes to this scenario remains to be seen and will likely determine what happens down the line.
“Sierra Leone is as good as any horse that has run in the last 10 years,” Gargan said. “It’s just a shame he’s had a year where there are a lot of good horses. And Fierceness is spectacular when he shows up. You never know. When Fierceness shows up, we’re all in trouble because he can run a crazy race.”
“Chad ran a great race for Sierra Leone, so he’ll be going hard early. This race is going to be a wild one. Our horse likes to fight. We’ll just have to hang on and see how it goes. My only fear is that someone will get past him at the last second and beat him at the end.”
“Our biggest concern is getting away clean,” McPeek said. “Last time she was nervous at the starting gate, didn’t stand well and then jumped a little awkwardly. And we can’t do that on Saturday and expect to win.”
“I think the race is going to have some pace, and that’s what I want, especially over a mile and a quarter,” said Shug McGaughey, Corporate Power’s trainer. “The other day he kind of had to chase because there was no pace. It’s going to be wild, the mare is going to stay close, and I think Chad has to stay close, so maybe we can kind of stay behind it and see what happens.”
