Epicenter started to shut on chief Cyberknife as the sector neared the highest of the stretch after which took management, pulling away by 5 1/4 lengths at the end to provide coach Steve Asmussen his first victory within the so-called Midsummer Derby.
Gilded Age, Artorius, Ain’t Life Grand, and Early Voting accomplished the order of end.
The eight-horse discipline was stacked with Preakness winner Early Voting and Haskell winner Cyberknife, who set the early tempo. Chad Brown, main coach at Saratoga with 34 wins coming into the day, saddled three horses — Early Voting, Zandon, and Artorius — in his bid to win the Travers for the primary time.
This was the primary race for Rich Strike, the stunning Kentucky Derby winner at 80-1 odds with jockey Sonny Leon, since he completed sixth within the Belmont Stakes in June.
Early Voting didn’t run within the Derby and skipped the Belmont, making the Travers the primary time he had raced towards Rich Strike. Both had been far behind the winner, who staked his declare as the highest 3-year-old within the nation.
A month in the past Epicenter, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds , gained a four-horse stretch duel that included Early Voting and Zandon in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes, the tradtional prep race for the Travers. Epicenter charged alongside the surface as the sector of 4 was bunched collectively throughout the monitor at the highest of the stretch, then pulled away to carry off Zandon by 1 1/2 lengths.
The Travers culminated a customary massive day of racing at the venerable monitor in upstate New York. In different stakes races: even-money favourite Technical Analysis led your complete approach and held off Fluffy Socks by a half-length to win the Grade 2 Ballston Spa for fillies and mares 4 years previous and upward on the turf; Cody’s Wish overtook overwhelming favourite Jackie’s Warrior within the closing strides to seize the Forego by 1 1/4 lengths, handing runner-up Jackie’s Warrior his first loss in 5 begins this 12 months and depriving him of his fourth Grade 1 triumph at Saratoga in his closing race at the monitor; Jack Christopher held off Gunite to take the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial; Malathaat charged previous Search Results to win the Grade 1 Personal Ensign for fillies and mares 4 years previous and up; and Gufo got here from far again to beat Mira Mission within the 1 1/2-mile Grade 1 Sword Dancer on the internal turf course.
More AP sports activities: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports