72°F1:35 PM The Grade 1 $1,000,000 Travers Stakes, the highlight of the Saratoga meet and a race that may determine the year's three-year-old champion, went to Mike Repole's Stay Thirsty. Sent off as the slight favorite in the field of ten, the Todd Pletcher trained runner vied for the lead briefly with Dale Romans' Preakness Stakes winner, Shackleford, and the Kelly Breen trained Belmont Stakes winner, Ruler On Ice. The quick-paced Shackleford won out for the lead, while Stay Thirsty sat just behind him, along with Moonshine Mullin and Ruler On Ice.
The leading three-year-olds will fight it out in the Grade 1 $1,000,000 Travers Stakes to be run Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in New York. The ten-horse field includes the winners of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, Belmont, Haskell Invitational and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes. The race is dubbed the “Midsummer Derby” and is the highlight of the Saratoga meet.
Ending a layoff since winning the Preakness on May 15th, Bob Baffert's Lookin At Lucky and jock Martin Garcia rolled in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at New Jersey's Monmouth Park over Trappe Shot. In a photo finish for third, First Dude bested Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.