Street Sense, the Kentucky Derby champion and heavy favorite for Saturday’s 138th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers, presented by New York Lottery, turned in his final pre-Travers workout this morning with a five-furlong breeze over Saratoga Race Course’s fast main track. Street Sense, with regular jockey rider Calvin Borel aboard, was timed in 1:00.14, ranking second of 19 works at the distance. The colt did not work in company.

Street Sense will be a very short price in Saturday’s “Mid-Summer Derby” at 1 ¼ miles. The Travers will go as race 9 on a 12-race program, with a post time of 5:40 p.m. Eastern. First race post time on Travers Day is 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

Post positions for the Travers will be drawn Wednesday morning in the paddock here at 11 a.m.

The Travers will be televised on ESPN during its two-hour broadcast that begins at 4 p.m. Eastern.

There will be a $1 million guaranteed all-stakes Pick 4 that starts with the seventh race, the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch at 4:20 p.m. There is also a $100,000 guaranteed Grand Slam that begins with the sixth race at 3:42 p.m.

Street Sense, owned by James Tafel and trained by Carl Nafzger, is trying to become the tenth horse in history to win the Kentucky Derby and Travers. Thunder Gulch was the last to accomplish the feat in 1995.

As for Tafel and Nafzger, they are seeking their second Travers victory: they won it in 2000 with Unshaded.

“Street Sense has always done everything good,” Nafzger said. “He’s always been a natural. He’s always had a way of hitting the ground good and he’s always had a great mind. That really helps a racehorse.

“Truthfully, it’s a kind of week where you do not sleep good. This is the kind of week you want to be in. It’s a week before the Super Bowl. If you’re not excited now, you’re in the wrong business.”

Ian Wilkes, Nafzger’s close friend and longtime assistant, was also pleased with this morning’s workout.

“We’re very happy with him and he’s come back good,” Wilkes said. “The main thing today was he did it the right way. He got away from the pole good, was nice and comfortable and finished up down the lane.

“This has been a lot of fun. I think all of us are enjoying it. I was here with Unbridled (Nafzger’s 1990 Kentucky Derby, Breeders’ Cup Classic and three-year-old champion) and it was fun, but you didn’t understand the magnitude of it. This time you’re able to sit back and enjoy it and go for the ride.”

Street Sense, a five-time winner and earner of $3.4 million, is already the first horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby. Of course, a Travers win will add to his lofty reputation.

“It’s hard to tell from one era to another, but we won’t know where he stands (with racing’s greats) until his career’s over,” Wilkes said. “When he faces older horses, that will tell a lot.”

Borel has a blog on nyra.com and today writes about Street Sense and his work.

Hard Spun, one of the top three-year-olds in training by virtue of his runner-up finishes in the Kentucky Derby and Haskell Invitational, arrived in Saratoga Springs yesterday afternoon. Trained by Larry Jones, Hard Spun will start as the favorite in Saturday’s 23rd edition of the Grade 1, $250,000 King’s Bishop at seven furlongs.

“He got in here well yesterday and he really galloped well over the main track today,” Jones said. “I’m real pleased with him right now.”

Hard Spun, a five-time winner, would have been among the leading challengers to Street Sense had Jones pointed him to the Travers. Instead, Hard Spun will return to sprinting in the King’s Bishop; his first and only seven-furlong race occurred last December in a minor Pennsylvania-bred stake race at Philadelphia Park.

“There’s no doubt about him sprinting,” Jones said. “He’s fast enough to go seven (furlongs.) We’re shooting for the Breeders’ Cup (Monmouth Park, October 27) and I knew coming out of the Haskell he’d only have 20 days and I was going to have to train on him. I still want him fresh for the Breeders’ Cup and we can run in the King’s Bishop with very little training. We’ve kept his gallops short and let him get up in the bit a little bit.”

Jockey Mario Pino has the mount aboard Hard Spun, who will battle an outstanding field in the King’s Bishop. Others pointing to the race are E Z Warrior, First Defence, King of the Roxy, Most Distinguished, Spin Master, Pauillac and Teuflesberg.

WABY (1160AM) will carry the Horse Racing Radio Network’s full two-hour Travers Day coverage from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Additionally, the broadcast will be streamed in its website www.wabymoon.com

Parking gates and admissions open at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Travers Day, and first-race post is 12:45 p.m. Clubhouse admission is $10 on Saturday, while grandstand admission is $5. There is no free admission for breakfast on Travers Day, and there are no trams tours. THERE ARE NO BREAKFAST PARKING REFUNDS ON TRAVERS DAY.