DeVaux barn represented by top sophomores Englishman, Golden Tempo on G1 DraftKings Travers Day

• DeVaux barn represented by top sophomores Englishman, Golden Tempo on G1 DraftKings Travers Day
• Schultz relishing the ride with G1 DraftKings Travers contender Baby Vino
• Sunlit Uplands points to G2 Flower Bowl
• Arnold well-suited with Kilwin, Echo Sound in G1 Resorts World Casino Ballerina
• Go for Launch earns 76 BSF in Listed Bolton Landing
• The Puma could take step forward in G1 DraftKings Travers

Trainer Cherie DeVaux will saddle two of the most exciting 3-year-olds in the country on Saturday when she sends out Englishman in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial and Golden Tempo in the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers, at Saratoga Race Course.

The 157th renewal of the DraftKings Travers [Race 13, approx. 6:35 p.m. Eastern] is one of five Grade 1s scheduled for Saturday’s 14-race program, including the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial in Race 8 and three top-level Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers with the Personal Ensign [Distaff] in Race 9, the Forego [Dirt Mile] in Race 11 and the Resorts World Casino Ballerina [Filly and Mare Sprint] in Race 12. The card is supported by the Grade 2 Lake Placid in Race 10.

The DraftKings Travers will be showcased live on FOX as part of a two-hour edition of FOX Saratoga Saturday presented by Oceania Cruises from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. First post on Saturday’s card is 11:05 a.m. with gates opening to the public at 9 a.m. 

Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Golden Tempo will look to become the fifth horse since 2020 to capture both the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes by NYRA Bets and the Travers – an elite list that includes Tiz the Law [2020], Essential Quality [2021], Arcangelo [2023] and Sovereignty [2025].

C R K Stable’s Englishman, a $400,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, arrives at the Jerkens from a course record-equaling final time of 1:20.40 for his 5 3/4-length romp in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on June 6 here. The win was awarded a 115 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest number registered by a 3-year-old this year – and second only to the 122 figure earned by the 5-year-old Knightsbridge in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup.

Should both Golden Tempo and Englishman win on Saturday, it would send both horses into strong consideration for the highest of year-end honors and leave DeVaux in the unique scenario of potentially being the first trainer of the winners of Horse of the Year, Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and Champion Sprinter in the same year since Hall of Famer Laz Barrera accomplished the feat in 1978 with Triple Crown-winner Affirmed [Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, Horse of the Year] and J. O. Tobin [Champion Sprinter in a tie with Dr. Patches].

DeVaux credited her owners as well as her team’s continued attention to detail for the barn’s success.

“I'm very fortunate to have great clients,” DeVaux said. “We've had a lot of success and pulled together to put ourselves in a position to be able to get these types of horses in the barn, but also be able to manage them.

“[With] these ones it's more about just maintaining them and not getting nervous and not getting too star struck with our own stock,” she continued. “It's important, as a team, that we're all on the same page…the horses that are not at the top, we’re treating each horse the same and I feel that's what has put us in a position to be successful and to be able to get these types of horses in the barn and maintain them.”

Golden Tempo, listed as the 5-2 morning line favorite, drew post 9-of-10 under the Spa’s leading rider Jose Ortiz, who has notched 64 wins at the meet heading into Thursday's card and sits just four wins behind the record of 68 set by Ramon Dominguez across a 40-day meet in 2012.

“For his running style, I feel it’s better for him to be outside, let the speed go and let him find a place to where he can save some ground,” DeVaux said. “I think it's more advantageous to be in an outside position as opposed to the inside where horses are crowding around you and getting jostled around.”

The Curlin bay has banked in excess of $4.6 million through a 6-4-0-2 ledger.

Englishman is listed at 3-5 on the morning line for the Jerkens with Ortiz named to ride from post 4. The Maxfield colt has won 3-of-4 starts, the lone blemish on his record a 3 3/4-length second to Crude Velocity when stretched out in distance for the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile in May at Churchill Downs.

Englishman extracted a modicum of revenge on his familiar foe last out with his 5 3/4-length score over Crude Velocity in the Woody Stephens.

DeVaux didn’t rule out stretching Englishman out in distance again down the road.

“The way he runs and the way he is, I think a one-turn mile is his distance limit. I'm not saying we wouldn't open that up for discussion at another point,” DeVaux said. “Right now, we're just going to keep him at that sprinting 6-to-7 [furlongs] distance. He didn't run bad in the Pat Day Mile, it's just that Crude Velocity was better. He also was stuck against the rail, so it was a little bit hard for him to relax and he's a lightly-raced colt. He could have more dimension but right now we'll do what he's best suited for.”

One of the enduring images of this year’s Kentucky Derby was an emotional DeVaux cheering home Golden Tempo, who closed from last-of-18 and 17 lengths off the pace to secure a neck win over returning rival Renegade. The Derby winner’s running style comes in stark contrast to the speedy Englishman, who has held at least a three-length advantage at the stretch call of his three wins.

DeVaux said it’s impossible to decide whether it’s easier to be the hunter with the onrushing Golden Tempo or the leader with Englishman as the one with the target on his back.

“Both are anxious moments,” said DeVaux, with a laugh. “It's funny, they had the camera on me when Englishman ran [in the Jerkens] and as soon as he pulled away, I said, 'OK, I don't have to cheer anymore, I'm going to save it for Golden Tempo.' A horse like Englishman is not as dependent on the complexity of the race as Golden Tempo is but they're both exciting and the level of cheering doesn't negate how excited I am.”

***

Schultz relishing the ride with G1 DraftKings Travers contender Baby Vino

Trainer Lindsay Schultz became the first woman to train a winner of the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell when Baby Vino splashed home over the sloppy and sealed surface at Monmouth Park to score by a half-length over Napoleon Solo.

On Saturday, Schultz will look to become just the third woman trainer to capture the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers with Baby Vino listed as a 10-1 longshot in a field headed by the Cherie DeVaux-conditioned Golden Tempo. Jena Antonucci accomplished the feat in 2023 with Arcangelo, following Mary Hirsch, who sent out Thanksgiving to win the Travers in 1938.

The 37-year-old Schultz notched her first win in January 2022 with Capture the Glory at Oaklawn Park and picked up her first stakes win in July 2023 when Alex Joon captured the Edward P. Evans at Colonial Downs.

Schultz will match talents Saturday with Hall of Fame trainers Todd Pletcher [Renegade, 3-1ML] and Mark Casse [Silent Tactic, 10-1], as well as multiple Eclipse Award-winners Brad Cox [Leading Change, 12-1] and Chad Brown [Emerging Market, 15-1; Sea Strike, 5-1].

“There's a lot of young trainers my age starting to get big horses and I’m glad to be a part of that,” Schultz said. “It's a massive honor and kind of unbelievable when you look at the other people you're running against in this race, their credentials, their experience and everything they’ve done.”

Baby Vino needed five starts at Oaklawn Park to break his maiden, enduring a number of troubled trips along the way, before his 2 3/4-length graduation on May 1. The Vino Rosso colt followed with a 10 3/4-length romp under Paco Lopez in the Listed NYRA Bets Pegasus on June 13 at Monmouth Park ahead of his narrow win under Jorge Vargas, Jr. in the Haskell when besting the Lopez-piloted Grade 1 Preakness-winner Napoleon Solo, a returning rival on Saturday.

“After we won the Pegasus people started asking me if he could be a Grade 1 horse, but I've never trained a Grade 1 horse before. I thought he could be a real good horse, but I didn't know,” Schultz said. “I went into the Haskell with plenty of confidence and the horse has showed his hand all the way - he's always worked good and, in his races, he had some adversity to overcome. He finally started to put it all together.”

While Schultz did not previously have a Grade 1-winner in her barn, she was no stranger to working with top-flight stock having started out her career with Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito.

“My very first job on the track I was a hotwalker for Nick Zito here and that year Ice Box was a 2-year-old, we had Da’Tara in the barn, we had Commentator, Cool Coal Man,” Schultz recalled.

Schultz, who attended the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program, went on to the Darley Flying Start program and later found herself working for trainer Tom Proctor where she assisted with multiple graded stakes-winners Marketing Mix, Banned and Global View.

“There was a horse called Cambodia I was very close to and she ran third in the [2017 Breeders' Cup] Filly and Mare Turf,” Schultz recalled. “Her owners helped support me when I went out on my own - they brought another owner in – Allen Schubert. Cambodia meant a lot for me.”

Another horse that continues to have meaning for Schultz is Temeraine, who banked $558,949 through a 22-5-2-5 record for Proctor, including a win in the 2013 Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup. Temeraine finished fifth that year in both the Grade 1 Arlington Million at Arlington Park and the Grade 1 Canadian International at Woodbine.

“For Tom, I started as a traveling assistant/office manager. He had three strings at the time. The horse we now use as a pony, Temeraine, he won the Kentucky Cup, and I got to bring him to the Arlington Million and to Woodbine for the big race up there," Schultz recalled.

Following her time with Proctor, Schultz spent nearly a year working with Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey. The experience gained is invaluable as she prepares her young charge for the Travers.

On Monday, Schultz sent Baby Vino through the paddock en route to a half-mile work over the main track with NYRA clockers catching the colt in an opening quarter-mile in 23.47 and 47.31 for four furlongs.

“We were happy, he did it easy. I had him galloping out in a minute and change,” Schultz said. “We got what we wanted, and he didn't come back with too much of a blow. It was good.

“It's a lot for them,” Schultz added regarding handling the crowd on big race days. “So, we made it part of our everyday routine to go through the paddock and school them in the races. He's been good.”

Schultz had a big call to make when deciding on a rider for the Travers and ultimately landed on going back to Lopez, who has a history with the horse dating back to Baby Vino’s first entry on November 27 when he was scratched from a six-furlong sprint at Fair Grounds.

“Paco worked this horse in New Orleans before he even ran and was named on him in his first race,” Schultz said. “Paco worked him up until the Pegasus and while the Pegasus wasn't the quality of the Haskell, he gave him the easiest trip he's had in all his races. 

“Jorge Vargas rode a phenomenal race and will continue to ride horses for us,” she continued. “I'm beyond thrilled he won the Haskell, and that we did it together, it was such a good experience. But to have the chance to put Paco back on the horse, we went ahead and took it.”

Campaigned by Delta Squad Racing, HRH Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and Cosmo Stables, Baby Vino has banked $794,916 through a 7-3-2-1 record and will look to become the first Haskell winner since Point Given in 2001 to take the Travers.

Schultz knows Baby Vino will face a strong test in the Travers when facing Kentucky Derby one-two finishers Golden Tempo and Renegade despite having already bested returning rivals Napoleon Solo, The Puma and Ocelli in the Haskell.

“The horses' style is beneficial. It's a big positive going in. He can be tactical,” Schultz said. “I can see him sitting right in behind the speed and being able to get the jump on the closers. He's a Grade 1-winner, he hasn't run in the Classics and has never run a mile and quarter before, but I think that he will. I think that he fits with them. Most importantly, he deserves a chance to run against this group and it's a good opportunity to do it when he's in such good form.”

***

Sunlit Uplands points to G2 Flower Bowl

Rachel Flynn and Rae Guest’s European raider Sunlit Uplands will look to go one better than her runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa presented by STIHL when she ships downstate for the Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl on September 26, at Belmont Park. The 10-furlong turf route for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in October at Keeneland.

Trained by Stuart Williams, the 4-year-old Sands of Mali bay arrived at Saratoga Race Course from a three-length win in the Group 3 Stuten Meile in July at Hamburg. Hall of Famer John Velazquez piloted Sunlit Uplands in the 1 1/16-mile Ballston Spa on August 22 here, stalking the early pace of And One More Time from third position through three-quarters in 1:11.46. Velazquez tipped Sunlit Uplands out four-wide for the stretch run and was carried wider still by And One More Time from the eighth-pole home, missing by a neck to the pacesetter in a final time of 1:40.80. A claim of foul by Velazquez and a stewards’ inquiry resulted in no change to the order of finish.

“Most of the commentators were pretty surprised that she didn't get moved up,” Williams said. “I definitely think she got carried over more than she got beat. She lost at least half a length being carried over the track and she got beat a neck. Johnny was convinced he would get it in the stewards' room.”

Overall, Williams said he was very happy with the performance from Sunlit Uplands in her stateside debut.

“It's in line with her progress this year. The reason we sent her out there is we think she's an improving mare and the way they race over there would suit her,” Williams said. “They went a nice pace, and she settled well in third. Johnny gave her a great ride, very happy with the ride. We were just a bit unlucky to come up a little bit short.

“It was her first run on really firm ground,” he added. “I think she handled it, but I think she would be better with a little more juice in the ground.”

Williams said Sunlit Uplands exited the Ballston Spa in good order and will now point to a start in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl.

“She's fresh and well - sound. We're very happy with how she came out of the race,” Williams said. “The way she trains here, I've said to the owners we ought to step her up at some stage and I think this [the Flower Bowl] is a good opportunity to do that.”

Sunlit Uplands was trained by Guest through her first eight starts and made her first start for Williams with a wide late-running fourth under David Probert in the Group 3 Chartwell Fillies over a straight seven furlongs in May – a race Williams said she needed.

Sunlit Uplands followed with a 1 3/4-length second to Moonhall Church in the one-mile Listed Premio XCVII Royal Mares traveling right-handed over soft going at San Siro in Italy in June ahead of her stalking score in the right-handed Group 3 Stuten Meile over yielding footing.

Williams said he’s been pleased with the development of Sunlit Uplands in her quartet of starts this year.

“She's a fairly straightforward filly to deal with. She's gone left and right [handed] over here and we've never had a problem with her. You can never tell until you go and do it, but we were hopeful that would be the case,” Williams said.

Sunlit Uplands, out of the Dansili mare Illico, has banked $146,419 through a 12-4-4-0 record.

***

Arnold well-suited with Kilwin, Echo Sound in G1 Resorts World Casino Ballerina

Trainer Rusty Arnold will have two strong chances to win Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Resorts World Casino Ballerina as he sends out Grade 1-winner Kilwin and dual graded stakes-winner Echo Sound in the seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Saratoga Race Course. The Ballerina awards a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

“They’re both doing great and got in [to Saratoga] Monday, galloped on Wednesday. We had no intention of putting them both in the same spot, but it just worked out that way,” Arnold said. “We didn’t want to take the opportunity away from either one of them. They’ve both trained well and came back and raced well, both of their owners were set on coming here, and I can’t blame them. We’ll find out what we have.”

Both fillies enter the Ballerina off impressive wins just one day apart in their seasonal bows off 10-month layoffs. B B N Racing and Rick Howard’s Kilwin [post 2, Jose Ortiz, 8-1 ML] stalked and pounced to a driving 2 1/4-length victory in Ellis Park’s six-furlong Twin Bridges on July 19, while Gabriel Duignan’s Echo Sound [post 1, Luis Saez, 15-1 ML] captured Monmouth Park’s Regret in a pace-pressing 7 1/2-length romp over sloppy and sealed footing the day prior.

Kilwin made her first five starts on turf – including a win in Kentucky Downs’ Untapable in 2024 – and is a perfect 3-for-3 on dirt, which came within her last four starts. She captured last year’s Leslie’s Lady at Churchill Downs and headed to the Spa to take on the favored Echo Sound in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Test presented by Ticketmaster last August.

There, she stumbled badly at the start and trailed 11 lengths back in last-of-8 before making a sustained rally and eking out a neck victory over Ragtime with Echo Sound in sixth. The Twirling Candy bay then tried turf again with an off-the-board finish in Kentucky Downs’ Grade 2 Music City ahead of her extended respite.

Arnold said he was encouraged by the last-out effort from Kilwin at Ellis Park to defeat a field that included graded stakes-winner Cash Call for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, and the Grade 3-placed Eddie Kenneally trainee Evanescence.

“She had a great comeback race and it wasn’t an easy race – it was a solid race and Bob Baffert had a nice filly in there, and so did Eddie Kenneally,” Arnold said. “It was nice to see that she came back. She’s undefeated on the dirt, which is kind of hard to believe, but hopefully she’ll continue on with it. This is a step up and there’s eight or 10 horses in there who look like they can win. I think it’s about who gets the trip and who shows up.”

Gabriel Duignan’s Echo Sound finished first or second in her first six starts, with five wins that included the Myrtlewood at Keeneland as a juvenile, and sophomore wins in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness at Pimlico Race Course and the local Grade 3 Victory Ride, where she earned a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure. She completed her season with two uncharacteristic efforts in the Test, where she pressed the pace and weakened into the stretch, and the Grade 3 Dogwood over the same distance in September at Churchill.

Last out, she showed no signs of rust with her win at Monmouth, and Arnold is expecting another big effort from the daughter of Echo Town.

“She had a little issue and had the time off, but she came back strong and is training really well,” Arnold said. “She’s the same, if not better [than last year]. She looks gorgeous and is in peak health, fit and ready to roll. I expect her to run well.”

An up-and-coming filly in the Arnold barn looking to make her own mark is Summer Wind Equine’s homebred Follow Your Heart, who debuts in Race 5 today, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf maiden. The daughter of Flightline is out of the turf stakes-winning Galileo mare Key To My Heart, while her second dam is dirt Grade 1-winner A Z Warrior.

“We’re really high on her and we’re hoping the weather holds. We thought this would be a good place to run and we think she’ll eventually want to run a bit farther, but I really like this filly a lot and the Flightlines are showing up,” Arnold said. “I think we’ve got one that’s good, too, and we’ll give her a shot here.”

Follow Your Heart has turned in a sharp series of works over the main track at Keeneland, including a half-mile bullet in 46.60 seconds from the gate on August 15.

Arnold said the filly’s breeding on her dam side led him to point her to a turf debut.

“The mare is the main thing and that’s the reason we went there,” Arnold said. “She’s never been on the turf and it’s hard to get a maiden onto it to breeze on it here [in Kentucky]. We’re taking a bit of a guess that she’s going to like it, but if it comes off, we’ll still run.”

Luis Saez has the call from post 8 with a morning line assessment of 9-2.

***

Go for Launch earns 76 BSF in Listed Bolton Landing

Blue Heaven Farm’s Kentucky homebred Go for Launch shipped in from Woodbine to make her stakes debut a winning one, stalking and pouncing to a 2 1/4-length score in Wednesday’s Listed $200,000 Bolton Landing, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for juvenile fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by dual Sovereign Award-winner Kevin Attard and piloted by the reigning Eclipse Award-winning Apprentice Jockey Pietro Moran, the regally-bred daughter of U.S. 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, out of Canada’s 2019 Horse of the Year Starship Jubilee, arrived from a pacesetting score in a five-furlong maiden sprint last month over Woodbine’s inner turf.

On Wednesday, Go for Launch exited post 2-of-8 and saved ground in third position as Allura zipped a half-mile in 45.28 seconds over the firm footing. Moran tipped his filly out at the quarter-pole and accelerated to the lead with a furlong to run, drawing away to score in a final time of 1:02.45. The winning effort earned a 76 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She’s quick out of the gate and I figured she would show speed first time out, but you can’t judge a horse by one race and think they’re a need-the-lead type” Attard said. “On paper, the race yesterday looked like it had a lot of speed and horses that were maybe quicker than her, early. She got a really good trip and proved that she’s a high-caliber type of horse.

“In the morning, the gallop-outs of her breezes have been strong,” he continued. “With her pedigree, you’d have to assume there’s some more distance in her.”

The victory was made extra special for Attard as Go for Launch was saddled by his 23-year-old son Joshua, while the 21-year-old Moran piloted Mansetti to victory for the veteran conditioner in last year’s King’s Plate.

“The win was real special for many reasons. I’m very proud of Josh, he’s done a great job. Pietro is like a son to me as well, he’s spent a lot of time working for me and to see them both in the winner’s circle together was definitely a proud dad moment,” Attard said.

Attard said Go for Launch exited the race in good order and is en route to back to Woodbine where she is likely to make her next start versus males in the Grade 3, $250,000 Algonquin, a five-furlong inner turf sprint on October 3. The George Weaver-trained filly Cy Fair ran second in last year’s Bolton Landing and subsequently won the Algonquin en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“We made a plan after her first race to stick to sprinting and see if we could get to the Breeders’ Cup,” Attard said. “As it stands right now, we’ll stay the course and there’s a great race in our backyard that led to a Breeders’ Cup winner last reason. We’ll follow the same route, play it one race at a time and go from there.”

The victory continued a fruitful Saratoga summer for Attard, who has won with 2-of-4 starters, also taking an allowance event here in July with Eponine, who had run a close second in an allowance here during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Attard is planning to have a larger presence in New York this winter with an eye towards the Empire Trillium Series, a 14-race program of stakes races restricted to horses foaled in New York or Canada worth $3.2 million in total purses. 12 of the 14 races are to be contested on Tapeta.

“We’re hoping to build up some clientele for New York. I’ve been pretty pleased with our Saratoga runners. They’ve gone there, competed well and carried the flag proudly,” Attard said.

Attard has three horses co-owned by X-Men Racing in Cattrall, De la Renta and Meloni nominated to the Listed $200,000 P.G. Johnson, a 1 1/16-mile turf route for juvenile fillies on September 4 here.

“We’ll maybe try to bring one out that direction. I’ll work a couple tomorrow and make a decision after that,” Attard said.

Attard noted that Two Out Hero, who is nominated to the $200,000 Gio Ponti on Closing Day September 7 here, will likely race at Kentucky Downs. However, Attard may have one additional Spa starter in allowance-level horse Hammerhead.

***

The Puma could take step forward in G1 DraftKings Travers

OGMA Investments, High Step Racing, TCC Stables, YNG Stables and JR Ranch’s The Puma could improve second off the layoff in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers, a 10-furlong test for sophomores, at Saratoga Race Course.

The 157th renewal of the DraftKings Travers [Race 13, approx. 6:35 p.m. Eastern] is one of five Grade 1s scheduled for Saturday’s 14-race program, including the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial in Race 8 and three top-level Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers with the Personal Ensign [Distaff] in Race 9, the Forego [Dirt Mile] in Race 11 and the Resorts World Casino Ballerina [Filly and Mare Sprint] in Race 12. The card is supported by the Grade 2 Lake Placid in Race 10.

Trained by Gustavo Delgado, The Puma enters from a 4 1/4-length fourth in the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell over sloppy and sealed footing on July 18 at Monmouth Park. That effort came off a nearly four-month respite dating to a nose second to Commandment in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March at Gulfstream Park.

The Puma’s regular rider, Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, was sidelined with an injury for the Haskell and jockey Luis Saez climbed aboard for the first time in the afternoon. Castellano is back aboard for the Travers from post 4, tabbed at morning line odds of 8-1.

“Luis Saez rode him for the first time in the Haskell and got to know him that day,” said Gustavo Delgado, Jr., son of and assistant to Delgado. “We had to ship for the race. We were training at Gulfstream and had to ship to New Jersey to run at Monmouth. He was coming off a four month layoff, it was a sloppy track, and he stumbled out of the gate. Three or four things just added up.”

Castellano, who notched his 6,000th win on Wednesday here, seeks a record-extending eighth Travers win. His past scores include Bernardini [2006, odds-on favorite], Afleet Express [2010, 7-1], Stay Thirsty [2011, 2.4-1 favorite], V.E. Day [2014, 8-1], Keen Ice [2015, 16-1], Catholic Boy [2018, 7-1] and Arcangelo [2023, 2.7-1].

“He definitely knows how to win this race,” Delgado, Jr. said. “He’s been breezing him. He’s happy with the way he’s doing it before the race. We’d love to see him perform the way we think he’s going to perform.”

The Puma is a chestnut son of 2021 Travers-winner Essential Quality, who was trained by Brad Cox. The Delgados are back in the Travers for the first time since Kentucky Derby-winner Mage contested the 2023 edition.

“I think people relate The Puma to Mage because he was our other big horse,” Delgado, Jr. said. “They are the same color, but very different in demeanor. Mage was more aggressive. This guy is more of a ‘cool dude kind of guy.’ We know that he is already fast, we’ve tried to build stamina, and his dad won the Travers five years ago. He certainly has the family, and his gallop outs have always looked good. Maybe the race will play to his advantage, that’s what we are looking for.”