As Travers favorite, Purge looks dandy
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Saturday's 135th running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga has drawn a strong field of seven, including Birdstone, who captured the Belmont Stakes, defeating the mighty Smarty Jones in the process, and Lion Heart, who took the $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park.
However, neither the Belmont nor the Haskell winner was made the favorite for the Travers yesterday. That honor went to Purge, who won the $500,000 Jim Dandy, the Saratoga prep for the big event.
Six of the last 12 victors in the Travers have used the Jim Dandy as a springboard. They didn't all win the Jim Dandy (Thunder Rumble in 1992 and Medaglia d'Oro in 2002 did triumph), but they all were competitive, with none finishing farther back than fourth. The Jim Dandy is held in such esteem by the locals that linemaker Don LaPlace made Purge 2-1, Birdstone and Lion Heart each 3-1 for the Travers, despite the fact that the Jim Dandy is a Grade II race, and, unlike his main competition, Purge has never won a Grade I contest.
That's not to diminish the chances of Purge, conditioned by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, who are running away with the trainer and jockey titles at The Spa for the second year in a row. Purge, a son of Pulpit, romped in the Jim Dandy, and has won four of his seven career starts. His losses have come to the now-retired Smarty Jones (twice at Oaklawn in Arkansas this spring), and to Birdstone in the Belmont, when he collapsed after taking the lead and finished last.
"I can't say who is the horse to beat," said Pletcher. "It's pretty wide open. Making him favorite, well, I didn't think about that. It will be interesting to see who the public latches on to. We'll see. We want to stalk. We want to follow Lion Heart [a noted front-runner].
"Lion Heart is one of the horses we have to contend with, and he won't get away. We'll put the pressure on him ourselves. On paper, it looks like we can have the same trip we had in the Jim Dandy [Purge tracked the leader before moving to a 7-length lead past the eighth pole], and we're hoping for the same result. Chasing somebody, that's what he does best."
The only poor race Purge has run came in the Belmont. But Pletcher believes Purge stopped because the track record crowd of 120,000, there to see Smarty Jones try for the Triple Crown, upset him.
"He didn't behave very well in the paddock that day," said Pletcher. "He got a little shook up. There's been nothing quite like it. He got fractious, and left his race in the post parade. The biggest factor to me was the atmosphere on Belmont Day. You could feel the intensity in the air. It got to Purge that day.
"I had a bad feeling going up there. He ran a half-mile, then he was finished. We've been working with him, and we've corrected the problem. We took aggressive measures while schooling him in the paddock. He's a very good horse on his day, and I hope he'll show it in the Travers."
Purge has never raced at the Travers distance of a mile and one-quarter, but he's won twice at a mile and one-eighth (the Peter Pan at Belmont in May and the Jim Dandy), and Pletcher doesn't think the distance will be a problem. What he is concerned about is the short rest of 20 days since the Jim Dandy was run Aug. 8.
"I would prefer to have more time," said Pletcher. "But everybody except Birdstone [who has not raced since the Belmont June 5] is in a similar situation [the Haskell was held on the same day as the Jim Dandy]. You're always concerned when a horse gets less than his normal rest, and 20 days is not optimal.
"But he's 2 for 2 over this track [Purge broke his maiden with ease in his career debut last August] and training well. I've got to give him a chance and hope he can put back-to-back races together. The mile and one-quarter is not a problem. If he doesn't win the Travers, it won't be because of the distance.
"The biggest thing with Purge is that he likes a target, and we're going to get to follow Lion Heart. Purge is a rare horse. Usually, horses with his speed relax on the lead, and run better. He seems to run his best with a target."
