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‘Everything Is Going Smoothly’ With Travers Contender Max Player

George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player, the third-place finisher in last month's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, continues to train forwardly towards the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers on August 8, trainer Linda Rice said.

Max Player, who finished only behind Dr Post and winner Tiz the Law in the Belmont Stakes on June 20, worked for the third time since the first leg of the Triple Crown, going five furlongs in 1:02.21 on Monday morning over the Belmont Park training track.

“He breezed fine and everything went well,” Rice said. “We took it easy with him because the temperatures have been in the high-90s out there. It's been crazy hot, but everything is going smoothly.”

The Honor Code colt, 2-1-1 in four career races, made his first two starts at Parx, running second in his debut at one mile on November 12 before winning at the same distance at second asking over a sloppy and sealed track on December 17.

In his first race as a sophomore, Max Player defeated an eight-horse field by 3 ¼ lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Withers on February 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. In the Belmont Stakes, which was shortened from its famed 1 ½-mile distance to a one-turn 1 1/8 miles to accommodate the revised schedule for 3-year-olds in training, Max Player earned a personal-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

With the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby set for September 5 and serving as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown this year, Max Player earned 30 qualifying points for his Belmont Stakes blacktype, adding to the 10 he accumulated with his Withers win. His 40 total qualifying points places him 15th on the current leaderboard, with the Runhappy Travers offering a 100-40-20-10 scale to the top-four finishers.

“He's on schedule,” Rice said. “We're at our home base here. He'll get one more breeze at Belmont and we'll go from there.”

The “Mid-Summer Derby” is contested at 1 ¼ miles, which would make the Travers both Max Player's first start at Saratoga and also the longest race in which he's contested. Rice said there is a possibility he could work at Saratoga before running, but said he has already won in unfamiliar places.

“When we won in the Withers at Aqueduct, he had never been on that track, either,” Rice said. “He can handle new situations well.”

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‘Back With Another Chance’: Tiz The Law Arrives In Saratoga To Prep For Travers

Sackatoga Stables' Tiz the Law shipped from Belmont park up to Saratoga on Monday, reports The Daily Gazette, in order to prep for this year's edition of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. The 3-year-old colt won the Belmont Stakes in his most recent outing, and is expected to run in the Aug. 8 Travers before the rescheduled Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

“Like (trainer) Barclay (Tagg) said, he's always wanted to win the Travers, and obviously I've always wanted to win the Travers,” Sackatoga's Jack Knowlton told The Daily Gazette. “We were deeply disappointed that (Sackatoga and Tagg's 2003 Kentucky Derby winner) Funny Cide got sick and we weren't able to run it. Now we're back with another chance, and maybe we can do what we did with the Belmont.”

Tiz the Law gave Tagg and Sackatoga the victory in the Belmont Stakes they'd been denied with Funny Cide, 17 years after the “gutsy gelding” took the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Though the three-race series is out of order in this unusual 2020 season, Knowlton and Tagg are looking forward to their chance to bring another New York-bred to racing's center stage.

“He's a good horse,” Knowlton continued. “We'll find out how good, because there's going to be challenges.”

Average Daily Handle Up 42 Percent During Belmont’s Spring/Summer Meet

The New York Racing Association Inc., (NYRA) today announced that the Belmont Park spring/summer meet generated $15,466,198 in average daily handle from all sources, a 42 percent increase over the 2019 spring/summer meet.

Abbreviated to 25-days and held without spectators in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening of the spring/summer meet on Wednesday, June 3 marked the return of professional sports in New York and was conducted with strict health and safety protocols in place.

“We would like to thank the horseplayers for their enthusiastic support of New York racing during this most unusual spring/summer meet,” said NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “That we were able to resume racing on June 3, and usher in the return of professional sports in New York, reflects the dedication and professionalism of the racing community during these uncertain and challenging times.”

Despite running 23 fewer days than in 2019, a 48 percent decrease, all sources handle during the spring/summer meet totaled $386,654,955.

Average field size over the 248 races carded was 8.61, a 23 percent increase over 2019. Five races were taken off the turf due to weather, and all five came on July 10 with the impact of Tropical Storm Fay.

The June 20 Belmont Stakes Day card, which featured 12 races and six graded stakes, highlighted by Tiz the Law's victory in the 152nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, generated all sources handle of $67,753,336.

The 2019 spring/summer meet, which was contested across 48 live race days, generated all sources handle of $524,051,324 and average daily handle of $10,917,736. 448 races were run in total with 46 races taken off the turf due to weather. Average field size was 6.98.

Chad Brown notched 23 wins to finish as the leading trainer at the 2020 Belmont spring/summer meet for the fifth consecutive time and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. posted 34 victories to lead all riders as the 25-day meet concluded on Sunday at Belmont Park.

Klaravich Stables led all owners with 13 wins, outpacing second-place finisher Michael Dubb, who had seven victories.

The 2020 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course will begin on Thursday, July 16 and run through Labor Day, Monday, September 7. Following the four-day opening weekend, live racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays.

Under current New York State guidelines, Saratoga Race Course will open without spectators in attendance. The 40-day meet will be highlighted by the 151st renewal of the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers on Saturday, August 8 and the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney on Saturday, August 1.

Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule

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‘So Great To See Her Back’: La Troienne Likely Next For Returning Champion Monomoy Girl

Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group, and Bethlehem Stables' Monomoy Girl returned to graded stakes-winning form on Saturday with a two-length triumph in the Grade 2 Ruffian at Belmont Park, earning a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure.

Owner Sol Kumin of Monomoy Stables said he was pleased with the winning effort.

“It was so great to see her back,” Kumin said. “She had been training so well going into the race and this was just so exciting to see.”

Monomoy Girl will look to build on Saturday's victory with a possible start in the Grade 1 La Troienne on September 4 at Churchill Downs going 1 1/16 miles.

Trained by Brad Cox, Monomoy Girl was crowned Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2018, winning five Grade 1 races including the Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks on the NYRA circuit en route to a triumph against elders in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs.

The 5-year-old Tapizar chestnut did not race at age 4 and was sent to WinStar Farm last spring after a mild case of colic and suffered an injury to her hamstring last fall when preparing for a potential comeback.

Prior to her Ruffian score, Monomoy Girl bested an optional claiming field over a sloppy main track going a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs by 2 ¾ lengths.

“Most likely she'll come back in the La Troienne,” Kumin said. “It's a good distance, there's good spacing between her races, and it's at Churchill Downs which is right at her front door. We'll discuss it further with the rest of the partners, but more than likely that's where you'll see her.”

Kumin is also a part owner of reigning Champion Older Filly Midnight Bisou as well as dual Grade 1 winner She's a Julie.

“Obviously the day is going to come where they'll have to face each other, but we'll keep them separate for the time being. I'm just very lucky to be involved with such great fillies. This is what the game is all about,” Kumin said.

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