It's on to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby for Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing's Caracaro, runner-up in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Trainer Gustavo Delgado said he was pleased with the way Caracaro exited the “Mid-Summer Derby,” his second race in three weeks off a six-month layoff.
“He came back very good. He's happy, he ate his food, he's relaxed. Right now, he's sleeping. Everything's good,” Delgado said. “We'll check with the vet and talk with the owners and my son and decide. As long as there's no problems, we'll go to the Derby.
“Yesterday was a big race, a strong race. I consider Tiz the Law the best horse in the country,” he added. “In the Travers, they were all good horses. It was his second race after the six months and to run second again was very good for us.”
Caracaro earned 40 qualifying points for the Derby in the Travers, where he was 5 1/2 lengths behind Tiz the Law but two lengths clear of Max Player in third. Caracaro picked up 20 points for his neck defeat in the Grade 2 Peter Pan on July 16 at Saratoga and ranks 10th, solidifying his spot in the 20-horse Derby field.
“That's what we wanted and that was the plan. It's always been the plan with him. We're kind of satisfied that we accomplished that,” Delgado's son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado, Jr. said. “Of course we know there's a freak horse around. We do think that our horse still has a lot of room for improvement. He's still developing, you can tell, and we were asking a lot from him.
“I think running after three weeks, one more furlong, out of that effort in the Peter Pan, to come back in the Travers, a tougher race, a tougher field, and he showed up again,” he added. “His figure numbers keep improving. He handled the distance pretty well. You can tell he kept going, at his own pace, but he kept going. We were just second-best. But he beat all the other horses, so that was good.”
Delgado, Jr. said Caracaro is expected to remain in Saratoga to train for the Derby, which was rescheduled from May 2 to September 5. It will be the third trip to Louisville for the Delgados, who ran 18th with Majesto in 2016 and 13th with Bodexpress in 2019.
“It's going to be a long and very exciting three weeks,” Delgado, Jr. said. “It's more likely that we will stay here. I don't think shipping the horse the next few days would be good for him. He will go through regular post-race stress so it's better if he stays here, and he likes it here, the weather and everything. Ideally, we will stay here and train for the Derby and ship right before the race. That's what makes more sense right now.”
'Baby Steps' Forward For Third-Place Finishers Max Player
George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player continued his career-long trend of finishing in the money, earning third-place honors for the second consecutive Grade 1 with his black-type effort in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.
Just like in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20, Max Player stayed off the pace in the 151st running of the Travers before finishing strong to earn a placing in a race won by New York-bred Tiz the Law.
Under jockey Joel Rosario for the second consecutive start, Max Player went four-wide in the upper stretch and hit the wire two lengths back of runner-up Caracaro, who was 5 1/2 lengths behind the runaway winner and 1-2 favorite.
Bred by K&G Stables in Kentucky, Max Player is 2-1-2 in five career starts for trainer Linda Rice.
“He came out of it really well,” Rice said. “He's a little tired, but otherwise, he's in good shape.”
Max Player earned a 99 Beyer for the effort, the best of his career and exceeding his previous high of 92 garnered in the Belmont Stakes. He has improved his speed figures in every start, beginning with a 68 in a second-place debut effort as a juvenile in November at Parx. After breaking his maiden at second asking to cap his 2-year-old year in December over a sloppy and sealed Parx main track, Max Player earned an 86 for his 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Withers in his stakes – and sophomore – debut in February at Aqueduct Racetrack.
“We were pleased with it,” Rice said. “He's continued to improve and taken baby steps forward. So, we were pleased with that. He's been pretty consistent and has been moving forward with gentle progress. We're happy with that. He came out of it fine and he's sleeping a lot today since he ran hard and is a bit tired. But all in all, he came out of the race well.”
Max Player earned 20 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby on September 5 at Churchill Downs, with the Runhappy Travers awarding 100-40-20-10 to the top-four finishers. He sits ninth on the Derby leaderboard with 60 total points and $337,500 in non-restricted stakes earnings. With the “Run for the Roses” expected to draw its usual full field of 20, that would put Max Player in contention to give Rice her first career Derby starter should the connections decide to ship him there.
“We're certainly going to keep that option open,” Rice said. “We'll give it a few days and I'll discuss it further with George and Joe De Perio [president of SportBLX] and talk about that later in the week.”
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