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Triple Crown News Minute Presented By Kentucky Equine Research: Who’ll Fight ‘The Law’?

While Saturday's $1-million Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., offers qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby (100-40-20-10 to the top four finishers), this Grade 1, mile and a quarter fixture is anything but a “prep.”

Barclay Tagg has made no secret of his desire to win this “Mid-Summer Derby,” and Tiz the Law has not missed a beat for him since winning the G1 Belmont Stakes on June 20 – the opening leg of the Triple Crown in this upside-down year of the coronavirus pandemic.

But to win the Travers, the Constitution colt will have to earn it. Three-time Travers-winning trainer Bob Baffert has shipped unbeaten Uncle Chuck in from California, and the Uncle Mo colt has drawn comparisons to Arrogate, the 2016 Travers winner for Baffert who set a track record of 1:59.36 winning by 13 1/2 lengths.

Country Grammer and Caracaro, the 1-2 finishers in the G3 Peter Pan at Saratoga on July 16, could also make things difficult for Tiz the Law.

In this edition of the Triple Crown News Minute, Ray Paulick and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth go through the field of eight 3-year-olds to determine whether any of them are capable of fighting 'The Law' and upsetting Tagg's even-money morning line favorite.

Watch the latest Triple Crown News Minute below:

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‘Really Strong Favorite’ Art Collector Draws Post Four Of Full Field For Ellis Park Derby

The field was set Thursday for Sunday's first-ever Kentucky Derby prep staged at Ellis Park, with Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass winner Art Collector heading the thirteen 3-year-old colts and geldings entered in the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby.

“It's Art Collector and all the rest,” said trainer Tom Amoss, who will try to pull off the upset with Grade 3 Ohio Derby victor Dean Martini. “You've got a really strong favorite in this race, and I think everyone will measure the quality of their horse with how they perform against him.”

The Ellis Park Derby, which was instituted in 2018 as a mile race, anchors a five-stakes program that also includes the $100,000 RUNHAPPY Audubon Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, which offers 10 points to its winner toward qualifying for the Kentucky Oaks; $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes for older fillies and mares; $100,000 RUNHAPPY Juvenile for 2-year-olds; and $100,000 RUNHAPPY Debutante for 2-year-old fillies.

The 1 1/8-mile Ellis Park Derby carries 50 points to the winner toward qualifying for the COVID-delayed Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. Also earning qualifying points will be the runner-up (20), third place (10) and fourth (5).

Art Collector drew post 4 as he seeks to go to 4 for 4 since being turned over to trainer Tommy Drury this year. Thanks to the Blue Grass' 100 points, owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford's colt already has enough points to ensure a spot in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field, with Drury using the Ellis Park Derby as a conditioning tool rather than training the eight weeks up to America's most important race.

“His first couple of wins, he just ran off the screen both times, certainly didn't have to overexert himself,” Drury said of Art Collector. “The Blue Grass, he had to earn it; that filly (Swiss Skydiver) made him work for it. Watching that race and evaluating the race afterward, I felt one more was going to be beneficial to him. I'm just really thankful that spot at Ellis is available. We were late getting to the party and we've needed every little thing to fall in place to get him to this point. For Ellis to have a Derby prep this year was a lifesaver to us.”

Other leading contenders include Grade 3 Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense (post 12); Anneau d'Or (post 2), the Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up and most recently fourth in the Santa Anita Derby; Grand Prairie Derby winner Little Menace (post 6), and last year's Ellis Park Juvenile winner Rowdy Yates (post 8).

Shared Sense could be on the Derby qualifying bubble points-wise, collecting 20 for winning the Grade 3 Indiana Derby in his graded-stakes debut. Godolphin's son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense faced Art Collector two races back, when Art Collector controlled the speed for a dominant win over Shared Sense in a four-horse Churchill Downs allowance field.

“First time we ran against him here, we were at the back of the pack, there was no pace,” said Brad Cox, Shared Sense's trainer. “I was pleased with the effort. They almost broke the track record; the track was quick. Honestly, we were the second-best horse that day. He bounced out of it in good shape. We turned our attention to the Indiana Derby and it worked out extremely well. Obviously the other horse went on to pick off a Grade 2 at Keeneland very impressively. Both horses seem to be going the right way right now, and I'm excited about Sunday.”

Saturday's $1 million, Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, where Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law looms as the big favorite, also was a possibility for Shared Sense.

“If we're dreaming about the Derby, I think with my horse I would be comfortable trying to get a nice mile-and-an-eighth race into him four weeks before the Derby as opposed to a mile and a quarter at Saratoga,” Cox said. “That's a pretty demanding course, and that's a big ask four weeks before you're hopefully going to run the biggest race of your life.”

Because he wasn't nominated earlier in the year, Godolphin would have to pay $45,000 to make Shared Sense a supplemental nominee to the Kentucky Derby, on top of entry fees.

The same is true for Dean Martini, who was claimed by his owners Raise the BAR Racing out of a $50,000 maiden-claiming race May 17. The gelding actually started his career with a second at Ellis Park but needed seven more attempts to win, albeit while accumulating three seconds and three thirds. Dean Martini won the Ohio Derby in his second start for his new connections.

“We need to know if he can validate his Ohio Derby performance,” Amoss said. “It was a very good race, but is he consistently the kind of horse who can put in those kinds of performances? We need to find out, and we're going to do that on Sunday. Obviously with a horse like Art Collector in there, it will validate one way or the other where we need to head for our next race.”

If the Ellis Park Derby is a first for the racetrack as far as being a Kentucky Derby prep race, count Cox among those hoping that it's also the last.

“Unless we start running at Ellis earlier in the year,” he joked. “I hate to say it, but hopefully it's a one-time thing. I like the Derby in May, not September. “

Still, Cox believes the 2020 running is a great start in entrenching the Ellis Park Derby among the regional Derbys that populate racing after what normally is the Triple Crown.

“West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma — There are a lot of Derbys out there,” he said. “There's definitely a spot on the calendar where Kentucky could have a nice 3-year-old race like the Ellis Park Derby and it become a graded event. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger and better for the Ellis Park Derby.”

RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby
Purse: $200,000. Post time: Sunday at 5:10 p.m. CT (10th race). Distance: 1 1/8 miles. Division: 3-year-olds.
PP horse (weight) trainer/jockey

Trident Hit (118) Brendan Walsh/Corey Lanerie
Anneau d'Or (118) Blaine Wright/Tyler Baze
Sprawl (118) Bill Mott/Julien Leparoux
Art Collector (122) Tommy Drury/Brian Hernandez Jr.
Necker Island (118) Chris Hartman/Mitchell Murrill
Little Menace (120) Steve Asmussen/ Martin Garcia
Truculent (118) Jack Sisterson/Adam Beschizza
Rowdy Yates (118) Steve Asmussen/Shaun Bridgmohan
Dean Martini (122) Tom Amoss/James Graham
Attachment Rate (118) Dale Romans/Joe Talamo
Winning Impressions (118) Dallas Stewart/Joe Rocco
Shared Sense (122) Brad Cox/Florent Geroux
(AE) Rogue Element (118) Dale Romans/Miguel Mena
**(AE) Also eligible – needs scratch to run

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‘Ornery’ Shivaree Will Be Tested Over Travers’ Mile And A Quarter

Jacks or Better Farm has made far more than its fair share of noise on the Florida circuit over the past 20 years, but on Saturday the Ocala-based operation seeks its first graded stakes triumph at Saratoga when Shivaree competes in the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers.

Trained by Ralph Nicks, Shivaree is the most seasoned horse in the “Mid-Summer Derby” field with a dozen starts under his belt, including a runner-up finish behind Runhappy Travers favorite Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March. The son of Awesome of Course has maintained consistent form throughout his 12 starts with a 3-3-2 record, but arrives at the Runhappy Travers a distant 11th in the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland.

Fred Brei, proprietor of Jacks or Better Farm, said the Blue Grass effort was puzzling and he is hoping for a return to form with Shivaree charting a course toward the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

“We have no idea what happened in his last race. That was the first time he hadn't shown up for us in a long time,” said Brei. “At this point, he'll let us know whether he likes a mile and a quarter. That's one of the reasons we're here.”

Shivaree was foaled and raised at Jacks or Better Farm, and Brei said Shivaree was a bit of a handful as a 2-year-old.

“As a yearling he was rather normal for a colt. No more energetic and no less energetic than the others,” Brei said. “But as a 2-year-old he was ornery. He did whatever he pleased, whether you liked it or not. It wasn't until our fifth start before he broke his maiden. Not because he didn't have the ability, he just wouldn't center his brain on running was all. That's just the way he was for basically most of his 2-year-old year.”

Shivaree graduated by besting fellow Florida-breds by 9 ½ lengths at Gulfstream Park West. His full brother Garter and Tie, who ran ninth in last year's Grade 2 Amsterdam at the Spa, didn't break his maiden until his fourth start but subsequently became a three-time stakes winner. Both are out of two-time stakes winner Garter Belt.

“I would say they're all hardheaded,” Brei said of the family which includes three other six-digit earners. “Garter Belt was the same way. The mare gives you those horses that have to get racing in their brain, and you get it there from running not from training. Shivaree just took a fairly long time. We race 2-year-olds and we have for 20 years. For us to have a 2-year-old take four times to show you they can win a race is uncommon.”

With 40 qualifying points from a runner-up effort in the Florida Derby, Shivaree is 14th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard. His upcoming effort in the Runhappy Travers, which offers 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the top four finishers, will be telling for his connections.

A win in the Travers would be a first Grade 1 victory for the farm since Awesome Feather won the 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs.

“The Travers would be a fantastic race for us to win,” Brei said. “It would show us that we belong in the Derby. Also, it would be the first big race winner since Feather.”

Shivaree has had some time to get acclimated to the Saratoga main track, having breezed five furlongs in 1:03.20 on August 1.

“He's been up there for a week and he seems to be taking to it well. Ralph sent me pictures Wednesday morning and Shivaree seems to be enjoying himself,” Brei said.

Shivaree is from the same family as many of Jacks or Better's most notable runners including millionaire Jackson Bend, who was third in the 2010 Preakness, and multiple graded stakes winner Fort Loudon.

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Caracaro ‘In Another Category’ Than Delgado’s Other Derby Starters

Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing's Caracaro has alternated wins and losses in his brief career, and trainer Gustavo Delgado is hoping that pattern continues as he points the lightly-raced colt to Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers at Saratoga.

Caracaro ran second in his unveiling last December at Gulfstream Park, returning to the South Florida track with an impressive six-length maiden triumph four weeks later. He exited that race with a minor injury that needed time, and he went unraced until finishing second by a neck to fellow Travers aspirant Country Grammer in the Grade 2 Peter Pan on Saratoga's opening day July 16.

For the first time this year, the Travers will offer 100-40-20-10 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, postponed from May 2 to September 5. Caracaro earned 20 points for his Peter Pan effort, and Delgado is looking to ensure the son of champion Uncle Mo's spot in the Run for the Roses.

“We have the chance to run in the Derby. He came here to win,” Delgado said. “It's only three weeks back from the Peter Pan but we have to take the chance. The horse is doing very good. He came back very good, and he likes the track. The horse is very talented, but we need to have good luck.”

Delgado's 31-year-old son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado, Jr., has been with Caracaro since they arrived in Saratoga from South Florida last month. His father, one of Venezuela's most successful trainers who won his country's Triple Crown a remarkable four times before moving to the U.S. in 2014, joined him this week.

Delgado Jr. said the turnaround from the Peter Pan to the Travers is a concern, particularly with their main goal, the Derby, looming in another four weeks. The final leg of the Triple Crown, the Grade 1 Preakness, will be run October 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

“He's doing really good, actually. After the last race we were concerned about running him back after three weeks, but we went easy on him. We only made him gallop,” Delgado, Jr. said. “We did a couple open gallops, nothing with time, and he seems to have accepted that. I think he's ready to run a nice race. We like what we see. The last couple of days he's doing really good. We always wanted to get the points. The horse is good, we're here in Saratoga and he likes the track, so let's do it.”

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, aboard in the Peter Pan, gets the return call in the 1 ¼-mile Travers, a race the fellow Venezuelan has won a record six times, most recently with Catholic Boy in 2018. They will break from post 7 in a field of eight led by even-money program favorite Tiz the Law.

The Delgados were entered to run once before in the Travers, but Majesto had to be scratched after spiking a fever the morning before the 2016 race. They have been to the Derby twice, running 18th with Majesto and 13th with Bodexpress in 2019, and are looking forward to making a third trip.

“The only good thing about the virus is that we have a shot now to make the Derby,” Delgado, Jr. said. “Since he got in the barn last year, we always considered him a nice horse. We're not a big barn where we get a quantity of nice babies every year. We went to the Derby with Majesto and Bodexpress, and you can tell this horse is doing things that the other two didn't do. He's in another category than them.”

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