The Travers

[5wide]

Potentially 4 classic winners
What a race that would be.

[shoes]

4? What am I missing?

[tenfurlongs]

Jun 9, 2024 7:07:55 GMT -5 shoes said:

4? What am I missing?

City Of Troy won the Derby at Epsom.




TW

[5wide]

Thanks 10F, yes, I'm sure Coolmore will be licking their chops at having a go at all the US Classic winners in one race

[shoes]

Gotcha. Somehow I doubt they will all make it to the race though.

[1hooper]

In the good old days Sierra Leone and City of Troy would have been a coupled entry. Will be interesting to see how the lads manage their campaigns this summer and fall.

[turffan]

I thought he was referring to Thorpedo Anna who won the fillies classic…and who will beat the colts at Saratoga.

[5wide]

Jun 9, 2024 16:09:52 GMT -5 turffan said:

I thought he was referring to Thorpedo Anna who won the fillies classic…and who will beat the colts at Saratoga.

Wow that would be 5 if they all go. COT / TA cold exacta.

[mysaladdays]

City of Troy is "dropping back" to 1-1/4 miles, going to the Coral Eclipse at Sandown on July 6th.

Stablemate Los Angeles going in the Irish Derby on June 30.

Auguste Rodin going in Prince of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot.

[mysaladdays]

My post belmont comment on Sierra Leone was going to be he is the poster child for everything that is wrong with U.S racing.

However, w/out skipping a beat, Racing Post said it was announced that he's going in the Travers

Horse needs to go back to a farm for some retraining, evaluation, corrective work, get head on straight, etc. instead i expect more quick fixes will be applied. He really really cant run straight. Its actually dangerous to other horses to put him out there .

... previous jockey could not handle him...his new jockey cant either.

But hey ,gimme all your chad brown love and throw some tomatoes at me.

People were already posting how the trail "took a toll" ...my goodness the horse is barely 3 years old as of march.

Horse would make a great miler and win everything. His pedigree said differently, but his running style says otherwise to me.

IMHO, Chad Brown doesn't know his own horse.  Not every horse and trainer is a good match.


www.racingpost.com/news/ireland/derby-hero-city-of-troy-heading-to-sandown-as-coolmore-opt-for-coral-eclipse-over-irish-derby-a3nEd1j1lKGW/

[1hooper]

No Travers for City of Troy. Story in Sporting Life today.

An early trip across the Atlantic for a first run on dirt in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in late August had been mentioned as a possibility earlier in the year – and while that plan was ultimately shelved, with owners Coolmore instead targeting that race with Kentucky Derby runner-up and Belmont Stakes third Sierra Leone, O’Brien remains keen on a Classic bid come the autumn.

“The plan is for him to go the Eclipse, he seems to be well since Epsom and we’re looking forward to the next day,” the Ballydoyle handler told Sky Sports Racing.
“The long-term plan is that he could go to America and they (owners) have the other horse for Saratoga in America for a race that City Of Troy was going to run in.
“He was a little bit green in Epsom and we just felt that maybe he wasn’t ready for that (America) yet. The lads are thinking he’ll go to Sandown and he’ll go to either York (Juddmonte International) or Leopardstown (Irish Champion Stakes) after that and then he could head out to America for the Classic.
“We just thought he was a little bit babyish (to run in the Travers) and obviously when you go to America you need a lot of experience and you need to be ready for it.”

[vagrant]

What a bunch of baloney about City Of Troy not being ready for America. Sierra Leone isn't ready for City of Troy. Coolmore is ducking its own horse. I get the reasoning but it's kinda sad. And they are costing themselves a chance for Troy to get a dirt race under his girth before the Classic. Coolmore is dying to win a Classic

[mysaladdays]

Not sure why anyone expected him to come. Euros don't often come for the Travers anyway. It's not even considered a top classic race anywhere else in the world except for here.

COT is, after all, a turf horse, too.

I doubt he is ducking anyone.     MAYBE we could ask why our DIRT HORSES aren't going over the pond to compete in their big classic races...on turf? 

If COT who is a turf horse came here to run on dirt, even though he isn't a dirt horse, and didn't win, everyone would be saying how he's not really "all that".      Yet, on turf, he IS all that. At his best distance, and surface, that is.

IMHO we should be sending our dirt horses to the 'Arc, the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, The Melbourne Cup, Gold Cup at Ascot, etc to prove that they are really classic horses who can run on any surface.  If we expect that of others, then we should be doing the same, right? 

I don't understand why we expect over the pond horses to compete in our dirt races, since very few of their racecourses where classic distnces are run, are run on dirt throughout the world........  Seems like we should be though, if we expect it of others. . 

I would certainly have enjoyed seeing how our top horses  stacked up against horses like Desert Crown (RIP), etc. 

Or even our running in the Queen Elizabeth II which is only about a mile, against horses like Facteur Cheval.

[vagrant]

I expected him to come because O'Brien said he was coming.

paulickreport.com/news/thoroughbred-racing/breeders-cup-classic-on-the-table-for-epsom-derby-winner-city-of-troy

[vagrant]

March 20:

www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/275735/obrien-city-of-troy-could-be-a-travers-horse

[vagrant]

Sierra Leone aside, it makes perfect sense for Coolmore to run City Of Troy in the Travers. Coolmore wants to win the Classic something awful. The Travers would be a perfect prep. At the very least, they'd find out if Troy acts on dirt. I just find O'Brien's reasoning to be (understandably) disingenuous. If Troy is too "babyish" to contest the Travers vs. 3YOs in August is he going to suddenly mature 8 weeks later in the Classic, vs. the best dirt horses in the world? It's all a dodge. They don't want to say that they think Troy is better than Sierra Leone, which he is. So Sierra Leone will might cost Coolmore two wins, the Travers and the Classic, neither of which Sierra Leone is likely to win.

[mysaladdays]

Jun 12, 2024 10:14:53 GMT -5 vagrant said:

 At the very least, they'd find out if Troy acts on dirt

Maybe we should try to prove that our dirt horses can run on more than just dirt then, too, then?  Since you seem to be suggesting a challenge that only goes in one direction?

True champs for me are those who could run on any surface. Some in stakes and graded stakes, too.   The ones that won on 3 diff surfaces really impress me.....Einstein stands out in my memory. Colonel John. General Quarters, Lava Man.  Awesome Gem. Fanny Freud. Mushka. Twirling Candy, Sidneys Candy. 

On 2 surfaces, Animal Kingdom, Cocoa Beach, Evening Jewel, Giant Oak, et al

[mysaladdays]

Jun 12, 2024 9:55:20 GMT -5 vagrant said:

I expected him to come because O'Brien said he was coming.

Show me where he said it was a decision.  I never saw that quote. he said he was considering it , on the table, etc

"WAS coming" i never saw, and i doubted he would myself, the moment anyone brought it up. 

Because Travers is usually more of a race for american horses from derby and also sometimes a prep for BCC.   Its not known to be a top classic distance race by or for asian or euro horses.  Just looking at the entries every year makes that clear.


Meanwhile they have Sierra Leone. 

And maybe we will get to see COT in the BCC.

[5wide]

he said

"If the Guineas went well he could go to the (Epsom) Derby and then there's a chance he could go to Saratoga for the Travers. That's all possible if things go well, so it will be interesting," O'Brien said. "He looks a bit different at the moment. He's done very well physically. He's a medium-sized horse but is deceiving. When you stand into him, he's much bigger than you'd think, which is a sign he's a very well-proportioned horse. When John (Magnier) and the lads are thinking like that, they're not afraid to push him out there and see what he's able to do.

"He's by Justify which makes it very exciting for us because he should be able to run on dirt as easily as he does on grass. That's what makes him very unique."

So it wasn't definite , but I think alot of us thought it was more certain than not by the mere fact he mentioned it. Does it really matter though ? The speculation is over and the plans are set.

[docd]

I would like to know what they are thinking in Japan
Now that I want to see.

[mysaladdays]

It was an improper Belmont over an irregular distance. Glad there was no triple crown on the line. 2 more furlongs and sierra probably would have won it. Mindframe was already having trouble in the stretch. Reading the race chart for the race was burdensome.

I was just asking why our horses don't go to Epsom, Newmarket, Goodwood, Newbury, Chelmsford, etc. I just always wondered about that and had an opportunity to ask here.

We have some turfy pedigrees or turfers who have won big races. They could prove they can travel, go thru quarantine, thrive in strange environments, and all that hard stuff we expect foreign horses to do and still win?

[vagrant]

It’s expensive as hell to ship a horse to Europe and their purses are fairly small and our turf horses are very unlikely to beat Europe’s best on their home courts.

[vagrant]

Jun 13, 2024 11:11:22 GMT -5 mysaladdays said:

Jun 12, 2024 9:55:20 GMT -5 vagrant said:

I expected him to come because O'Brien said he was coming.

>>>>>Show me where he said it was a decision.  I never saw that quote. he said he was considering it , on the table, etc

I provided links to O’Brien’s quotes so if you didn’t see them, not sure what else I can do. Maybe just keep up with the news better.

[mysaladdays]

Maybe just resist your need to sling personal insults when replying to someone you're having a conversation with and doesn't interpret things the same way as you .

That I didnt do that to you.... anywhere in the conversation.... is well noted.

("Maybe just keep up with the news better" was your sarcastic  words not mine.)  

It was my PREDICTION at the time he mentioned it that COT would not run in the Travers.   I trust my gut.  

Same thing as news saying detorri was retiring....he didnt.    he came to the u.s. instead.  

[Deleted]

i think all the talk about
sierra leone is
a waste of breath
there is sumthing
wrong with him in back
and i doubt
he runs
again

[vagrant]

Never noticed anything wrong with Sierra Leone's rear end. Paddles the hell out of his left front though. Not coincidentally, he bears in (i.e, to the left).

[Deleted]

Jun 14, 2024 10:20:58 GMT -5 vagrant said:

Never noticed anything wrong with Sierra Leone's rear end. Paddles the hell out of his left front though. Not coincidentally, he bears in (i.e, to the left).

every1 is so busy looking at his action they aren't looking at the cause of it. of course his back pain controls what his front legs do.

[docd]

There will be one Euro in the gate for sure

paulickreport.com/news/people/frankie-dettori-to-call-saratoga-home-during-summer-meet

[docd]

Jun 14, 2024 11:55:19 GMT -5 @merasmag said:

Jun 14, 2024 10:20:58 GMT -5 vagrant said:

Never noticed anything wrong with Sierra Leone's rear end. Paddles the hell out of his left front though. Not coincidentally, he bears in (i.e, to the left).

every1 is so busy looking at his action they aren't looking at the cause of it. of course his back pain controls what his front legs do.

horses.extension.org/what-does-it-mean-when-they-say-a-horse-is-paddling-and-how-will-that-affect-the-horses-ability-to-perform-well-in-upper-level-dressage-tests/

[Deleted]

so doc
does he need a new
farrier-
a battery of scans
(always wise when you costed
over 2.3 mil...no?)-
or a 3 month turn-out?-