Curlin Out of Travers
– Trainer Steve Asmussen announced today Curlin would skip the Travers and train up to the September 30 Jockey Club Gold Cup. “After the Belmont, the Classic was the major goal for the second half of the season,” Asmussen said. “Running him back in the Travers and keeping him at that level for another 60 days, I think, is unrealistic” (NYRA). Wait … if Curlin ran in the Travers, he wouldn’t start again until the Classic? Surely another race could fit into that 60 day layoff — like the Gold Cup — especially for a horse who seemed to thrive running five times in five months this spring. Asmussen, though, said racing Curlin at Saratoga was never a goal, especially given the Spa’s reputation. “I think Graveyard of Champions and the best horse I’ve ever had shouldn’t go in the same sentence,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always felt about it. I didn’t give it that nickname, but we’re aware of what happens here” (ThoroTimes).
– The same NYRA notes linked to above contained the disappointing news that Rated Fiesty suffered an injury and probably won’t race again this year. A shame — the undefeated filly who beat Ready’s Image earlier this year and broke a record at Churchill would probably have gone to post the favorite in Wednesday’s Adirondack Stakes. Without her, though, the field remains deep, with trainer Rick Violette’s Phantom Income, so impressive in her Belmont debut, and Bob Baffert’s Vindication filly, More Happy, winner of a maiden special at Del Mar, among the expected starters. The Adirondack will be a chance to test how Polytrack form translates to dirt: More Happy, Passion, and Sky Mom are all starting off races over the surface (DRF).
– Jockey Kent Desormeaux makes a comeback (NY Post).
– Poor John Velazquez. When the rider fell from Tommasi at the start of Saturday’s third race, it was the fifth time in three weeks he’d been thrown (Times Union).
