Alpha eyeing Travers Stakes after winning Jim Dandy at Saratoga
Kiaran P. McLaughlin’s 3-year-old rampant colt, Alpha, is aiming for victory in next month’s Travers Stakes after winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes – something his half brother, Stay Thirsty, did at Saratoga last year.
Alpha came to this track after displaying a below par performance at Churchill Down, where he finished 12th in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands in May this year.
It was not an easy task for him to unchain the shackles after such a terrible defeat, but the dashing colt did the trick in a great fashion. Alpha ran brilliantly in Saturday’s $600,000 meeting. He made a wonderful start, and easily took a decent lead.
After getting in command, he raced inside on the first turn and stretched his advantage considerably. Neck ‘n Neck came up with a serious challenge in the final stages, but Alpha managed to retain his advantage.
Despite plenty of pressure, the Godolphin-owned did not lose his confidence, and secured the top rank by a couple of lengths. After bagging the first prize in the Jim Dandy, the maverick has set sights on the Travers Stakes, and the handler stated that it
will be a great thing, if Alpha manages to add the $1 million meeting to his resume.
“If we can do that, that would be great. He cooled out quickly and pulled up great,” said McLaughlin, who trains the colt for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum.
On his charge’s brilliant work in Saturday’s battle, he shared: “It was just circumstances yesterday. One hole, wet track, no pace; Ramon thought the same as I did, we need to be forward into the first turn and see what happens. He thought we might be tucked
in third.”
The Jim Dandy runner-up, Neck ‘n Neck, will be another powerful contestant in next month’s big meeting. Despite the fact that the 3-year-old was unable to challenge Alpha, Ian R. Wilkes is pleased with his trainee’s progress.
“He was very good in the paddock, he handled the paddock better, he ran straighter, truer, I was just second best yesterday. The Travers “pace scenario will be different, it’ll be a different race, maybe a drier track,” Wilkes said on Sunday morning.
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