Trappe Shot, Travers or King’s Bishop?
Trappe Shot is to run on Wednesday, however, the race is not yet decided by his trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. He is not sure if the runner-up to the winner Lookin At Lucky, the $1,010,000 IZOD Haskell Invitational Grade I this Sunday at the Monmouth Park. Trappe Shot will be a part of the Travers Stakes Grade I ($1 million) or King’s Bishop Grade I ($ 250,000) on 28th of August at Saratoga Race Course.
McLaughlin says that both the races are of great importance for a three year old, since both of them are Grade I. The trainer further said that they are ready and prepared for both the races and he is glad that they got the opportunity to consider both the choices. Even though, the purse of the King Bishop’s is way more than Travers, McLaughlin considers Travers a very important one.
The Travers is run over a distance of 1 ¼ miles. It had to include Preakness Stakes Grade I and Haskell winner Lookin At Lucky. He will not be able to run at Saratoga Race Course because he is medically unfit and still in California. The King’s Bishop covers a distance of seven furlongs. The trainers of all the horses who were a part of the Travers were particularly insecure of Lookin At Lucky, as he was a strong potential winner of the race. McLaughlin was nevertheless satisfied with the way his colt survived the pressure and competed against the three year old champion.
Trappe Shot, the chestnut son of Tapit, could not make it to the Triple Crown because of a foot injury. After a three month layoff, he returned to win against older horses in a sever furlong race at Belmont Park in June and won 4 races in a row on the 10th of July in the Long Branch at the Monmouth Park.
If Trappe Shot had broken better than Lookin At Lucky and a little wider, the race might have had a different winner. Trappe Shot was giving a great performance and was having a very nice day; it would not have been a big deal for him to get beaten by two lengths.
The injured colt Winslow Homer, who is a nine-length winner of a race at Saratoga this Sunday, will not be able to make it to the Travers. He is suffering from a condylar fracture of his near-fore cannon bone. Trained by Tony Dutrow, this is not the first injury faced by this horse, others being a fracture of off-fore skin, which he endured after he won the Grade III Holy Bull, Gulfstream Park in January this year. Super Saver gave an outstanding performance in the Kentucky Derby, although he is thought to have gotten tired during the last part of the race. His trainer, Todd Pletcher is looking forward to Super Saver’s participation in the Travers. Winner of the Jim Dandy race and $ 500,000, A Little Warm will not compete in the Travers, as he is heading towards the Midsummer Derby which is a designated Grade II trial, scheduled on Saturday at the Saratoga Race Course.
The King’s Bishop on the other hand, is a Thoroughbred horse race which takes place every year at the Saratoga Race Course in New York. Horses of age three are eligible to take part in this seven furlong dirt track, Grade I sprint, which carries a purse of $ 250,000. This race is considered a major prep for the Breeder’s Cup Sprint and the biggest of the year for racehorses who are three years of age.
Sports analysts are of the view that McLaughlin and Trappe Shot should go for the Travers, now, because Lookin At Lucky is no more a part of it. Trappe Shot, along with all the other colts already competing for the Travers will make the field worth enjoying since the suspense level of the victory will rise. Even though, the Travers does not have as large a purse as King’s Bishop Stakes its importance in the Saratoga events in unquestionable. Palins, the high powered couple will be invited to attend the event if the First Dude qualifies for it.
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