NY Stays True to Stay Thirsty

Travers Stakes - Stay Thirsty

Stay Thirsty continued his dominance at the New York tracks in the Travers Stakes on Saturday. Winning for his fourth time in four tries on New York tracks, Stay Thirsty now has a Grade 1 win to add to his resume. Whether it's running in the state of NY or just being a late bloomer on the track, the three-year-olds finally have a leader of their division that has put some distance between himself and the rest of the field. By no means is he a lock for the Eclipse Award, but he definitely is the heavy favorite heading into the fall.

Summer is all but over and fall is right around the corner. The races for just the three-year-olds are dwindling down and the Breeders' Cup is almost two months away. October 1st is the next anticipated stakes race and it should be very intriguing indeed. Stay Thirsty and the rest of his age group will be running against the four, five and six-year-olds for the first time in their careers in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He also will look to go an impressive five for five on New York tracks as the next race is back at Belmont.

*Stay Thirsty was the only horse that finished in the money who was pegged for the exotics. Ruler On Ice would have completed the super, finishing fourth. Shackelford faded earlier than expected, all the way back to eighth. Coil never fired, finishing a disappointing last. 

Midsummer Classic

                                                      Travers Stakes

Summer is slowly starting to wind down, but before it bids farewell, Saratoga brings us the famed Midsummer Classic this weekend. Ten horses enter the gate this coming Saturday and one will either emerge as the leader of the three-year-old class or make this unpredictable class even that more unpredictable.

Coil, Ruler On Ice, Shackelford and Stay Thirsty have the stage set for one of them to come out on top heading into the fall. This might be the last prime opportunity for one of them to put some distance between them and the rest of the class, because the next time you see these horses take to the track, it will most likely be against older, more experienced horses. It definitely sets up be an exciting race and lets hope one of these colts finally steps up and takes the lead in this deadlock division.

Exotics:

Coil 3-1:

Late bloomer showing he can run with the best after running down Shackelford in the Haskell. Bred for the distance, so 1 1/4 mile shouldn't be a problem. 

Ruler On Ice 6-1:
Proved he can handle the distance with a win in the Belmont. Got beat in the Haskell, but might prefer the longer distance.

Stay Thirsty 5-2:
After lackluster performances in the Florida and Kentucky Derby, has come back to impress in the Belmont and Jim Dandy. Tough horse to peg other than he loves to run in NY. If he continues the trend, will be tough horse in this race.

Shackelford 9-2:
This horse keeps hanging around and will just not go away. Heart of a champion that gives it his all every race. This distance is stretching his limits, but definitely not writing him off.

Up Next: The Travers

Haskell Stakes

Move Stay Thirsty and Coil to the top of the list. The winners of both the Jim Dandy and Haskell Stakes races this past weekend, showed that they are serious contenders in this years three-year-old crop. Both colts took home their second stakes win of the year and look to separate themselves from the rest of the pack here in a few weeks as they square off in the Travers Stakes.

With many of the top colts out this summer due to injury, it allows the likes of Stay Thirsty, Ruler on Ice and Coil to capitalize on their opportunity. A win in the Travers by any of these three colts would certainly put them in the lead for the Eclipse Award that will be given out at the end of the year.

- Picks in the Jim Dandy did not pan out as we went against the favorite Stay Thirsty.

- Had Shackelford in the Haskell, but he couldn't hold off Coil down the stretch.