August 25, 2023
TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon
Clash of the Titans
The stage is set for the 154th running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on August 26, and boy, are there some big-time performers.
Headlined by the recipient of last year’s Eclipse Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, Forte (7-5), the field also features Mage (4-1), National Treasure (8-1), and Arcangelo (5-2), who each won a leg of this year’s Triple Crown.
Will Forte deliver a live performance this Saturday night to secure a fifth Grade 1 Stakes win? Or might another superstar from this stacked field rise above the rest to take home the trophy?
This one is must-see TV.
Re-run
Saratoga’s Saturday card is the gift that keeps on giving. Before the aforementioned main event, it would be wise to direct your attention to the seventh race, better known as the Forego Stakes.
Here, Grade 1-winning millionaires Elite Power and Gunite square off in a highly anticipated rematch, just four weeks after they first met in an epic showdown at the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap. The first round went to Elite Power, but only by a head.
Considering how evenly matched the pair were last time they met, Round 2 has all the makings of a can’t-miss classic.
I Hope you Brought Snacks
Mohawk’s Saturday night card is loaded with non-stop action. The 13-race card features nine stakes, including the William Wellwood Memorial final for 2-year-old trotters, which carries a fetching $620,000 purse. The favourite for the headliner is T C I (9-5), who owns a remarkable 5-1-0 record in six career starts.
His greatest competition, at least according to the odds, is Winter Soldier (7-2) and Mars Hill (9-2). The former won the first Wellwood elimination, while the latter posted the same result in the second elim.
That’s not all folks, as there’s another major event to keep an eye on ahead of the Wellwood. Saturday’s seventh race, the Peaceful Way Final, is a $425,000 contest for 2-year-old fillies. The favourite for this trot is Drawn Impression (7-5), who is a perfect 2-for-2 to start her career.
Show Up and Show Out
Let’s move east along the 401 from Mohawk to its sister site, Woodbine, and take a look at the stakes-stacked card planned for August 27.
Four Yearling Sales Stakes races, including the Muskoka and Simcoe (both $200,000 purses) are set to run Sunday at Woodbine, exactly one week after The King’s Plate. These races present an interesting opportunity for bettors because they spotlight rookie and sophomore horses who were purchased in Canada’s biggest annual yearling sale.
The beauty of this quartet of stakes is that horses and their trainers have a chance to showcase how far they’ve come in the time since the sale. Don’t miss out on catching the next generation of Canadian-breds before they become household names.
One Down, Two to Go
The result of this Saturday’s Canadian Derby at Century Mile could create a very intriguing storyline if all goes according to plan… well, at least for Mano Dura.
Last month, the colt captured the Manitoba Derby, which is the first leg in the Western Canadian Triple Crown, by 4 ¼ lengths. Despite the dominant performance, Mano Dura enters Saturday’s second leg at 5-1, behind favourite Sunbird (3-1) and Heroic Move (9-2).
This, however, isn’t a sign that his triple crown hopes are dashed. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The Canadian Derby is a 1 ¼-mile race, and the entire 12-horse field is untested at this distance, meaning no single horse has an advantage over another. Perhaps that’s a sign to ride with the one who still has a chance at the history books.
