The wide-open race to be named Champion Three-Year-Old Colt of 2011 will take a decided turn on August 27th when Saratoga runs the Mid-Summer Derby, the Travers Stakes. The race is expected to include the Preakness winner (Shackleford), the Belmont winner (Ruler On Ice), the Haskell winner (Coil), and the Jim Dandy winner (Stay Thirsty).  A win by any of those four horses would put them in an excellent position heading into the final races of the season. A win by anybody else would be about par for the course for this season.

Currently, there are around 11 horses that are possible starters for the Travers:

Arthur's Tale: 2nd to Toby's Corner in the Wood; hasn't been seen since.
Bowman's Causeway: Recently 2nd in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie.
Coil: Haskell winner will likely be a major player.
J W Blue: Runner-up in the Barbaro Stakes.
Moonshine Mullin: Runner-up in the Jim Dandy.
Prayer for Relief: West Virginia Derby winner is a Travers possibility.
Rattlesnake Bridge: Coming off nice win in the Long Branch at Monmouth.
Raisan d'Etat: Runner-up in the Curlin Stakes.
Ruler On Ice: Belmont winner tries to rebound.
Shackleford: Preakness winner is always in the mix.
Stay Thirsty: Looked very good in the Jim Dandy and is "on form" right now.

Stay Thirsty used a strong move on the far turn to gain ground on early leaders Will's Wildcat, Moonshine Mullin, and Dominus on his way to a fairly easy win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. Moonshine Mullin held on to 2nd and paid a fat $23.40 for the place and keyed a $2 Exacta of $163.00. Dominus rounded out a Trifecta that came back at $558.00 for $2.

Prior to the Jim Dandy, Zagora (FR) finally got the North American monkey off her back when she powered home late to win the Grade 1 Diana Stakes over Aruna and Bay to Bay.  Zagora was content to sit mid-pack through the early stages as Unbridled Humor set opening fractions of 50.31 and 1:14.02. Over the course of the card the turf course had played well for horses coming from off-the-pace and that trend continued in the Diana when the early leaders failed to find an extra gear inside the final 3/8ths. 

Jim Dandy Splits:
1/4: 24.00
1/2: 47.66
3/4: 1:11.30
Mile: 1:35.81
Finish: 1:48.78

Stay Thirsty Internal Splits:
1/4: 24.51
1/2: 23.49
3/4: 23.41
Mile: 24.40
Finish: 12.97

Diana Splits:
1/4: 25.20
1/2: 50.31
3/4: 1:14.02
Mile: 1:37.52
Finish: 1:39.19

Zagora Internal Splits:
1/4: 25.81
1/2: 25.09
3/4: 23.80
Mile: 22.82
Finish: 11.67

Del Mar...now Saratoga.  Now summer is in full swing.

The 40-day Saratoga meeting begins today and will run from July 22nd to September 5th.  First post during the meet is 1pm Eastern with live racing from Wednesday through Monday (Dark on Tuesdays). The feature race of the meet, the Grade 1 Travers Stakes for three-year-olds, will run on Saturday, August 27th.

You can find the complete stakes schedule at the official web site. (Saratoga 2011 Stakes Schedule)

One of the more interesting parts of the summer boutique meets (for me, at least) are the high-level juvenile races that we see on a daily basis.  Keeneland's spring meet offers a bevy of juvenile races but those are generally 4 1/2 furlong dashes and a significant number of those runners never develop much past their first year.  At Saratoga (and Del Mar) we see a greater number of juveniles that will continue to develop after their juvenile campaign, and the stakes races at each track are generally the top such events in the country. 

-The fifth race is the first juvenile event of the season at Saratoga is a 5 1/2 furlong Maiden Special Weight for fillies on the main track. There is some expensive horse flesh in this race led by the $550,000 3-My Miss Aurelia, a two-year-old daughter of Smart Strike out of a Sea of Secrets mare (My Miss Storm Cat). My Miss Aurelia is co-owned by the late Jess Jackson's Stonestreet Stables.

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The Woodward might be the "big name" race of the day on Saturday but the Forego looks to be the most competitive of the weekend's Grade 1 action. 

Grade 1 Forego
Saratoga
7 furlongs
Three year olds and up
Purse: $250,000
Post-time: 5:14 EDT

I'll update the chart with the morning line odds when they become available.

I haven't a clue as to what direction I'm going to ultimately end up going in this race but here's a quick take on some of the thoughts that popped into my head when I went through the field the first time:

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Quality Road will attempt to bounce back after his defeat in the Whitney when he takes on six rivals in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga.  Mine That Bird will get a pair of blinkers and a new jockey (Rajiv Maragh) for the Woodward, although one wonders if what he really needs is a bit of class relief. 

Grade 1 Woodward Handicap
Saratoga
1 1/8 miles
Three year olds and up
Purse: $750,000
Post-time: 5:48 EDT

Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, ran an all-out and gutsy race in the mile and a quarter Personal Ensign but was run down in the final furlong by 20/1 long shot Persistently.  Life At Ten, the strong second choice, finished third.

1st: Persistently (45.00, 8.10, 3.60)
2nd: Rachel Alexandra (2.30, 2.10)
3rd: Life At Ten (2.10)

Splits: 23.66, 47.73, 1:12.02, 1:37.54, 2:04.49

Chart (via DRF.com)

UPDATE: According to the DRF Formulator charts, Persistently earned a 95 BSF, Rachel a 94.  

I'll have a larger post on this race and all of this weekend's stakes races later on, as there is a lot to talk about, but just a few thoughts on the Personal Ensign:

• Rachel ran her butt off in this race.  She had to do all the dirty work on the front end and she put away a very formidable opponent in Life At Ten.  That, in and of itself, is very impressive.  She ran fast and she ran hard.
• It's hard not to watch Rachel run in that race and not come to the conclusion that she would be extremely vulnerable in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.  The pace in the Classic isn't going to be any lighter than the Personal Ensign (most likely), and she would have to deal with much classier closers, like Zenyatta and Blame, as well as a longer stretch drive.  Unless her connections can turn her into a horse that can rate much more effectively (which somewhat eliminates her biggest strength - her high cruising speed), I think she is going to have trouble getting a mile and a quarter.
• It's always tough to compare times from different days but the final time of 2:04.40 for the Personal Ensign is not good.  Perhaps the track isn't as fast as it was on Saturday but that is a full second slower than the Travers and that wasn't one of the quicker Travers we've seen.

A thrilling finish to the 2010 Grade 1 Travers Stakes as Afleet Express nosed out Fly Down under the wire.

1st: Afleet Express (16.00, 7.80, 4.90)
2nd: Fly Down (6.90, 5.20)
3rd: First Dude (4.60)

Splits: 23.42, 47.25, 1:11.39, 1:36.65, 2:03.28

Chart (via DRF.com)

More on this race later.

UPDATE: The morning line odds are now posted for this race with Rachel Alexandra set as the 2/5 favorite.  Life At Ten, probably the classiest filly Rachel has faced in 2010, is pegged at 5/2.  Everyone else is in the land of long shots.

Grade 1 Personal Ensign
Saratoga
1 1/4 miles
Purse:$300,000
Post-time: 5:56 EDT