by Phil Janack
By Sunday morning, trainer Tim Ice had traded in his dark blue suit, speckled with dried mud from the night before, for a more comfortable golf shirt and blue jeans.
Nearby, a red and white blanket of carnations was stretched out over the wooden rail lining the square shedrow inside the Clark Memorial Stakes Barn.
Summer Bird, the chiseled chestnut who won his second Grade 1 race in three starts in Saturday's Shadwell Travers Stakes (G1), the centerpiece of the Saratoga Race Course meet, was fast asleep in his stall.
"He gets plenty of naps," Ice said. "That's what's great about him. He takes care of himself."
Summer Bird took care of business in the Travers, easily disposing of his six opponents—five of them graded stakes winners—including record-setting BlackBerry Florida Derby (G1) and Amsterdam Stakes (G2) winner Quality Road (video).
Ice believes Summer Bird flew to the front of the three-year-old male division with the Travers victory, coupled with his upset win in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 6 (video).
"He should be. In my book, he is," Ice said. "He beat Quality Road, who was on top, and he beat him pretty handily. If he's not, then it's just a bias against him."
Bennie "Chip" Woolley Jr., the trainer of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Mine That Bird, agreed. Mine That Bird has been stabled two stalls away from Summer Bird, but missed the Travers while recovering from minor throat surgery on August 18 for an entrapped epiglottis.
"It was a great race," Woolley said. "He's on top right now, there's no doubt about it. Tim's done a great job with him, and he deserves it.
“There's some racing left, and you don't know what's going to happen, but he's definitely on top. The horse runs big every time. You've got to give him a lot of credit."
Summer Bird became the 30th horse to win the Belmont and Travers, and first since his sire, Birdstone, did it in 2004.
He has three wins, one second and one third with purses of $1,573,040 in seven starts, all since March 1.
"After the Belmont, it took a while for that to sink in," Ice said. "But last night, we had dinner and we were thinking about Birdstone and what he did, and thinking about Summer Bird accomplishing the same thing five years later. It sunk in a little faster for the Travers. The horse is a great horse. He's done all the work. I'm along for the ride."
Summer Bird will remain at Saratoga for a few days before the ride continues. Ice said the $750,000 Super Derby Powered by Youbet.com (G2) for three-year-olds at his home base of Louisiana Downs on September 19 is a long shot because of the quick turnaround.
More realistic options both involve facing older horses: the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park on October 3 and the $350,000 Goodwood Stakes (G1) on October 10 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park meeting. Santa Anita will host the Breeders' Cup World Championships for the second straight year on Nov. 6-7.
"We're going to give it a couple more days and make sure everything looks well," Ice said. "He walked great this morning and ate up last night.
“Today, everything is looking up."
Pleased as he was with the Travers, Ice was thrilled with what he saw from Summer Bird after the race was over.
"The one thing that I loved is that [jockey] Kent [Desormeaux] couldn't pull him up," Ice said. "The outrider had to grab him. He wasn't going to pull him up on his own. He's a racehorse, and he loves what he does."
Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent