by Phil Janack

Canadian classic winner Harlem Rocker put in his final tune-up for the $1-million Travers Stakes Presented by Shadwell Farm (G1) with a sharp five-furlong workout Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Todd Pletcher for owner-breeder Frank Stronach, Harlem Rocker covered the distance in :59.72 handily on the main track.

"I thought he went really well," Pletcher said. "It seems like he's coming up to the Travers in good order."

Exercise rider Valerie Buck was aboard the Macho Uno colt, who worked in company with stablemate Understatement, a three-year-old Distorted Humor colt owned by WinStar Farm.

"I always work him in company," Pletcher said. "He's become a very good workhorse, which hasn't always been the case. He's gotten better and better as he's gone along. He wouldn't be the kind that would do a whole lot by himself."

Sunday’s drill was the fourth workout at Saratoga this summer for Canadian-bred Harlem Rocker, who won the Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct on April 26 and the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie on July 13.

"We were shooting between a minute and 1:01, and he shaded a minute," Pletcher said. "It was maybe a tick quicker than we wanted to go, but I thought he did it the right way. He finished up well and galloped out strongly, and he seemed to cool out real quickly."

The 139th Travers, the centerpiece of Saratoga's 36-day meeting, looks like it could feature an 11-horse field, including Grade 1 winners Da' Tara, Colonel John, and Tale of Ekati, and Grade 2 winners Pyro, Cool Coal Man, Macho Again, and Tres Borrachos.

A six-time leading trainer at Saratoga and the current meet leader, Pletcher won the Travers with Flower Alley in 2005.

"It seems to be a pretty wide-open race," Pletcher said. "It will be an interesting Travers."

Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent