by Mike Curry

Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Colonel John narrowly nipped determined runner-up Mambo in Seattle in the final strides to win the $1-million Travers Stakes Presented by Shadwell Farm (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

WinStar Farm’s homebred Colonel John seized command in early stretch and was soon challenged by fast-closing Mambo in Seattle from the far outside. The dueling pair distanced themselves from the rest of the field setting up a thrilling battle to the finish.

Mambo in Seattle pushed a nose in front of Colonel John but the victor fought back gamely from the inside as they charged to the finish trading the lead with every bob of the head. They crossed the wire together with the slimmest of margins giving Colonel John the victory by a desperate nose.

“The Travers, at least in my opinion, is certainly the second most prestigious three-year-old race, next to the Kentucky Derby,” said Bill Casner, co-owner of WinStar Farm. “It is a race for the ages. Today, the announcer talked about horses like Man o’ War, Lexington those horses that have won this race. It is just incredible.”

Colonel John, who stalked the pace from fourth, completed 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.20 on a track rated as fast to win the 139th edition of the Travers, the feature race of the summer meeting at Saratoga.

Mambo in Seattle, who entered off a win in the Henry Walton Stakes on the undercard of the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on July 27, finished 5 1/4 lengths clear of Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Pyro in his graded stakes debut.

“He ran well,” trainer Neil Howard said of Mambo in Seattle. “I’m grateful to train a horse like him. He had to go around horses and he got beat by one of the Kentucky Derby favorites. I really couldn’t tell if we had won the race.”

Pyro edged Canadian classic winner Harlem Rocker by a neck. Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Da’ Tara set a solid pace in the Travers and held on to finish fifth.

Trained by Eoin Harty, Colonel John solidified his status as a leading contender for this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with back-to-back wins in the Sham Stakes (G3) and Santa Anita Derby.

After racing exclusively on synthetic surfaces in California, he made his first career start on a conventional dirt track at Churchill Downs on May 3 in the Kentucky Derby, made a threatening middle move, and flattened out in the stretch while finishing sixth of 20.

After a third-place finish in the Swaps Stakes (G2) at Hollywood Park in his final prep race for the Travers, Colonel John answered questions about his ability to race on a dirt track with a thrilling score in the “Mid-Summer Derby.”

“I certainly never lost any confidence in him,” Harty said. “When you’ve been around horses for a long time, the really good ones do things very differently than the usual ones. This one, from Day 1, had shown that. He never did anything ever to disappoint me.”

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor