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Afleet Express nips Fly Down
in Travers Stakes

Posted: Saturday, August 28, 2010 6:20 PM

AFLEET EXPRESS (inside) BESTS FLY DOWN IN TRAVERS

Alex Evers/NYRA photo

For video of the Travers Stakes, click here.

by Phil Janack

Afleet Express snuck through on the inside and held off a furious late run from Fly Down to win the $1-million Travers Stakes (G1) by a nose on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

A late-blooming colt by 2005 Preakness (G1) and Belmont (G1) Stakes winner and champion three-year-old male Afleet Alex, Afleet Express became the first horse since Coronado’s Quest in 1998 to win the “Midsummer Derby” after not contesting any of the Triple Crown races.

Trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Gainesway Farm and Martin Cherry, Afleet Express completed 1 ¼ miles in 2:03.28 on a track rated as fast. The margin of victory matched the smallest in the Travers’ 141-year history.

It was the first Travers victory for Jerkens, a son of Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, and the second for jockey Javier Castellano, who also won with Bernardini in 2006.

“At the eighth pole, it looked like he could win it, but then he started to slow down, almost hitting the rail a little bit, I think,” Jerkens said. “Javier worked on him pretty good to get him away from there, and when that horse crept up on him, I thought I saw him straighten out a bit and give it a go.

“I thought I might have gotten beat, but at the same time, I would have been proud of the horse. It would have been tough to swallow if we had lost it, but you’re always proud of a horse when they run a race like that.”
 
Miner’s Reserve, one of three horses trained by Racing Hall of Famer Nick Zito, broke from the rail and led the 11-horse field through honest fractions of :23.42, :47.25, and 1:11.39 through six furlongs. After being forced four wide on the first turn, Castellano saved ground on the inside with Afleet Express, who closed strongly for third in his Travers prep, the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on July 31.

Castellano was able to steer Afleet Express into the open and they charged through the stretch, while Fly Down, another of Zito’s Travers triumvirate, swept into contention from the outside under jockey Jose Lezcano. Gaining momentum with each stride, Fly Down drew alongside Afleet Express near the eighth pole and they battled stride for stride to the finish line.

Fly Down was the fifth runner-up in the Travers for Zito, who won in 2004 with Birdstone. Zito-trained three-year-olds also finished second in both the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) (Ice Box) and Belmont (Fly Down) and third in the Preakness (Jackson Bend).

 “That’s another second. They’re all tough,” Zito said. “I can’t explain it. Sometimes, you’ve got to be grateful, but it’s tough. The Travers would have been great to win. When I saw the replay, I thought the other horse had the bob. When they hit the wire, I was just hoping, but I’ve watched enough photos. That had to be the closest Travers, ever. It was unbelievable. It’s sad that we didn’t get in the winner’s circle, but I salute Jimmy Jerkens and his connections. That’s the way it goes.”

Competing in his sixth consecutive Grade 1 race this year, Preakness runner-up First Dude finished third for the third straight race, following the Belmont Stakes and the $1-million IZOD Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1). He was 6 ¾ lengths behind Fly Down.

First Dude was followed by Afleet Again, Jim Dandy winner A Little Warm, Friend Or Foe, Miner’s Reserve, Ice Box, 3.90-to-1 favorite Trappe Shot, Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, and Admiral Alex.

Bred in Kentucky by McMillin Brothers and James Devaney, Afleet Express won for the fourth time from seven lifetime starts, pushing his bankroll to $835,140.

Out of the stakes-placed Distant View mare Expanse, Afleet Express did not make his debut until December 2009, breaking his maiden at Aqueduct in his only start at two. He was second and fifth in a pair of Gulfstream Park allowance races last winter before beating older horses at Belmont Park in May. He followed with a victory in the Pegasus Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park on June 19.

“He probably learned something from his last race,” Jerkens said of the Jim Dandy third-place finish. “He had a rough trip on the first turn and he didn’t like the dirt in his face. He took a lot of dirt today, also, but he was able to run through it pretty good. When they went past the three-eighths pole, I thought he’d have a real good shot, as long as he got in the clear.”

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Phil Janack is a Saratoga-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent