A Kentucky Derby - Travers Stakes Double

 

A Kentucky Derby – Travers Stakes Double
Joseph Di Rienzi

The Kentucky Derby is the prime goal of many horsemen who participate in thoroughbred racing. It is deemed the singular race that transcends the parochial nature of the sport to engage the wider public. Winning the race for the owner, breeder, trainer and jockey bring instant recognition and, at least briefly, celebrity status. The Travers Stakes is a more inclusive event. The fact it is run at time honored Saratoga Racetrack in late August provides a further assessment of the quality of the three-year-old crop in a given year. However, the Travers, sometimes known as “The Midsummer’s Derby” has its own devotees who prize it above all other sophomore races on the racing calendar.

For a horse to win the Kentucky Derby in May and the Travers in late August would seem the best discernment of that animal’s superiority over his age and sex. However since 1875 (the year of the first Derby, (the Travers predated it, having it inaugural running in 1864)) there have been only 10 horses from a total of 27 who had won the Kentucky Derby and contested the Travers. What may be more illuminating is that since 1960 only three horses have completed the Derby – Travers Double out of 14 who had been declared the victor on the first Saturday in May. In this piece, I will examine the three who accomplished the “Kentucky Derby – Travers Double” and give passing reference to those since 1960 who wore the garland of roses at Churchill Downs but were unable to get the canoe in the middle of the lake at Saratoga Racetrack painted in their owner’s colors.

Sea Hero winning the 1993 Travers Stakes
(Barbara D. Livingston.DRF)

Sea Hero, was not by any measure the best horse owned and bred by Paul Mellon. In his name and in his Rokeby Stable colors, Mr. Mellon had racing success that included two Belmont Stakes winners, an English Derby victor, a Prix de l’Arc Triomphe hero, numerous champions and major winners in the U. S. and Europe. Nevertheless, Sea Hero, on occasion, could win a big race and in 1993 was able to complete the Kentucky Derby – Travers Stakes Double.

A Virginia born, bay son of Polish Navy from a family of horses who excelled on turf, Sea Hero showed he could handle a dirt racetrack winning the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park as a two-year-old in 1992. His participation in the 1993 Kentucky Derby seemed unlikely when he was unsuccessful in two early starts in Florida. Shipped to Kentucky, Sea Hero ran an encouraging fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Racetrack enough so that trainer Mack Miller and jockey Jerry Bailey were now bullish on his chances on the First Saturday in May.

Let go at odds nearly 13-1, in the Derby, Sea Hero rallied from 12^th place to win by a 2½ length margin. Paul Mellon, then 86 years old, was at the time, divesting his thoroughbred holdings. This victory in America’s greatest race was a fitting tribute to a noble steward of the breed. For his North American trainer, 71 year-old Mack Miller who grew up in Versailles, Kentucky, winning the Derby was a great triumph for this courtly gentleman trainer.

After his Derby victory, Sea Hero went into a losing streak, finishing fifth in the Preakness Stakes, seventh in the Belmont Stakes and fourth in the Jim Dandy Stakes, a prep for the Travers at Saratoga.

The Travers Stakes of 1963 brought together Sea Hero and Belmont Stakes winner Colonial Affair (Preakness winner, Prairie Bayou had been euthanized having fallen in the Belmont). Fourth choice in the betting, Sea Hero, picked Travers Day to run one of his best races in coming from off the pace and, drawing clear to a 2 length victory. Second was Haskell Invitational winner Kissin Kris who was a length ahead of the Jim Dandy victor Miner’s Mark. Colonial Affair made a bold bid at the top of the stretch but faded to fourth, beaten a total of 3 lengths.

 

Thunder Gulch winning the 1995 Travers Stakes
(bloodhorse.com)

It was only two years later that another colt completed the Derby – Travers Double. If Sea Hero was not the best horse his owner raced, Thunder Gulch suffered from being under appreciated despite a resume that included a stakes victory as a two-year-old and several major wins as a sophomore including two classics.

He was a dark chestnut, smallish, but muscular son of Gulch from a Storm Bird mare. Originally owned by Mutual Star Stable and trained by Dr. John C. Kimmel, Thunder Gulch was stakes placed in 1994 when he was purchased by Michael Tabor, one the partners in the widely successful Coolmore operation in Ireland. Looking for a horse for the American classics, Tabor bought Thunder Gulch and turned him over to D. Wayne Lukas to train. His first start for his new connections was the 9 furlong Remsen Stakes in which Thunder Gulch put in a sustained drive to win by a neck.

Leading up to the 1995 Kentucky Derby, Thunder Gulch won both the Fountain of Youth Stakes and Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, albeit narrowly. However, his Kentucky Derby prospects seemed to dim with a lackluster fourth place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes.

As a result of Thunder Gulch’s flat effort, Mike Smith, who rode him in his two Florida victories, opted to ride Talkin Man in the Kentucky Derby and he was replaced by Gary Stevens. In the 19^th horse field for the 1995 Kentucky Derby Thunder Gulch was regulated to third place status behind stablemates Timber Country and the slashing filly Serena’ Song (all Lukas trained, but with different ownership). Decrying the 24-1 odds, Stevens reserved his mount off the rapid pace until the top of the stretch when the rugged colt powered to victory. Tejano Run was 2¼ lengths back, but a head in front of Timber Country. Serena’s Song tired badly to finish 16^th.

In the Preakness, Timber Country and Thunder Gulch reversed places with the former winning and the latter finishing third just ¾ of length behind the victor. The Belmont Stakes was to be the deciding match, but on the eve of the race Timber Country was withdrawn due to a virus. In his absence, Thunder Gulch completed a classic double with a workmanlike 2 length victory over Star Standard.

In his first race after the Triple Crown series, Thunder Gulch traveled to Hollywood Park to run in the 9 furlong Swaps Stakes in a race in which classic winners Seattle Slew and Sunday Silence were defeated. Not suffering their fate, Thunder Gulch drew clear after pressing the pace for a 2 length victory. Next was the Travers Stakes and the son of Gulch’s speed and stamina were on display as he powered from off the pace to a 4½ length victory over Pyramid Peak, essentially clinching the three-year-old male championship. Thunder Gulch, who is seldom mentioned among the top sophomores in history, had a remarkable year, winning major races early in the year, two classics in the spring and the Midsummer’s Derby in August.

 

Street Sense winning the 2007 Travers Stakes
(sarahandrew.com)

The latest horse to complete the Derby – Travers Double and the only one so far in the 21^st century is James Tafel’s Street Sense, a leggy dark bay son of Street Cry. He had been voted Eclipse Champion Male Two-Year-Old of 2006 as the result of a scintillating 10 length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Prepared meticulously by trainer Carl Nafzger to peak on Derby Day 2007, Street Sense returned to Churchill Downs (the sight of his Juvenile victory) to score a convincing 2¼ length victory under Calvin Borel over Hard Spun with lightly raced Curlin some 5¾ lengths back in third place. In winning, Street Sense became the first of only two so far to win the Breeders’ Juvenile as a two-year-old and the Kentucky Derby as a sophomore.

The Preakness Stakes saw Curlin progress tremendously as he and Street Sense fought down the Pimlico Racetrack stretch with the former prevailing by a head. Held out of the Belmont (in which Curlin lost to the filly Rags to Riches), Street Sense was given a brief respite to prepare for the Travers Stakes.

He resurfaced in the Jim Dandy Stakes and carried top weight to a 1½ length victory. In the Travers Stakes, Street Sense was placed closer to the pace than usual by Calvin Borel and managed to prevail in a long stretch duel over Grasshopper by a ½ length. In winning the Travers, Street Sense is to date the only horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Kentucky Derby and the Travers, a difficult feat in that it requires a horse to stay in top form from his juvenile year to late summer in his sophomore season.

Of the Kentucky Derby winners since 1960 who have ran but failed to win the Travers the list, in chronological order with their placing in the Travers, is the following:

Chateaugay (1963) finished 3^rd, Forward Pass (1968) finished 2^nd, Affirmed* (1978) finished 1^st disqualified and placed 2^nd, Pleasant Colony (1981) finished 2^nd, Gato del Sol (1982) finished 5^th, Alysheba (1987), finished 6^th, Strike the Gold (1991) finished 4^th, Super Saver (2010) finished 10^th, Orb (2013) finished 3^rd, American Pharoah* (2015) finished 2^nd and Always Dreaming (2017) finished 9^th.

*Note both Affirmed and American Pharoah were Triple Crown heroes.

As of this writing, Rich Strike, the improbable winner of the 2022 Kentucky Derby, is preparing to run in the Travers. Will he join the elite few that have accomplished the Double or will he be added to the list above of those who could not quite duplicate their Derby effort at Saratoga?