The Travers Stakes Bellamy Road was coming off a 114 day layoff and Roman Ruler came into the race off a recent win in The Haskell. A Travers Day crowd of 42,841 made these two co- favorites. As expected Bellamy Road grabbed the lead out of the gate and set a strong pace. As they turned for home the Todd Pletcher trained Flower Alley wore down the gallant Bellamy Road to register a two length win. Look for a rematch between these two in The Jockey Club Gold Cup in early October.
The Fourstardave John Velasquez picked up the mount on Leroidesanimaux when regular rider Jon Court elected to stay at Del Mar for a day full of mounts. Lucky John!! Leroidesanimaux ran his win streak to seven and set a new track record (1:39.92) in a front running victory in The Fourstardave. The hard to pronounce and spell name is French for The King of The Animals.
The King's Bishop Unbeaten Lost In The Fog ran his unbeaten total to 9 for 9 and captured his first Grade 1 win an another easy win in The King's Bishop Stakes, a sprint for three-year-olds that is always run on Travers Day. Ridden by regular rider Russell Baze, the undefeated Lost Soldier colt shot to the lead, after being bumped at the start, and covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.56. Will he run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint? Lost In The Fog isn't BC nominated so it will require his owners to pay the supplemental fee.
The Hopeful Darley Stable's undefeated Henny Hughes had been the talk of Saratoga after an easy win in The Saratoga Special earlier in the meet. The added distance proved not to his liking as First Samurai and Jerry Bailey gained an easy four length win over the odds on favorite. Out of Giants Causeway, the Frank Brothers trained First Samurai looks to improve as the two-year-old races get longer.
The Spinaway Seven finely bred fillies entered the gate for Saratoga's top race for two-year-old distaffers. The crowd picked the Steve Asmussen trained Effectual as the post time favorite. Going into the turn Michael Tabor's Adieu (center) passed Effectual (rail) and then managed to hold off the late charge of Folklore (outside) to gain a length victory in 1:23.68. John Velasquez rode the El Corredor filly to her third win in four career starts.
The Personal Ensign Champion Ashado had won the Go For Wand earlier in the meet and was sent off as the overwhelming favorite in The Personal Ensign. It was not the champion's day as William Farrish's Shadow Cast caught the speedy Two Trail Sioux and went on to a near three-length victory at 14 to 1 odds. It was later found that Ashado suffered a deep bruise on the right front hoof. Shadow Cast was ridden by Robby Albarado and trained by Neil Howard. The four-year-old Smart Strike filly completed the mile and one quarter distance in 2:02.07