MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2017 WILSONS >COUNT= DOWN TO BREEDERS= CUP TRAVERS UNDERCARD by Jessica Martini ECLIPSES MAIN EVENT When Count Alexander (Scat Daddy) coasted home to an impressive debut victory (video) sprinting six furlongs over the turf at Woodbine Sunday, it was the perfect first step in a plan developed by longtime horseman Mike Lightner on behalf of owners Holly and David Wilson. AMike Lightner has been buying yearlings for us--we usually buy between five and 10 a year--and he takes them to Florida and breaks them and trains them and lets them grow up there,@ said David Wilson. AIf it looks like they are going to be quality individuals, then we ship them to the West Coast. He thought this one was going to be good on the grass, so he said, >My daughter [trainer Mary Lightner] is going up to Toronto, so let=s run him up there in a maiden special weight. Three weeks after that, there is a Win and You=re In race [Sept. 17 GII Summer S.] for the Breeders= Cup. Mike=s plan was to ship him to Toronto, run in this race and hope he did well and then look for that Win Charles & Susan Chu lead Drefong into winner=s circle | S Andrew and You=re in in three weeks.@ Click to cont. to p5 The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Drefong (Gio Ponti) manhandled top-notch sprinters with HAS BALLYPHILIP ANOTHER ‘ANGELPaul McCartan of crushing, blunt-force torque and Lady Eli (Divine Park) expertly Ballyphilip Stud discusses his Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale draft pulled off yet another Houdini-like escape by extricating herself and the origins of some of the farm’s current star graduates. from behind a blockade at the top of the stretch to throttle a Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. smart field of turf distaffers. Three other undercard Grade I stakes at Saratoga Race Course Saturday unfolded in tactically interesting fashion, narrowly decided in photo-finish increments of a head, neck, and half a length. But the GI Travers S. itself? The wire-to-wire win by West Coast (Flatter) seemed a touch underwhelming considering the California-based Bob Baffert trainee was allowed to establish a reasonable early pace and none of the colts perceived as top threats (including all three winners of this year=s Triple Crown races) mounted credible challenges to either soften up West Coast early or mow him down late with stout closing kicks. So the aftermath of the biggest day of the meet at the Spa (second-highest all-sources betting handle in Travers Day history) resonates as an afternoon when the supporting cast outshined the main attraction. And while the status of several divisional leaders solidified over the weekend, the sophomore rankings remain as wobbly as they have been for the past six months, with no 3-year-old colt firmly latching onto prolonged kingpin status at any time in 2017. Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Monday, August 28, 2017 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Assistant Editor Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Michelle Benson Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew The morning after. GI Travers S. hero West Coast (Flatter) relaxes in his stall on [email protected] Sunday morning. | Sarah Andrew Social Media Strategist Justina Severni WEST COAST PLANS UP IN THE AIR 7 Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes West Coast (Flatter) ships home to California Monday, but future [email protected] plans for Saturday’s GI Travers S. winner remain undecided. Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen MUNNY WELL SPUNT 8 Former claimer Munny Spunt (Munnings) earned the first Director of Information Technology Ray Villa graded stakes of her career in Sunday’s GIII Torrey Pine S., as [email protected] favored Paradise Woods (Union Rags) came home sixth. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor BARRETTS YEARLING SALE TUESDAY 1RR Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] The Barretts Select Yearling Sale returns for its third renewal European Editor Tuesday at Del Mar. Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • AUGUST 28, 2017 Travers Undercard Eclipses Main Event Yet the inevitable comparisons to stablemate Arrogate should stop beyond establishing that both colts were late-developing (cont. from p1) Baffert 3-year-olds who shipped East to wire the Travers in With only two graded two-turn stakes for 3-year-olds consecutive seasons under jockey Mike Smith. remaining on the national calendar (the GI Pennsylvania Derby Yes, West Coast=s win on Saturday in 2:01.19 was the and the GIII Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 23 and 24, respectively) second-fastest Travers in the last 25 years, behind only and the prospect of facing older horses looming with the Arrogate=s track-record 1:59.36 in 2016. But Arrogate=s internal Breeders= Cup 10 weeks away, the entire division as a Afield@ bet splits over 10 furlongs were significantly quicker, and the visible at this point would still be an underdog to topple the likes of the flair he exhibited soaring through the Saratoga stretch 13 1/2 surging Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and the currently lengths clear of his rivals was an obvious beacon signaling his off-form Arrogate (Unbridled=s Song) in the GI Classic on the first global dominance that followed. West Coast, by contrast, Saturday in November. finished capably, but without the same level of panache. West Coast certainly has the potential to rise above his The day after the Travers, Baffert elected not to commit to a inconsistent crop-mates. As a late (May 14) foal, he was still next-race plan for West Coast. establishing maiden and allowance-level form as the first two If West Coast does end up on a path that matches him with legs of the Triple Crown were being run this past spring. He=s stablemate Arrogate in the Classic, Baffert could be faced with never been worse than second with five wins from seven starts, the difficult dilemma of which horse will be ridden by Smith, and all of his races have been at a mile or longer. West Coast=s who has regularly piloted Arrogate and has recently partnered change of pace in the Travers--going to the lead when no one with West Coast. Arrogate is the world-class older runner who else was committed to it after having come from behind in his has quizzically declined in form over his last two starts at Del last two stakes wins--also bodes well for his future in terms of Mar, while West Coast is the blossoming up-and-comer who has versatility. yet to be battle-tested beyond the ranks of a lukewarm collective of 3-year-olds. Drefong Dominates The truest semblance of outright dominance Saturday at Saratoga was provided by the Baffert/Smith powerhouse sprinter Drefong in the GI Forego S. Making his second start off an extended layoff, the 2016 champ left little doubt that he remains the continent=s top six- and seven-furlong specialist after ripping straight to the front and swatting away the overmatched competition through lively fractions while geared down late and clear by four lengths at the wire. When judging just how far the chasm is from Drefong back to the rest of the North American sprinters, consider that the three most recent important sprint stakes this summer all have asterisks attached to them because of which horses didn=t West Coast | Sarah Andrew perform in those races. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • AUGUST 28, 2017 The July 29 GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar, won by Ransom the Moon (Malibu Moon), was the race in which champion Drefong ducked in at the gap and unseated his rider, vastly changing the complexion of that race. The same-day GI Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga, won by El Deal (Munnings), similarly had its pace scenario altered about an hour before the race when morning-line favorite A. P. Indian (Indian Charlie) scratched with a career-ending ankle injury, leaving El Deal as the lone speed. And this past Saturday=s GII Pat O=Brien S. at Del Mar, won by Giant Expectations (Frost Giant), also lost its morning-line favorite--this time the day before the race, when Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) was retired with a career-ending sesamoid fracture. The bottom line? Drefong is rested and dangerous at a time when the sprint division is subtracting A-level candidates, not adding them. Practical Joke (Into Mischief), whose ground-saving positioning combined with a nice stretch punch over seven furlongs resulted in a 1 1/4-length tally in Saturday=s GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at the Spa, could be a candidate to run in the GI Breeders= Cup Sprint. But in the aftermath of the victory, trainer Chad Brown indicated the 5-for-5 one-turn winner was instead likely to be pointed toward the GI Breeders= Cup Dirt Mile because the distance seems Aperfect@ for the colt.