WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018 >WONDER WOMAN= LOOKS BELLAMY HELPING ALL ROADS LEAD TO NEW YORK by Chris McGrath TO MAKE TRAVERS HISTORY A lot of water has passed under the Brooklyn Bridge since the Finger Lakes upstart Fio Rito landed the Whitney in 1981, the first Grade I race ever won by a New York-bred. It ranked, and rankled, as the biggest piece of local effrontery since Mr Right beat Damascus himself in the 1968 Woodward. But if Funny Cide (Distorted Humor) has since served as flagship, in the 2003 Kentucky Derby, then the same tide now seems to be bearing a positive armada of NY-breds to open-race success (click here to read Joe Bianca=s TDN feature on AThe Summer of the New York-Bred@). After GI Florida Derby winner Audible (Into Mischief) lit up the spring, home-state runners have become a defining motif of the Saratoga summer. On the same day that Fasig-Tipton opened a state-bred yearling sale that would shatter all records, Voodoo Song (English Channel) won the GI Fourstardave H.--a race, of course, named for the backyard hero who won a race here in Wonder Gadot | Sarah K. Andrew eight consecutive years. (Click to cont. to p6) by Christie DeBernardis SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Seven fillies have won Saratoga=s IN TDN EUROPE TODAY prestigious GI Travers S. since its inception in 1864, with the TDN Q & A WITH TANYA GUNTHER John and Tanya most recent being Lady Rotha in 1915. The last filly to even run Gunther discuss the recent successes of their colts Without in the Midsummer Derby was Hall of Famer Davona Dale, who Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Justify (Scat Daddy) with the TDN finished fourth as the favorite to General Assembly in the 1979 and GBRI. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. renewal during a championship season in which she won eight races, five of which were Grade Is. It clearly takes a special filly to even compete in the Travers, nevermind win it, and trainer Mark Casse believe he has just that in Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d=Oro), who was named for Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot. Entering Casse=s barn on the Saratoga main track, it is evident that the entire team is high on its star filly and confident in her ability to do them proud Saturday. This is understandable given what she has already accomplished. Only off the board once in 13 starts, the $325,000 OBSAPR buy has competed in at least one stakes race a month since breaking her maiden in >TDN Rising Star= fashion in a Woodbine allowance last August, coincidentally on Travers day. Winner of the GIII Mazarine S. and GII Demoiselle S. as a juvenile, Wonder Gadot placed in all three GI Kentucky Oaks prep races at Fair Grounds this winter, as well as Oaklawn=s GIII Fantasy S. Cont. p3 Wonder Gadot draws post 2 in 11-horse Travers. Story p5 BREED WITH CREED . LEADING SECOND-CROP SIRES BT BT SWrs SWs 4 5 JIMMY CREED 4 4 VIOLENCE JIMMY CREED Distorted Humor’s Most Brilliant G1 Son at Stud CALL TODAY FOR THE BREEDERS’ FARM 2019 EARLY BIRD SPECIALS spendthriftfarm.com Source: BloodHorse.com, Thru 8/20 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Wednesday, August 22, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Justina Severni War Horse. Metaurus (Flatter), retired from racing in 2017 with 103 starts, stands tall on Tuesday afternoon at ReRun Inc. in East Greenbush, NY. ReRun's annual fundraiser Director of Customer Service will be held on Tuesday, August 28 at Saratoga National Golf Club. Click here for Vicki Forbes [email protected] details. | Sarah Andrew Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen DAM OF MONOMOY GIRL TO SELL AT FTKNOV 8 Drumette (Henny Hughes), the dam of likely Eclipse champion Director of Information Technology Ray Villa sophomore filly Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), will be offered at the [email protected] upcoming Fasig-Tipton November sale. Bookkeeper GRADE I WINNERS RETIRED 8-9 Terry May [email protected] Grade I winners Bee Jersey (Jersey Town) and Unbridled Mo (Uncle Mo) have both been retired from racing. WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN TODAY’S GRADED STAKES [email protected] EST Race TV European Editor 9:25a Tattersalls Acomb S.-G3, YOR TVG Emma Berry 10:00a Great Voltigeur S.-G2, YOR TVG [email protected] Associate International Editor 10:35a Juddmonte International S.-G1, YOR TVG 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 WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 22, 2018 >Wonder Woman= Looks to Make Travers AWe think her least preferred surface is turf and more importantly, we are always trying to think two or three races History (cont. from p1) ahead, and going a mile and a half on the turf isn=t going to give The Ontario-bred locked horns with divisional leader us anything,@ said Casse on why Wonder Gadot skipped the Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the final eighth of the Kentucky Oaks Breeders, which he won with Neepawa (Scat Daddy). AWe ruled and a gritty battle ensued, with that chestnut rival gutting out a that out early.@ half-length score in a race that, as Casse could have also run Wonder the saying goes, didn=t deserve a Gadot in last weekend=s GI Alabama loser (video). Second by just a head S., which is one of the most highly --while finishing well clear of the regarded 3-year-old filly races on third-place finisher--after a rough the calendar. trip in the Woodbine Oaks, Wonder When asked why he chose the Gadot triumphed by 4 3/4 lengths Travers over that Saratoga filly when facing males in the historic staple, the conditioner said, AThere Queen=s Plate going 10 panels on were a few reasons. It gave us an the Woodbine synthetic June 30 extra week off the Prince of Wales. (video). She scored another facile We know her distance is a mile and victory over colts in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the quarter. She loves a mile and a 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales S. on quarter. She has already beaten the dirt at Fort Erie July 24. Wonder Gadot winning the Queen=s Plate | M Burns/WEG colts. She gets five pounds, which is Casse could have kept his filly significant going this distance. We north of the border and gone for the final leg of the Canadian are trying to make history and we think she has a big chance to Triple Crown, the 1 1/2-mile Breeders S. on the Woodbine lawn, do it.@ but he chose a competitive renewal of the Travers instead. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 22, 2018 Casse continued, AWe did think about the Alabama for a while. As much as the Alabama is a great race, we think we have a good shot to win the Travers. If you are afraid to step off first, you can=t steal second. So, we are stepping off first and we are going to try and steal second and see what happens.@ Wonder Gadot was a late foal, born May 22, and though she was clearly always good, she seems to be only getting better in the second half of her sophomore season. Casse does not attribute that to maturity, however. Mark Casse | Coady AI think it is the distance,@ the horseman said. AIf you look at her record going a mile and an eighth and farther, it=s pretty good. We also added blinkers, which has helped her. Her race in the Kentucky Oaks was extremely good and that is kind of what we are basing our opinion on and why we are trying the Travers. I think her Oaks race was as good as any other horse=s in the Travers.@ He continued, AA lot of people don=t know this, but she got in some trouble at the five-sixteenths pole, another filly clipped heels and Johnny had to check our filly pretty good. That hurt her, so I think her race in the Oaks against Monomoy Girl, who is as good as there is of any 3-year-old, stands out. In the Canadian Oaks, she had a lot of trouble, so we aren=t going to hold that against her.@ Wonder Gadot will have a new jockey as she faces colts for the third straight time in her young career. The Saratoga meet=s leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. will take over for Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who is committed to ride the Todd Pletcher-trained GII Wood Memorial S. winner Vino Rosso (Curlin). Ortiz was previously scheduled to pilot Curlin S. hero Hofburg (Tapit), but became available over the weekend when that Bill Mott pupil was ruled out of the race with a fever.