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Surprise Starter Boosts Travers Field to 7


The distance has been 1 ¼ miles since 1904 when Broomstick won in 2:06 4/5. The fastest time was posted in '79 by General Assembly -- two minutes flat.
Ironically, only three winners of the Kentucky Derby captured the Travers since Triple Crown winner Whirlaway did in '41: Shut Out, '42; Sea Hero, '93; and Thunder Gulch, ''95.
Notable races in the last quarter-century include Alydar's victory by disqualification over '78 Triple Crown winner Affirmed in '78, Holy Bull's triumph over Concern en route to Horse of the Year in '94 and Will's Way upset of '96 Preakness winner Louis Quatorze.
Some pretty fair 3-year-olds have taken Saratoga's premier race over the past eight decades:
The '01 Preakness-Belmont Stakes winner, Point Given;'67 Preakness-Belmont winner Damascus, third in the Kentucky Derby; '53 Preakness-Belmont winner Native Dancer, who only lost one of 22 races to Dark Star in The Derby; and '20 Preakness-Belmont winner Man o' War, who didn't run in the first leg of the Triple Crown.
The original Travers trophy is the gold George III Man o' War Cup, crafted by Tiffany & Co., that's nine inches high and 12 ½ inches in diameter. It was won by Mrs. Samuel D. Riddle's Big Red when he defeated 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton in a match race the following year in Canada.
The cup was donated to the Saratoga Association to be used as the permanent trophy for the Travers along as a member of the Riddle family made the presentation. A gold-plated replica goes every year to the winning owner.
The copyright of the article Surprise Starter Boosts Travers Field to 7 in Horse Racing is owned by Greg Melikov. Permission to republish Surprise Starter Boosts Travers Field to 7 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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