Flower Alley Blooms at Travers Stakes

Flower Alley overtook Bellamy Road in the stretch en route to winning Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

After running ninth in the Kentucky Derby in May, Flower Alley has shown steady improvement and was coming off an impressive 5 1/4-length victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes on July 30.

Flower Alley broke from the far outside seventh post with John Velazquez in the saddle and stalked Bellamy Road throughout before finally taking command in mid-stretch. "This is great. It is very special to me," Velazquez said. "From the start, I wasn't going to let Bellamy Road go. I got after him at the three-eighths pole and then I asked him and he took off and I still had a lot left. He was very good today."

Drawing off to a 2 1/2-length victory, Flower Alley covered 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.76, giving trainer Todd Pletcher his first career victory in the Travers. Flower Alley paid $8.00, $4.00 and $2.70. Flower Alley became the sixth horse to complete the Jim Dandy-Travers exacta. Medaglia D'Oro was the most recent in 2002.

Meanwhile, Bellamy Road was making his first start since fading to seventh as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby. The 3-year-old colt had been sidelined by a leg injury.

Ridden by Javier Castellano and owned by New York Yankees boss George Steinbrenner, Bellamy Road went to the front and stayed there before being run down by Flower Alley. He hung on for second and returned $4.10 and $3.00.

"I thought Bellamy Road was really something," said Nick Zito, the trainer for Bellamy Road. "He hasn't run in four months. I salute Flower Alley, but I also salute Bellamy Road. Four months coming off the bench, and he give us this. What a future he's got! The winner rode a tremendous race."

Roman Ruler, who was coming off a victory in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on August 7, went off as the favorite and never was a factor but finished third. He paid $2.50 with Jerry Bailey aboard.

Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and Afleet Alex, who won both the Preakness and Belmont, were sidelined with injuries.

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Steinbrenner's Bellamy Road Returns for Travers

It looks like the Travers over the King's Bishop for Bellamy Road.

The long-awaited return of George Steinbrenner's Bellamy Road will take place in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Nick Zito indicated Tuesday.

"I'm leaning toward the Travers,'' Zito said after weeks of indecision whether to run in the "Midsummer Derby'' at 1 1/4 miles or against unbeaten Lost in the Fog in the King's Bishop at seven furlongs the same day.

Bellamy Road, last seen finishing seventh as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, was sidelined by an injury to a bone that runs from the knee to the ankle.

But in six workouts since the minor injury, Bellamy Road has shown he is ready to return to the races, perhaps in a big way. On Sunday, the 3-year-old colt owned by the Yankees' boss worked five furlongs in a speedy 59.80 seconds over a wet track.

Two Web sites, Bloodhorse.com. and the Daily Racing Form's drf.com, reported Tuesday that Zito had decided on the Travers for Bellamy Road.

Zito's feeling is that Bellamy Road, who came into the Derby off an astonishing 17 1/2 -length victory in the Wood Memorial, will face a softer field in the Travers than in the King's Bishop. Plus, the Travers would better prepare Bellamy Road for future races, including the 1 1/4 -mile Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 29.

The Travers' post position draw is Wednesday, and a field of seven is likely. Other confirmed starters are Haskell winner Roman Ruler, Jim Dandy winner Flower Alley, Reverberate, Chekhov, Don't Get Mad and Andromeda's Hero, also trained by Zito.

Among the absentees are Derby winner Giacomo and Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Afleet Alex, both sidelined with injuries.

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It Looks Like a Small Field for Travers

By GREG MELIKOV, HorsesWild contributing writer

The 136th Travers, America's oldest stakes race for 3-year-olds named for the founder of Saratoga, will have a small field.

The likely odds-on favorite will be Roman Ruler, impressive winner of the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth where he proved he could win at 1 1/8 miles.

Knocked off the Triple Crown trail by persistent foot problems, the son of Fusaichi Pegasus returned from a 3 ½-month layoff to whip Jim Dandy winner Flower Alley in the Dwyer Stakes at Belmont. They hook up again in Saturday's $1 million Travers at 1 ¼ miles.

Other expected starters are Reverberate, Jim Dandy runner-up; Don't Get Mad, fifth in the Swaps at Hollywood Park after winning the Northern Dancer Stakes at Churchill Downs; Chekhov, fourth in the Haskell; and Andromeda's Hero, runner-up to Afleet Alex in the Belmont Stakes.

Birdstone last year became the fifth Belmont winner since Easy Goer in '89 to capture the Travers, defeating six rivals. In '03, Ten Most Wanted scored in a six-horse field.

However, the smallest field for the Grade 1 event occurred four times between 1883 and 1921: two.

The margin of victory was a nose seven times -- from 1916 to '98. Damascus posted the largest winning margin in '67 -- 22 lengths.

William Travers, the track's first president, owned the winner of the inaugural race in 1864 when the purse was $2,940: Kentucky.

Prior to 1890, the race was staged at 1 ¾ miles. It wasn't run in 1896, 1898-99, 1900 and 1911-12 while it was run at 1 ½ miles 1890-92 and 1 1/8 miles in 1895 and 1901-'03.

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.

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Travers Nominations Announced

Flower Alley, winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy, and Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner Roman Ruler head a list of 16 nominations for the 136th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers - the 10-furlong "Mid-Summer Derby" for three-year-olds on Saturday, August 27th at Saratoga Racetrack.

Other probable starters for the Travers are the second and third-place finishers in the Jim Dandy - Reverberate and Andromeda's Hero - as well as Don't Get Mad and Chekhov. Questionable include A.P. Arrow and Closing Argument.

Nick Zito's failed Triple Crown hopeful, Bellamy Road, will also run on the 27th after fully recovering from a splint bone injury. Sun King and Indy Storm are other possible starters trained by Zito who was recently inducted to racing's Hall of Fame.

Initial nominations for the Travers Stakes released by NYRA are thefollowing:

A. P. Arrow (D. Wayne Lukas)
Andromeda's Hero (Nicholas P. Zito)
Bellamy Road (Nicholas P. Zito
Chekhov (Patrick L. Biancone)
Closing Argument (Kiaran P. McLaughlin)
Don't Get Mad (Ronald W. Ellis)
Flower Alley (Todd A. Pletcher)
Freedom Isnt Free (Dominic G. Galluscio)
Golden Man (Richard E. Dutrow, Jr.)
Indy Storm (Nicholas P. Zito)
Magna Graduate (Todd A. Pletcher)
Park Avenue Ball (James T. Ryerson)
Reverberate (Sal Russo)
Roman Ruler (Bob Baffert)
Smokescreen (Benjamin W. Perkins, Jr.)
Sun King (Nicholas P. Zito)

But Freedom is Free has withdrawn the nomination due to a foot bruise that caused the colt valuable training time. Freedom Isnt Free is a three-year-old colt by Fly So Free and has two wins in his three career starts.

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Zito Inducted to Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs

Legendary trainer, Nick Zito, was finally inducted to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame on Monday. The ceremony was held at the Saratoga Springs, just across the racetrack where the Saratoga 2005 Racing Season is currently running.

A New York native, the 57-year-old Zito began his career in 1972 with a two-horse stable. He has gone on to become of the nation's top trainers, winning two Kentucky Derbies while also capturing the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

"It's an incredible honor," Zito said. "What can I say? It gives you goose bumps."

Zito has enjoyed a stellar career, saddling more than 1,420 winners with earnings of $71,119,670.

Along with Zito, jockey Tommy Walsh, trainer Sidney Watters Jr., and five-time champion Lonesome Glory were also bestowed the Hall of Famer accolade.

Walsh enjoyed a 12-year career than ended in 1967 at the age of 27. He totaled 253 victories, including five straight wins in the prestigious Grand National Steeplechase.

Watters, 88, led or shared the lead in steeplechase victories six times from 1948-71.

In 24 career starts, Lonesome Glory posted 24 victories from 1991-99. He is steeplechase's top money winner with earnings of $1.4 million. It marked the first time in the Hall of Fame's 50 years where there was only one thoroughbred racing inductee.

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