In the days leading up to the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, the team at usracing.com is publishing profiles of the 3-year-olds in the field.
Can an underachieving 3-year-old rise up and pull off a shocker in the Travers?
The theory ‘’if you don’t enter you can’t even lose’’ is often used in horse racing, and the Travers has shown huge surprises can happen – just think Keen Ice over Triple Crown champion American Pharoah in 2015 as a recent example.
McAfee fits right in with so many other longshots, but with a small field of five led by overwhelmingly favorite Sovereignty, even a top-3 finish could be called a success. A second-place finish is worth $250,000, third is worth $150,000, fourth is worth $75,000, and fifth – and last – gets the owner $50,000.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., and his ownership group figure, what the heck? McAfee has decent credentials – he’s hit the board in three Grade 3 races at 1 1/8 miles, and he seems to be training well. And it’s the biggest race of the summer season.
“I don't really know what his best game is, but he is showing up in these longer races. He's an underachiever,” said Dutrow, Jr. “I'm hoping we'll see his best this Saturday, just to see him grab a hold of the bit turning for home, I'd love to see that.”
McAfee has only a maiden win -- in his first career start -- and is 7-1-3-1. He ran second to Chunk of Gold in the West Virginia Derby (G3) on Aug. 3 under John Velazquez, who has the mount in Saturday’s Travers. He was third in the Ohio Derby and second in the Peter Pan Stakes (3).
Dutrow is well aware of the field and thinks he has a shot at second if Sovereignty runs the way he has in winning the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2).
“We see the horses going in there, we're hoping we can beat one or two of them and be happy with a third place,’’ said Dutrow. “Anything can happen up there. Our horse might love the track, and maybe somebody might not like it that day.”
Third is a reach, but with Velazquez aboard McAfee for the fourth straight race, third place could be in the cards.
Notes: The addition of blinkers in his last three races has kept him in the money each time – second in the Peter Pan, third in the Ohio Derby, and second in the West Virginia Derby ... McAfee is a half-brother to 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna ... Dutrow is looking his first Travers win; Velazquez has won the Travers three times, including last year with Fierceness.
