Lookin at the Travers

Lookin at Lucky is clearly the top three-year old after the Haskell, in which he dominated despite being intentionally floated three wide on the first turn, and positioned similarly wide on the final turn as he unleashed a powerful sweep around Super Saver towards the lead. The Derby and Preakness winners hooked up briefly turning for home; but watch on the replay how Borel was in a full drive, as Garcia was just cruising on Baffert's colt. Once he switched leads, he rebroke and was gone in a final eighth of 12.55; and a preliminary Beyer of 105.

Baffert was noncommittal on the Travers; but interesting that he told the Racing Post:

"We'd been waiting for a coming out party....But when he gets on dirt he's a totally different horse. He was just floating over this stuff."

He also told Bloodhorse:

"Martin was still sitting, but when he pushed the button, the horse really took off. You can’t make that move on synthetic, but on dirt it was the winning move. That’s really what I like to see -- running fast horses on fast tracks.

Sure sounds like he'd prefer to keep this colt out east, doesn't it? The Pacific Classic, for three year olds and up, is scheduled for Del Mar on the same day as the Travers, four weeks hence. but I'd have to believe that we'll see him upstate.