Stay Thirsty on course for Travers; Dominus likely to seek rematch

Stay Thirsty on course for Travers; Dominus likely to seek

rematch

STAY THIRSTY (Bernardini) was reported by trainer Todd Pletcher and owner

Mike Repole to have come out his victory in Saturday's Jim Dandy S. (G2) in good

shape and is likely to make his next start in the $1 million Travers S. (G1) on

August 27.

"We're pleased with the way he's doing this morning and his energy level is

good," Pletcher said Sunday. "A good recovery, so far."

Pletcher said that Stay Thirsty is still in contention for the champion

three-year-old male title, but swaying the Eclipse Award voters could be a tall

task.

"My feeling is that if he wins the Jim Dandy, Travers, Jockey Club Gold Cup

(G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), I think they'll make him three-year-old

champion," Pletcher said with a wry grin. "We have one down, three to go.

"But obviously it was a breakthrough race yesterday, a race we felt like was

potentially there. We were just waiting to see it, and we're happy that we did."

Repole continued to express satisfaction over how Stay Thirsty seems to be

escaping the long shadow cast by last year's champion two-year-old male UNCLE MO

(Indian Charlie), who could carry the Repole Stable colors in the King's Bishop

(G1) on Travers Day.

"We gave him about 100 carrots and we went to see him before Mo, so he was

pretty excited about that," Repole said. "If you would have told me at the

beginning of the year, 'I think Mike is going to get the three-year-old

champion,' I'd think we'd be talking about Mo instead of having this

conversation in August about Stay Thirsty. If another owner owned him and

another trainer trained him, we'd be talking about him a lot higher than we talk

about him right now."

But Repole also lamented about how Stay Thirsty could be upstaged in the 1

1/4-mile Travers if Uncle Mo, unraced since finishing third in the Wood Memorial

(G1), makes his return in the seven-furlong King's Bishop on the Travers

undercard.

"He gets overshadowed by Mo, and so does every other three-year-old in the

country," Repole said. "Even on Travers Day, which could be, like, what a race

for Stay Thirsty, people are going to talk about Uncle Mo being in the King's

Bishop."

DOMINUS (Smart Strike) was doing well the morning after his third-place

finish as the favorite in the Jim Dandy and remains on course for a possible

start in the Travers, his connections said Sunday morning.

"He came out of the race fine," said Darren Fleming, assistant to trainer

Steve Asmussen. "We will see how he is and go from there."

George Bolton, who owns Dominus in partnership with Stonestreet Stables and

Spendthrift Farm, added that he was disappointed the colt came up short but

admitted there are bigger targets on the horizon.

"He ran hard and it looked like he just got a bit tired," Bolton said. "This

was his first time around two turns, so that was not unexpected. We had to have

this two-turn race sometime for him."

Bolton said the Travers will likely be Dominus' next start.

"I would think we would still look at the Travers as that was the goal the

whole time," Bolton said. "I'm sure Steve will see how he is doing and go from

there."

In addition to taking on Stay Thirsty in the Travers, Bolton will also field

a challenger to Uncle Mo in the King's Bishop. Bolton revealed that Hall of Fame

trainer Bob Baffert will soon send THE FACTOR (War Front) to Saratoga to train

in preparation for a likely start in the King's Bishop.

Owned by Bolton and Fog City Stable, The Factor is unraced since finishing

seventh in the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park in April. Previously, he won

the San Vicente (G2) at Santa Anita in February and the Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn in

March.