Street Sense to breeze; Hard Spun to King's Bishop

Kentucky Derby (G1) hero STREET SENSE (Street Cry [Ire]), who returned to

action with an impressive victory in the Jim Dandy S. (G2) on July 29, is

scheduled to breeze later this week in preparation for the $1 million Travers S.

(G1), trainer Carl Nafzger said Monday. The two-year-old champion had not raced

since

finishing second by a head to CURLIN (Smart Strike) in the Preakness S. (G1) on

May 19.

C P WEST (Came Home) and SIGHTSEEING (Pulpit), who finished second and third

in the Jim Dandy, are both expected to run in the "Mid-Summer Derby" on August

25.

"We'll breeze him five furlongs sometime this week," Nafzger said. "It

will be a light

breeze. We'll let him decide. Our pattern has always been to jog him after

the race, then

walk him for a couple of days, then gallop and then a workout. Our horse is

doing good and

we're just getting him ready for the Travers."

Nafzger was impressed with ANY GIVEN SATURDAY (Distorted Humor) after

watching his performance in Sunday's Haskell Invitational (G1) at Monmouth Park.

If Any Given Saturday

becomes a

probable for the 138th running of the Travers, it will be his third encounter with Street Sense.

Earlier this year, Street Sense beat Any Given Saturday by a

nose in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3), covering 1 1/16 miles in track-record time

of 1:43.

"I'm looking forward to the Travers; I don't know if I am looking forward to

that,"

Nafzger said about a possible rematch. "Any Given Saturday sure stepped up in

the Haskell. I

thought Any Given Saturday ran a huge race. He looked like everything that

everybody thought he was all year."

Any Given Saturday is expected to arrive at trainer Todd Pletcher's barn at Saratoga

on Tuesday. He was an impressive 4 1/2-length winner over HARD SPUN (Danzig) and

Curlin in the Haskell.

Pletcher has not made a commitment on whether or not Any Given Saturday will

run in the

Travers. One of Pletcher's concerns is the amount of time between the Haskell and the

Travers. In addition, it would be the third race in seven weeks for Any Given

Saturday, who won the Dwyer S. (G2) on July 4.

"He came back fine; we don't know what we're doing yet," Pletcher said. "We were

hoping for a big effort. He ran well in the Dwyer and trained well since then.

The 20 days (between the Haskell and Travers) is definitely a concern."

Preakness winner Curlin

returned to

Steve Asmussen's barn at Saratoga on Monday. Asmussen, still perplexed by

Curlin's performance in the Haskell, has not confirmed

Curlin for the Travers.

"I'm disappointed in the run; he ran flat," Asmussen said. "We'll evaluate

him and have

discussions with everyone involved with Curlin. From there, we'll decide what is

best for Curlin."

After Hard Spun's runner-up effort in the Haskell, trainer Larry Jones

is planning to

send his colt to Saratoga on August 25, but it won't be for the Travers.

Instead, Jones will

take a different tactic by running Hard Spun in the

$250,000

King's Bishop S. (G1) for three-year-olds at seven furlongs on the Travers Day

undercard.

Jones would like to follow a pattern that was successful when Hard Spun

won the

Lane's End S. (G2) and finished second to Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby.

Namely, by asking the colt to stretch out in distance in increments. He is hoping this approach

will lead Hard

Spun to the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on October 27 at Monmouth Park.

"We're going to turn him back to seven furlongs and try to stretch him out

again," Jones said. "I've had luck in the past of stretching him out in each race. Anyone who

has watched

him knows he has speed and he can sprint. Our goal is still the Breeders' Cup

Classic, but we're going to take a different

approach with

him.

"He ran well in the Haskell; he just got tired late. If you look at both

Hard Spun and Curlin

in the end, they ran similar. Perhaps the Triple Crown did take a little bit out

of them and maybe they needed the race."

Trainer Kenny McPeek returned to the winners' circle at Saratoga for the

first time since

2004 when LOOSE LEAF (Notebook), with Kent Desormeaux aboard, captured

Sunday's nine-furlong Lemon Drop Kid S. by 3 3/4 lengths.

According to McPeek, he will at least nominate Loose Leaf to the Travers.

"We'll have to see how he comes out of this race and see who else is going to

run,"

McPeek said. "We've been known to swing high and hard. We've done it before, and

we'll do it again."

If Loose Leaf becomes a candidate for the Travers, he will be the second

horse McPeek

has trained for the Travers. In the 2002 Travers, McPeek trained Repent to a

second-place

finish to Medaglia d'Oro.

Prince Arch was the last winner and the last horse that McPeek saddled at

Saratoga in the Saranac H. (G3) in 2004.