Arrogate sets track record to easily win the Travers Stakes

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will never forget how crestfallen he felt when American Pharoah, his Triple Crown champion, worn by heavy travel and a demanding schedule, placed second to longshot Keen Ice in last year’s Travers Stakes.

“You could have poured me out of a shot glass,” Baffert said. “I was pretty dejected.”

In a turnabout that underscores the dizzying highs and devastating lows that thoroughbred racing provides, Baffert was jubilant Saturday as he watched front-running Arrogate blaze to a track record of 1 minute 59.36 seconds for the mile-and-a-quarter Travers in finishing 13 1/2 lengths ahead of stablemate American Freedom. Favored Exaggerator, the Preakness winner, struggled home 11th in a field of 13.

“I’m just glad to be back here with another chance at it,” Baffert said. “What he did was pretty incredible. He looks like a superstar in the making.”

Arrogate, making a seemingly impossible leap from the allowance ranks to salty Grade 1 competition in the Travers, rendered a performance worthy of American Pharoah at his finest with the swiftest running of the Travers in the race’s 147-year history. General Assembly had held the stakes and track record of 2:00 for the 1 1/4 miles since Aug. 18, 1979.

“We were supposed to do this last year,” Baffert said. “It didn’t happen.”

American Pharoah had everything go wrong from the start. In contrast, everything went right for Arrogate from the start, even though Baffert had warned jockey Mike Smith that the inexperienced colt had a tendency to break slowly.

“He actually jumped very well,” Smith said of the start. “After that, once he got up underneath himself, he has a stride that is tremendous, as you saw.”

Arrogate took the field through an opening quarter that went in 23.23. He tore through the first half-mile in 46.84. Although Baffert saw that the leader was striding comfortably, he could not help but wince when the second fraction was posted.

“You don’t want to see that,” he admitted.

After an opening three-quarters that stopped the clock in an eye-opening 1:10.85, Baffert exhaled as Arrogate, a gray son of Unbridled’s Song that was purchased by Juddmonte Farms for $560,000 as a yearling, spun out of the final turn.

“Turning for home, I just sat back and said, ‘Wow,’” Baffert recalled. “I knew no one was going to catch him.”

Arrogate returned $25.40 for a $2 win wager. He and American Freedom, another lightly raced colt that appears to have a bright future, combined to pay $134.50 for a $2 exacta.

Arrogate was unraced as a 2-year-old as the one-time quarter-horse trainer allowed him to work through minor issues. One race in, it already was time to regroup.

“He was a mess his first race,” Baffert said. “Got him back. Got him relaxed.”

The blinkers were removed; the light went on. Arrogate brought a three-race winning streak into the Travers, albeit at a much lower level with a maiden win at Santa Anita followed by allowance decisions at Santa Anita and Del Mar.

Baffert said he will likely train Arrogate up to the $6-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. He took the same approach with American Pharoah after last year’s Travers and was rewarded with a commanding victory in the Classic.

For Exaggerator, his dismal Travers effort meant he missed a great opportunity. A victory over a fast track would have dispelled questions about his ability to win on a dry surface since so much of his success has come in the slop. And it would have all but assured him year-end honors as the leading 3-year-old colt in North America.

When jockey Kent Desormeaux was asked what went awry with Exaggerator, he replied, “I wouldn’t have any idea.”

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