SARATOGA SPRINGS – They cheered Point Given in the paddock, and again in the post parade, but the record Travers crowd of 60,486 that packed the Old Spa yesterday really cut loose when the “Big Red Train” returned to the winner’s circle after galloping home in the $1 million Midsummer Derby by 3 ½ lengths under Hall-of-Fame jockey Gary Stevens.
“He’s such a cool horse,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert, who’d never run a horse in the Travers before. “The cheering doesn’t bother him. He enjoys it.”
E Dubai held on gamely for second, with Dollar Bill, who finally got a clean trip, 1 1/4 lengths behind him in third and A P Valentine a close fourth. Point Given ran the mile and a quarter in a snappy 2:01.4 to pay $3.30, keying a $12.20 exacta.
Following the Preakness, Belmont Stakes and Haskell, the Travers was Point Given’s fourth straight victory in a million-dollar stakes.
“This is the best race I ever won in my life,” said the colt’s owner, Saudi Arabian Prince Ahmed Salman, who dedicated the victory to his recently deceased brother. “I’m sure he’s watching from heaven now, and he’ll be pleased.”
All week long Baffert promised Point Given was sitting on a monster effort after his hard-fought triumph three weeks ago in the Haskell, and the massive chestnut delivered as the 3-5 favorite in a field of nine 3-year-olds.
After breaking a step slow, he sat just off the moderate pace (:23.3, :47.3) set by Free of Love, moved into second when E Dubai assumed the lead on the far turn, collared the Godolphin runner in midstretch, switched to his right lead leg and kicked clear with ease.
“This was the most comfortable I’ve been early on in any of his races,” said Stevens, who won the 1995 Travers on Point Given’s sire, Thunder Gulch. “I was totally confident. He was on cruise control from the first turn to the top of the stretch. There were no scares, no feelings he wouldn’t get the job done. Nothing but power.
“Jerry (Bailey, riding E Dubai) felt someone breathing down his neck at the half-mile pole, and when he looked over and saw it was me, he did a double take. Then he urged E Dubai to pick up the pace, and when he peeked over again I was even closer.”
“He heard that ‘Jaws’ music,” Baffert joked. “Point Given keeps amazing me. He’s so tough and durable, a trainer’s dream.”
Stevens, who calls Point Given the greatest horse he’s ever ridden, warned that we haven’t seen the best of him yet.
“Trust me. In the Belmont (which he won by 12 1/4 lengths) and today, he was not running the last eighth of a mile. He’s a big baby and was gawking around. He could have won by 10. I have the gut feeling we haven’t tapped all there is.
“He won with authority and had something left. After the wire he took one deep breath, turned around, surveyed the racetrack and galloped back. It was like he hadn’t even run.”
Point Given flies back to California tomorrow, then will likely run next in the Oct. 7 Goodwood at Santa Anita as his prep for the Oct. 27 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park.