by Ray Paulick
Bob Baffert said Monday that all systems are "go" for The Thoroughbred Corp's Point Given to ship to New York for the Travers Stakes (gr. I) on Saturday. The big Thunder Gulch colt worked five furlongs at Del Mar on Monday morning, getting the distance in :59 1/5 under exercise rider Dana Barnes.
"I got him in :59 3/5 and out six furlongs in 1:13," Baffert said. "He went nice and easy and came off the track bouncing, which he hasn't done in a long time. He looked very good, very happy. He's all set. I feel better going into this race than the Haskell. He needed that race really bad."
Point Given won the Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) by a narrow margin after scoring dominating victories in the Preakness (gr. I) and Belmont Stakes (gr. I). There has been widespread talk that Point Given has a foot problem that would keep him out of the Travers, but Baffert said the colt is wearing a bar shoe on his left hind foot to protect an area where he had an abscess after the Belmont. "When he popped the abscess, we took a lot of the quarter away. The light bar shoe is there for protection. It doesn't affect him at all.
"Baffert said Prince Ahmed Salman, The Thoroughbred Corp. owner who also bred Point Given, will be in attendance in Saratoga. "He loves to see this horse run," the trainer said.
Point Given will ship to New York on Tuesday.
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By JAY PRIVMAN
DEL MAR, Calif. - The sharp training pattern that Point Given had displayed in the past two weeks continued Monday morning at Del Mar, when he worked a brilliant five furlongs to solidify his starting status in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
Point Given for the past two weeks had been giving every indication that he had bounced back in top shape from his victory in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug. 5. Barring a poor work, Point Given was set to go to the Travers, and he did nothing Monday to dissuade his connections from flying him to New York on Tuesday.
Point Given came out just after 9 a.m., following a renovation break, with his regular exercise rider, Dana Barnes, aboard. After backtracking clockwise to the finish line, Point Given turned around and was eager to do more, tossing his head in anticipation of the workout.
He finally broke off at the five-furlong pole, spotting a Bob Baffert-trained workmate, Divine Spirit, several lengths. Point Given cruised along under Barnes, then cut into Divine Spirit's lead on the turn. At the top of the stretch, Point Given was even with his workmate, and he flew past Divine Spirit without any encouragement. Point Given was striding out impressively when he hit the wire in 59.20 for five furlongs.
The work was a significant improvement from anything Point Given had done in training preceding the Haskell.
"He's a lot different horse than before his last race," said Richard Mulhall, the racing manager for Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation, which owns Point Given. "He's that way. When he's off awhile, his first race can be dull if he hasn't been trained that hard. He loses a lot of his edge. But he's awakened since then. He's been tough to gallop."
Point Given just did get up in the final strides to beat Touch Tone and Burning Roma in the Haskell. It was his first start in two months, since his victory in the Belmont Stakes. Since then, he has trained like he did prior to the Belmont.
"He seemed to snap right back out of it," Mulhall said. "He's an amazing athlete. A normal horse, you'd have to give them more time, but he comes right out of it."
Point Given continues to wear a bar shoe on his left rear hoof. He had a new shoe put on last week.
Mulhall said Point Given was scheduled to be flown to Saratoga on Tuesday. Baffert is going to Saratoga on Thursday, and both Mulhall and Prince Ahmed will arrive Friday.
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by The Associated Press
Point Given's appearance in the Travers is making a big race bigger.
"The Travers is the Travers, but I think he spices it up a lot," trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday. "I think he has a huge fan following."
Point Given's bid to win a fourth straight grade 1 stakes Saturday at Saratoga could break the Travers single day attendance record of 54,116 set last year.
A Monmouth Park record crowd of 47,127 watched Point Given win the $1.5 million Haskell Invitational Handicap in his last start Aug. 5.
"The reception he got at Monmouth Park was great," Baffert said. "He enjoyed it. He stopped and posed for pictures."
Baffert announced the decision to ship the Preakness-Belmont Stakes winner to Saratoga for the $1 million Travers after the huge chestnut colt worked five furlongs in 59 1-5 seconds Monday at Del Mar.
"I didn't want to say anything about it too soon," he said. "I wanted to make sure everything was right."
Baffert also said he wanted to wait until Point Given's owner, Prince Ahmed Salman of Saudi Arabia, returned to the United States to discuss the situation.
"He left it up to Richard (Mulhall, racing manager for the prince's Thoroughbred Corp.) and me," Baffert said. "The last thing we want to do is go there and embarrass ourselves. It's very nerve-racking to have a horse like this because you're expected to win wherever you go. But you can't be afraid to get beat."
Point Given, who won the Belmont Stakes by 12 1/4 lengths June 9, scored a half-length victory over Touch Tone in the Haskell.
Baffert said that an abscess developed in Point Given's left hind foot after the Belmont and he missed 26 days of training between then and the Haskell.
"I got him ready to run in three weeks," Baffert said.
Point Given wore what Baffert calls a light bar shoe on the left rear in the Haskell and will race in it again Saturday.
"We all knew he was short and not at his best for the Haskell," Baffert said. "We hoped he could pull it off. I'm happy with the way he's coming into this race. I expect a big effort from him."
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By DAVID GRENING
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With his chestnut coat looking like a freshly minted copper penny, and without displaying any of the bad-boy tendencies that have become his trademark, Point Given arrived Tuesday afternoon at Saratoga, where he will be the overwhelming choice to win Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes.
Following an eight-hour plane ride that included stops in Louisville and Chicago, Point Given landed at Albany Airport around 3:30 p.m. He was then transported by van to Saratoga where he was bedded down in trainer John Terranova's barn on the Oklahoma side of the track. Point Given is trained by Bob Baffert, who on Tuesday was at Del Mar, and owned by Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation.
Point Given, winner of the Preakness, Belmont Stakes, and Haskell Invitational, looked fit and trim and was walked several times by his exercise rider, Pepe Aragon, who looked more haggard than the horse from the long trip. Also accompanying Point Given was a 2-year-old maiden colt, Popular, groom Roberto Luna, and assistant trainer Jim Barnes.
"He traveled very well," Barnes said just before notifying Baffert of the colt's arrival. "I think he's just maturing and growing up. Before, when we left for the Belmont and the Haskell he was fine. It was coming home when he'd get all pumped up."
Point Given traveled on the day after he breezed five furlongs in 59.20 seconds at Del Mar. It wasn't until after that move that Point Given was declared a starter for the Travers. During a conference call with racing writers earlier Tuesday, however, Baffert said the Travers was in the plans all along.
"We had in our mind the Travers," he said. "I didn't want to say anything about it too early; I was waiting for the Prince. I didn't want people getting too excited about it and then him not coming. I didn't want to upset anybody if we changed our mind at the last minute."
Point Given was wearing a bar shoe Tuesday to protect his left hind foot, which had an abscess earlier this summer. Point Given won the Haskell wearing the bar shoe and Baffert said he plans to leave it on for the Travers.
"[The foot] wasn't raw before the last race, we just felt while it's growing out we'd keep the bar shoe," Baffert said. "We're just protecting that quarter so it doesn't happen again. He's walking great on it. I think it was bothering him during the Triple Crown. He's better now on that foot than he ever has been."
According to Barnes, Point Given in the days leading up to the race will gallop over Saratoga's main track early each morning to avoid the heat.
In other Travers news, trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed Tuesday that Mark Guidry will ride Jim Dandy winner Scorpion. Guidry replaces Jerry Bailey, who has ridden Scorpion to all four of his career victories, but chose to ride E Dubai in Saturday's Travers.
"I think he's a good fit on the horse; he's a good position rider and he finishes real," said Lukas, a two-time Travers winner, of Guidry.
Post positions were to be drawn on Wednesday and a field of eight was expected. There was a slim chance that Hadrian's Wall, a son of Storm Cat owned by Ross Gilbert, could also be entered. Hadrian's Wall, a $1.15 million yearling purchase, has won two of his last three starts, but is still eligible for a second-level allowance.
"We are looking at it, but I can't say we are running and I can't say we aren't running," trainer Mark Hennig said. "It's just a possibility."
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Point Given, heavy favorite for Saturday's 132nd Travers Stakes (gr. I), arrived at Saratoga racecourse at 4:20 p.m. (EDT) Tuesday afternoon, nearly 12 hours after leaving trainer Bob Baffert's barn at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif. The Thunder Gulch colt was bedded down in trainer John Terranova's barn after an uneventful trip in which he was accompanied by Baffert assistant Jim Barnes, groom Roberto Luna, exercise rider Pepe Aragon.
Point Given and Co. (joined also by a Saint Ballado maiden 2-year-old named Popular) left Del Mar at 1:30 a.m. (PDT), vanned to Ontario Airport to catch a 4:30 a.m. plane that stopped in Louisville and Chicago. "It was a pretty uneventful flight," said Barnes, as Aragon walked him beneath the elms as a mixed collection of about 20 media and backstretch people watched his every move. "It was long, but we passed the time sleeping or reading the paper. We were only in Louisville for about 15 minutes to pick up two horses. We had a longer layover in Chicago because we had to pick up seven, but everything went smoothly."
Although the race will be televised live by ESPN (5:45 p.m. EDT), New York Racing Association officials are hoping the presence of Point Given -- winner of the Preakness, Belmont, and Haskell this summer after losing as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby -- could lead to an all-time record crowd. The current record 54,116 set last year when Unshaded nosed out Albert the Great in the Travers. That day, the record crowd also wagered an on-track record $7,371,991. The total commingled handle of $28,281,322 was also a record.
Barnes said he would talk to Baffert to finalize Point Given's schedule leading to the Travers, but expected that the horse would gallop early on the main track on Wednesday morning.
The Travers will be race 10 of an 11-race card that begins with a first race post time of 12:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. There will be a $500,000 guaranteed Pick 4 on races 8-11, starting with the Grade 2, $200,000 Fourstardave for three-year-olds and up at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf (4:27 p.m. Eastern; ESPN tape delay); the Grade 1, $200,000 King's Bishop for three-year-olds at seven furlongs (5:02 p.m. Eastern; ESPN live); the Travers and the last race set to go off at 6:20 p.m. Eastern.
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By DAVID GRENING
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There are two schools of thought regarding Point Given entering Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
One theory is that Point Given's hard-fought, half-length victory showed an air of vulnerability that did not exist in his dominant victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. The second theory maintains if Point Given was ever ripe to lose, the Haskell was the race.
"If he's the Point Given that ran in the Belmont and Preakness, we're in for a tough afternoon," said Rick Violette, trainer of Travers hopeful Free of Love. "If he's the horse that ran in the Haskell, it's a wide-open race."
Point Given drew post 7 on Wednesday and was installed as the 3-5 favorite for the Travers by Mike Watchmaker, the national handicapper for Daily Racing Form. Watchmaker made E Dubai, the Dwyer winner, the 6-1 second choice, followed by Dollar Bill at 8-1.
Six of the nine horses will have new riders for the Travers. Scorpion, the Jim Dandy winner, goes from Jerry Bailey to Mark Guidry, as Bailey rides E Dubai. John Velazquez replaces Victor Espinoza aboard Preakness and Belmont Stakes runner-up A P Valentine. Jorge Chavez replaces Pat Day on Preakness and Belmont fourth-place finisher Dollar Bill. Day, a three-time Travers winner, climbs aboard Free of Love, whom Richard Migliore rode in the Jim Dandy. Migliore opted to stick with impressive allowance winner Volponi.
Harrisand, making his dirt debut for trainer Bobby Frankel, and Hadrian's Wall, an 11th-hour entry, complete the field.
The Travers tops an 11-race card that includes the Grade 1 King's Bishop for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs and the Grade 2 Fourstardave, at 1 1/16 miles on turf. First post on Travers Day is 12:30 p.m., and all three stakes will be shown during a 90-minute broadcast on ESPN beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. There will be a pick-four wager on the final four races of the day - including all three stakes - with a minimum guaranteed pool of $500,000.
When Point Given ran in the Haskell, it was his first race since his 12 1/4-length victory in the Belmont Stakes. In the 57 days between races, trainer Bob Baffert estimated that Point Given walked for 24 days. Following the Belmont, Point Given popped an abscess in his left hind foot that required time off, and he was later equipped with a bar shoe, which he wore in the Haskell and will wear again Saturday.
"If he was going to get beat, that was that race," Baffert said. "I had to get him ready really quick. I didn't want to tell too many people I was rushing him. It was a very stressful day. We all knew he was short; we thought he could pull it off. Horses don't do what he did coming off the pace on a loose track that day."
Violette sees the presence of a bar shoe on Point Given as a potential sign of weakness.
"There's no question Bob would prefer not to run with a bar shoe behind," Violette said. "How much it affects him, is it half of 1 percent or 10 percent? He was good enough in the Haskell to overcome it. We'll see if he'll overcome it in the Travers."
Free of Love may hold the key to Saturday's Travers, run at 1 1/4 miles. With E Dubai as the main speed in the race, many trainers hope Free of Love - who was on the lead in the Jim Dandy - presses the pace. But Violette didn't enter to help the competition.
"We're not going to set it up for anybody; we're in to win it," Violette said. "If E Dubai gets loose, that's not going to be our problem. We're running to get the mile and a quarter. If [E Dubai] gets loose, he gets loose, and if we don't run him down and are second, so be it."
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The Thoroughbred Corporation's Point Given, even-money morning line favorite in for Saturday's grade 1, $1 million Travers, drew post seven in the field of nine. The Preakness, Belmont and Haskell winner arrived safely in Saratoga Tuesday afternoon after leaving California at 4:30 a.m. (Pacific). The Travers, the "Mid-Summer Derby" for 3-year-olds at a mile and a quarter will be televised live by ESPN during its 90-minute program that begins at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the Travers, the 10th of an 11-race card and the third leg of a guaranteed $500,000 Pick 4, is 5:45 pm. (EDT).
The field, in post position order: A P Valentine, John Velazquez; Volponi, Richard Migliore; Free Of Love, Pat Day 4; Harrisand, Edgar Prado; Scorpion, Mark Guidry; E Dubai, Jerry Bailey; Point Given, Gary Stevens; Dollar Bill, Jorge Chavez; and Hadrian's Wall, Robbie Davis.
"He shipped in well," said Jim Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert. "He's got a good post, equal weights and a mile and a quarter. It's all in our favor."
Point Given was known earlier in the year to be a handful to train but he has mellowed out, according to Barnes.
"He's really getting used to it," Barnes said. "The photographers don't seem to bother him when he steps off the plane. When he steps off the plane, he always glances over and usually lets out a holler. This time, he just glanced over, walked off and right into the van. He's had his moments, but he's maturing now and he's a lot easier to be around. It's much easier to train him."
With a Preakness win under his belt, Point Given won the Belmont Stakes with authority to claim the lead in the 3-year-old division. He did not run again until the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth. Point Given was affected by an abscess in his left hind hoof and missed about three weeks of training leading up to the Haskell, a race he struggled to win by a half length.
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By TIM WILKIN
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- A Travers without Point Given is a field day for headline writers all over the country.
Travers is Pointless
What's the Point in running Travers?
Without The Big Red Train, the $1 million Midsummer Derby has about as much box office appeal as the New York Mets.
Without Point Given, the Travers is a snoozer.
The New York Racing Association does not have to wrestle with that nightmare. Point Given is here.
"A race like the Travers, the name itself makes the race,'' said Point Given's trainer, Bob Baffert. "People will show up no matter who is there. It's a big event, like the Kentucky Derby. Having Point Given there probably spices it up a little, maybe a lot.''
Baffert's right, to an extent, and his words certainly were gracious. But Point Given's presence in the Travers has had the track buzzing for a week. There hasn't been this much hype for one horse in this race since Easy Goer won it in 1989.
"He is definitely the marquee horse, and he deserves to be,'' said jockey Gary Stevens, who will ride Point Given in the Travers. "This is the best horse I have ever ridden. I think that, in 25 years, people will be talking about him in the same breath as Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Alydar.''
Point Given arrived on the grounds earlier this week and the paparazzi was all over him. Photographers clicked away at his every move.
A dozen news photographers and video camera operators greeted the mammoth animal when he deplaned Tuesday afternoon at Albany International Airport. He accommodated them, stopping and staring right into the lenses. Point Given allowed this to go on for about 15 seconds, then he was on his way to a van for his ride to destiny at Saratoga Race Course.
Another two dozen media greeted him upon his arrival in Saratoga. Cameras clicked and videotape rolled and Point Given posed.
"He knows he's the boss,'' Stevens said. "He is the one that is in charge, and he knows it.''
He's proved it all year on the track, storming through the 3-year-old division with breathtaking power and ease. A mediocre performance as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby was followed by dominating victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. He returned to the races in early August and showed that he can scrap, too, winning the Haskell Invitational by a hard-fought half-length.
He's become racing's latest superstar, Elvis in a bar shoe, Jordan with a jockey.
"He has a huge following,'' Baffert said. "At the hotel up here, a lot of people are talking about him. He really likes to ham it up when he walks through the paddock. People clap for him, and I think the horse enjoys it. People want to take his picture and he'll pose. People want to look at him, go to the barn and see him. I have never had a horse like that.''
He's an enormous specimen at 17 hands high, about two hands taller than the average thoroughbred. Baffert not long ago said Point Given reminded him of Shaquile O'Neal. You get the picture.
Point Given fought his way onto the scene last fall, when he closed late to finish second to Macho Uno in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He was the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, despite indulging his fondness for rearing up in the morning and trying to shed his exercise rider.
"He has always liked to play around,'' Baffert said. "He is very playful, but he is also so big. It's like swimming with Shamu in the pool. He is playful, but he also might hurt you.''
Friday morning, the big kid was back to his old tricks. He reared up five times on the way back to his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track, after a horse jogged past him on the horse path.
"He hasn't done that in awhile,'' Baffert said. "When he does that, he is doing really good.''
There's no question that he makes Saratoga Race Course the place to be in the twilight of summer. Last year, without a box office attraction to speak of, the Travers drew 54,116, a record for the event. NYRA officials won't make any predictions about today, but with Point Given in the race and gorgeous weather in the forecast, the record figures to be shattered.
"When you have a race of this magnitude, you want to have everybody here,'' said D. Wayne Lukas, who trains Travers runner Scorpion. "It's good for racing that he is here. You want the best horses to be here.''
Point Given is even money in the morning line, meaning he probably will be bet down to about 4-5 by the time the race is run at 5:45 p.m.
His win in the Haskell on Aug. 5 could well have been the best race of his life, even if the margin suggests otherwise. Point Given missed three weeks of training because of a problem with his left hind hoof, and wasn't in top condition for the race. It looked at the top of the stretch like he could be had, but he found another gear and held off Touch Tone. None of the horses who ran against him in the Haskell is in the Travers.
"He just gutted that one out,'' Baffert said. "He has a will to win, he wants to win. By winning that race, he showed signs of greatness. He was exhausted when he came back from that race, and he has never been that tired after a race before.''
Baffert shipped the colt back to California, where he recovered quickly. His workouts were crisp and here he is, ready for a new crop of challengers.
"I expect a big performance from him,'' Baffert said. "I know we're taking a big risk in bringing him back after a hard race, but good horses can overcome that. And he is a real good horse.''
Late this afternoon, we should know just how good.
"Like any other game, there are no guarantees in this game,'' said Nick Zito, who trains A P Valentine. "A pitcher doesn't always have his best stuff, and a boxer doesn't win every fight.''
That, in essence, is what this race comes down to. If Point Given is at his best, it's no contest. The others are chasing a dream.
''Every time I get on him he gives me a certain amount of confidence,'' Stevens said. "He gives me a feeling that there is no horse around that can beat him.''
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By Jennie Rees
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Jockey Gary Stevens gushed after Point Given won the Belmont Stakes by 12 1/4 lengths that the big red horse ultimately will be viewed as one of racing's alltime greats.
Big words, for sure. But the Hall of Fame rider was not backing off that contention on the eve of today's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, where heavily favored Point Given will face eight other 3-year-olds in the nationally televised 1 1/4 mile affair.
A hard-pressed, half-length victory over Touch Tone in Monmouth Park's $1.5 million Haskell three weeks ago in his first start since the Belmont hasn't dimmed Stevens' enthusiasm.
''I think 25 years from now he's going to be a horse people are going to talk about in the same breath as Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Alydar -- horses that stand out in their mind,'' Stevens said of the horse known as ''Big Red Train.''
The winner of three $1 million races this year, Point Given has all but clinched the 3-year-old championship and can further boost his chances for Horse of the Year in the Travers. Rival horsemen say Point Given has a good jump on greatness -- winning five of his past six Grade I appearances, his fifth-place showing in the Kentucky Derby the exception.
Still, they want to see more before bestowing him a prime place in the history books. Winning the Travers would be a nice next step, but they want to see him beat older horses this fall -- and next year as well.
''You know how I feel about throwing that word 'great' around,'' said trainer D. Wayne Lukas, whose Jim Dandy winner Scorpion is in the Travers. ''He's done enough to merit consideration for greatness. I don't think greatness comes in a six-month span, though. Greatness comes from a test of time.
''He stamps himself as a horse on the threshold of greatness, and he came very close to maybe really putting that in concrete if he'd won the Derby. . . . He's a major horse. He's good for the game right now. He's a horse people are starting to relate to, and that's important. Sometimes greatness is perceived rather than reality.''
And in that regard, Lukas said Point Given has ''a good press agent'' in trainer Bob Baffert.
Nine other horses won the Preakness and Belmont after losing the Derby, but that does not guarantee a place in racing's annals.
Native Dancer, Nashua and Damascus qualify for true greatness under anybody's criteria. Capot (1949) is scarcely remembered, though a champion and Horse of the Year. Hansel and Tabasco Cat -- the most recent two before Point Given -- lacked not only staying power but sire power. Both now are in Japan.
John Ward, trainer of Derby winner Monarchos, said Point Given has some work left.
''He ran well at 2, he's beaten most of the 3-year-olds,'' Ward said. ''But he probably will have to come back at 4 to secure the respect that's needed for a horse to be talked about for a long time.''
Indeed, Phil Johnson, the Hall of Fame trainer of Travers candidate Volponi, an allowance winner, says he believes the sidelined Monarchos is the better horse.
''Throw out the Preakness and the Belmont. Get 'em together again when they're both good, and then we'll see,'' Johnson said, adding, ''Now if I beat him, we'll know Monarchos is better.''
Baffert wants the year to culminate in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 27 at Belmont Park. Baffert and owner Prince Ahmed Salman say they plan to run Point Given next year as well.
Point Given has bucked one trend. Few non-Derby winners enjoy his level of popularity. A track-record crowd at Monmouth Park watched his victory in the Haskell three weeks ago. A Travers record is projected today.
Stevens says he has never had so many requests for interviews in regards to a horse -- and he has ridden three Derby winners: the filly Winning Colors, Silver Charm and Point Given's sire, Thunder Gulch.
''Why that is, after he was defeated in the Kentucky Derby, has to be his strong performances in the Preakness and Belmont,'' Stevens said. ''I think a lot of that is the combination that Bob Baffert is so accessible. Walking through the airport with Bob, I'd never seen anything like it. Everybody knows who he is, whether it's the white hair or what.
''There must have been 20 people who stopped to get autographs on the (flight) gate change in Pittsburgh.''
Trainer Nick Zito, a two-time Derby winner, calls Point Given the exception to needing the roses to captivate the guy on the street. Zito, who will try to win his first Travers with Rick Pitino's A P Valentine, calls Point Given ''tremendous'' but adds, ''This little horse is going to give him all he wants.''
Point Given has had a problematic left hind foot much of the year. In the Haskell and again today he will wear a bar shoe to protect an area where he suffered an abscess after the Belmont.
Baffert insists the foot has had no impact on the colt's performance, but it makes one wonder how spectacular he might be with no impediments.
''He's just a tough horse,'' Baffert said. ''Great horses overcome a lot of things, and he's one of them.''
Point Given's presence in the Travers was something of a surprise after Baffert shipped him back to California following the Haskell. That race left some people less than impressed, but not Baffert -- who said the colt was about 80 percent fit after not training for 24 days between the Belmont and Haskell, in large part because of the abscess.
''He just gutted it out on pure talent,'' Baffert said. ''That's when he showed us he's got a will to win. He could have easily lost that day. To me, he showed signs of greatness right there.''
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By ED SCHUYLER Jr.
Point Given reared up Friday, making trainer Bob Baffert believe the huge chestnut colt is ready for a big run in the Travers.
The Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner, favored to take the Travers at Saratoga on Saturday, was spooked when a horse jogged past him.
``He went into the rearing-up mode,'' Baffert said. ``He hasn't done that in a while. When he does that, you know he's on his game.''
Rearing up and unseating exercise riders is part of Point Given's makeup, something Baffert isn't worried about.
``Actually, he's a sweetheart of a horse,'' the trainer said. ``He's like a big kid. He's just being playful, but he's so big he can hurt you. It's like going swimming with Shamu in the pool.''
The colt's size and morning antics plus his tremendous talent have turned him into a star.
At Monmouth Park, a record crowd of 47,127 watched Point Given rally in the stretch for a half-length victory in the $1.5 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 5.
``I saw some people who were at Monmouth Park who came up here to see him run,'' Baffert said.
The Travers day attendance record of 54,116, set last year, is expected to be broken.
Point Given's only loss in five starts as a 3-year-old, a fifth as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, tarnished his image. But he polished it by winning the Preakness, romping in the Belmont and winning the Haskell.
``That's when he showed us he had the will to win, that he wanted to win,'' Baffert said of the Haskell performance.
The trainer also said the Haskell, the colt's first race in 57 days, helped get him ready for what he thinks will be a big effort in the Travers. Point Given missed training between the Belmont and the Haskell because of an abscess on his left hind foot. He wore a bar shoe in the Haskell and will wear one in the Travers.
Eight other 3-year-olds will contest the Grade 1, $1 million Travers over 1 1/4 miles.
They are E Dubai, winner of the Dwyer at Belmont Park; Scorpion, winner of Saratoga's Jim Dandy; A P Valentine, runner-up in both the Preakness and Belmont; Free Of Love, second in the Jim Dandy; Volponi, winner of an allowance race at Saratoga in his last start; French-bred Harrisand, making his first start on the dirt in his third race in this country; Dollar Bill, fourth in the Preakness and Belmont; and Hadrian's Wall, making his stakes debut.
Each starter will carry 126 pounds.
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By DAVID GRENING
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - He is owned by a prince, and Point Given proved Saturday that he is the king of the Thoroughbred world.
Before a crowd of 60,486 - the largest ever to witness the Travers Stakes - Point Given blew past E Dubai approaching the furlong marker and rolled to a 3 1/2-length victory. E Dubai, who dueled with Free of Love early, held second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Dollar Bill.
Completing the order of finish were A P Valentine, Free of Love, Scorpion, Volponi, Hadrian's Wall, and Harrisand.
The victory in the $1 million race enabled Point Given to duplicate the feat of his sire, Thunder Gulch, who won this race in 1995. Like his father, Point Given was a 3-5 favorite. He returned $3.30 to win.
Point Given is owned by Prince Ahmed Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation. Salman dedicated the win to his brother, Prince Fahd Salman, who died suddenly last month.
"I wanted to win this race and dedicate it to him," said Salman, a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. "I'm sure he's watching in heaven. This is the best race I ever won."
It was the fourth consecutive victory for Point Given, who added the Travers to a resume that includes the Preakness, Belmont and Haskell Invitational.
"I know he's definitely the best horse I've ever been around," said trainer Bob Baffert, who won his first Travers. "He just shows us more every time he runs."
Point Given looked like a winner every jump. After a breaking a step slowly and a little sideways, Point Given settled into stride entering the first turn and raced three wide outside of A P Valentine and Scorpion, but within striking distance of Free of Love and E Dubai.
With a relatively soft pace of 23.73 seconds and 47.70, Point Given moved into third position down the backside while E Dubai and Free of Love continued to battle. E Dubai put away Free of Love around the turn, and Point Given challenged E Dubai at the quarter pole.
Turning for home, Stevens went to work on Point Given and after Point Given lugged in a step he straightened away nicely and drew clear. He covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.40.
"Jerry [Bailey] took a look behind and did a double take," Stevens said of E Dubai's rider. "'Yup, I'm here already.' "
E Dubai, who had not raced since winning the Dwyer on July 8, did well to hold second in his first attempt at 1 1/4 miles.
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By SHERRY ROSS
Point Given powered through the stretch yesterday to put an emphatic point on his dominance with a 3 1/4-length win over E Dubai in the $1 million Travers.
Just 20 days after one of the most exhausting races of his life in the Haskell, Point Given looked like a champion from paddock to post to finish line before a record Travers Day crowd of 60,486.
Point Given had only a few anxious moments before the race, and needed to be jogged around by one of the outriders before being loaded into post position seven, the first of the nine runners to enter the starting gate. The big chestnut broke a half-step slow and a bit sideways, but that was the only fraction of a second where anyone had a chance to even think of beating him.
Jockey Gary Stevens tracked Free of Love and then E Dubai three-wide, and as the field headed around the final turn in the mile and a quarter race, Point Given was moving with ease and closer to the pace than usual.
"He was traveling very, very relaxed down the backside just off of E Dubai's hip," Stevens said. "I saw Jerry (Bailey, on E Dubai) look back and take a peek at the half-mile pole, and he kind of did a double-take. I wanted to say, 'Yep, I'm here already.'"
E Dubai had little left with which to challenge Point Given, and that created a minor concern for Stevens.
"My horse has a tendency to fool around a little bit when he gets in front, and I thought Jerry had more horse left than what he did," Stevens said. "I was hoping he would take me further. Soon as I made the lead, he was a little late switching leads. I had to kind of throw him over onto his right lead. Once he did, the accleration was there once again and he opened up a nice lead at that point."
If there was a weakness in his game, a chink in Point Given's armor, it could not be found on this postcard-perfect summer day. Point Given was seen as vulnerable because he didn't overpower the field to win the Aug. 5 Haskell at Monmouth Park, and because he has been running (and raced yesterday) in a light bar shoe to protect a healing abscess on his left hind foot.
But Point Given trained up a storm after returning to Del Mar following his tough win in the Haskell, and the crowd sent him away as the 3-5 favorite. He became the first favorite to win this race since his sire, Thunder Gulch, won in 1995. Stevens also rode Thunder Gulch.
"He showed me the height of his greatness in the Haskell," Baffert said in the days leading up to the Travers. "The Haskell is perhaps his best race. He had to overcome a lot in that race. He showed a lot of heart and determination. He has also never been that tired (after a race) in his life."
Baffert and the colt's connections — owner/breeder Prince Ahmed bin Salman and racing manager Richard Mulhall — waited until the weekend before the Travers to make a final decision on whether or not to send Point Given to Saratoga. The fact that they did showed their supreme confidence in Point Given, since he had little to gain from trying the Travers. As the winner of five Grade I stakes this year, Point Given already has a stranglehold on the 3-year-old title and probably Horse of the Year as well.
But Point Given came, and conquered, and provided the prince with an emotional victory.
"This is best race I ever won in my life," said Salman, whose brother passed away last month. "I wanted to win this race to dedicate it to him. I'm sure he's watching it in heaven."
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By Jennie Rees
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Saratoga Race Course was jammed yesterday with a crowd of 60,486, the track's most ever for an afternoon that didn't feature a giveaway.
They didn't come for T-shirts, umbrellas, ballcaps or beer steins, but for a far better reason: to see a great horse. And Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Point Given delivered, pulling off in the final eighth-mile to a 3 1/2 -length victory over E Dubai in the $1 million, Grade I Travers Stakes.
''I felt we were in total control throughout the race,'' said winning jockey Gary Stevens, who also took the 1995 Travers on Point Given's sire, Thunder Gulch. ''No scares. No feelings of not being able to get the job done. He just gave me an overwhelming amount of confidence from the time we left the gate.''
Point Given, who finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby in his only defeat in seven starts this year, went off yesterday at just over 3-5 odds and became the first favorite to win the Travers since Thunder Gulch. His camp felt as if it had won another Triple Crown race after notching Saratoga's classic known as the MidSummer Derby.
''To ride a horse of Point Given's stature in this race and have him go out and perform like he did today -- feeling like he could have won by 10 lengths -- it's a great, great feeling,'' said Stevens, whose colt covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.40.
''For me, it's big,'' said trainer Bob Baffert, who won his Travers debut three weeks after the colt won Monmouth Park's $1.5 million Haskell Invitational. ''The Travers, I've always read and heard about it. It's a great race. Especially to come off the Triple Crown road and still have a horse who doesn't show you (wear and tear). It shows you how tough and durable this horse is. He keeps amazing me. Tomorrow I could probably put him in the gate again and he could run the same race.''
Both Stevens, a three-time Derby winner, and two-time champ Baffert call Point Given the best horse they've been associated with.
''He just shows us more every time he runs,'' Baffert said. ''He's still immature, a big baby. He'll be a much better horse next year.''
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by Blood-Horse Staff
The horse nicknamed "The Big Red Train" rolled through Saratoga Saturday, solidifying his chances at a championship season with his fourth straight grade I victory in the $1-million Travers Stakes (gr. I). The Thoroughbred Corp.'s Point Given earned a 3 1/2-length win in the 1 1/4-mile "Mid-Summer Derby" to help make amends for his only blemish on the season, a fifth-place finish as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I).
Since the Derby, the strapping chestnut son of Thunder Gulch has made stops at Pimlico, Belmont Park and Monmouth Park, picking up grade I wins in the Preakness, Belmont Stakes and Haskell Invitational, respectively. Prior to the Derby, the Bob Baffert trainee earned his first grade I win of the season in the Santa Anita Derby after making a victorious 3-year-old debut in the San Felipe (gr. II).
In the Travers, Point Given raced wide around the first turn while just off the pace set by Free of Love. He continued to race wide along the backstretch, ranged up to new leader E Dubai on the second turn under no urging from jockey Gary Stevens, and then went by that one in the stretch en route to the win. Point Given stopped the timer in 2:01.40 on a fast track.
"I still don't think you've seen the best of him," Stevens said. "I was very confident coming into this race. I knew he would be better than he was last time."
"I think he's the best horse I've been around," Baffert said. "He knows he's a great horse. He's cool."
E Dubai held off third-place Dollar Bill for second. A P Valentine, Free of Love, Scorpion, Volponi, Hadrian's Wall, and Harrisand completed the order of finish.
The odds-on favorite, Point Given returned $3.30, $2.80, and $2.30. E Dubai paid $4.10 and $3.40. Dollar Bill returned $3.60. The winning exacta combination paid $12.20.
The $600,000 winner's share of the purse boosts Point Given's career earnings to just under $4 million on a career record of nine wins and three seconds in 13 starts. When he returned to the winner's circle, he was cheered and applauded by the Travers day reord crowd of 60,486.
"It's a pleasure to watch this horse," Baffert said. "He's got a following."
In his most recent start prior to Saturday, Point Given won the $1.5 million Haskell Invitational Handicap on Aug. 5 before a record Monmouth Park crowd of more than 47,000.
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By TIM WILKIN
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- They came in planes, trains and automobiles. From north and south, east and west.
As summer slowly begins its fade into fall, Saratoga Race Course offered up a superstar Saturday afternoon in the 132nd running of the $1 million Travers.
His name is Point Given, and he is the best horse in the country. End of story. There is no other horse right now who has the charismatic pull of horse fans. He proved that yet again at the Spa, luring a record Travers Day crowd of 60,486. The old record was 54,116, set last year.
And Point Given did not disappoint his adoring audience. The colt, nicknamed The Big Red Train, hardly broke a sweat, winning the 1 /4 -mile race by 3 1/2 lengths.
He paid $3.30, $2.80, and $2.30.
It appeared as though Point Given could have won by more. Jockey Gary Stevens and the colt passed the wire in 2:01 /5, which ties for the sixth-fastest time in race history.
"When you are a kid growing up and hoping to be a jockey, you dream of riding a Secretariat or an Affirmed,'' Stevens said outside the jockey's room 45 minutes after the race. "You remember hearing stories of the great horses like Seabiscuit or Whirlaway. Well, this is my Secretariat. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but this is by far the best horse I have ever rode. By far. Winning a race like this is what I live for.''
Point Given came into the Midsummer Derby as the advertised star, and was sent off at 3-5 odds. There were only a few anxious moments, and they came before the race started. The son of 1995 Travers winner Thunder Gulch (the previous favorite to win the race before Saturday) balked at going into the starting gate.
Point Given, the winner of the Preakness, Belmont and Haskell, then stumbled a bit coming out of the gate. Then he went sideways.
Finally, he righted himself and went to work.
"He got off a half-stride slow,'' Stevens said. "But from the second, third stride, he was nothing but power. I was never scared and never had any feelings of not being able to get the job done. He gave me an overwhelming feeling of confidence.''
Point Given settled right in in the early stages of the race, allowing pace setter Free of Love to lead the way. All the while, Stevens had his eyes trained on the real speed of the race, E Dubai.
Jockey Jerry Bailey asked E Dubai for a burst approaching the mile, and Stevens responded.
Point Given was just loping along, getting closer by the stride, even though he never was far out of it. He was third for most of the race before taking off.
"Jerry looked over at me at the half-mile pole and he didn't even know I was there,'' Stevens said. "He could feel someone breathing on him up on his hip and he was going along very relaxed. When he looked over and saw who it was who was clocking him, he kind of did a double-take. He urged E Dubai to pick up the pace, which he did, and he peaked over again at the three-eighths pole and I was a little bit closer and Jerry probably had the same feeling he had during the Preakness.''
On that day, Bailey was riding Congaree and was swallowed up by the Big Red Train.
"Maybe he was hearing the 'Jaws' music,'' trainer Bob Baffert said.
The two horses were side by side at the eighth pole. E Dubai, the second choice at 4-1, was on the inside and Point Given, who towered over his rival, was on the outside. Inside the eighth pole, Point Given began to edge away. Game over. No one was catching him.
Stevens tapped him a couple of times in the stretch to keep the colt's mind on his work.
"I think he could have won by 10 lengths,'' Stevens said.
Point Given has won six of seven starts this year, the lone loss being in the Kentucky Derby. He has the 3-year-old championship locked up. He may already be the Horse of the Year, but the Fall Championship Series and Breeders' Cup, both at Belmont, are looming.
"I wouldn't trade him for any other horse, but it's not my place to talk about (awards),'' Baffert said. "All I know is that he is the best horse I have ever been around.''
E Dubai held on for second and was followed home by Dollar Bill, A P Valentine, Free Of Love, Scorpion, Volponi, Hadrian's Wall and Harrisand.
The connections of the horses Point Given conquered were respectful and gracious afterward, but were not ready to crown him one of the greats. Not yet.
"He still has a lot to do before you say he is a Secretariat or a John Henry or a horse like that,'' said jockey Mark Guidry, who rode Scorpion. "But he is definitely on the right trail. He does what he has to do. You don't see any wasted movement.''
Said D. Wayne Lukas, who trained Scorpion and, earlier, Thunder Gulch: "Point Given was by far the best horse today. I think he is a bigger and more powerful horse than Thunder Gulch, but Thunder Gulch had a similar career.''
"He is a monster horse, very impressive,'' said Jorge Chavez, who rode Dollar Bill. "He is just so big.''
Point Given walked up the track following the race to applause from the Spa crowd. He looked back to the people and seemed to nod to them. He will be in town until Monday morning, then it's back on a plane to California.
Baffert won in his Travers debut. He planned to celebrate by attending the Crosby, Stills and Nash concert Saturday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Stephen Stills sat with Baffert for most of the afternoon Saturday.
"This is a big deal for me, winning this race,'' Baffert said. "I have always heard about it and always read about it. He ran his race today and did it with ease. I could probably put him back in a race tomorrow and he could win again. He was that good.''
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By Steve Campbell
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- He is part beast, part machine, part man, part man-eater, part diva, with a head start on graduating to living legend.
He is Point Given, and he has squeezed a lot of large living into three years. If you doubt that one thoroughbred could be so many things to so many people, then you haven't been paying attention.
Where have you been, anyway?
There was Point Given on Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, prancing and preening for 60,486 to see. The Big Red Train made like a great white shark at the 132nd Travers Stakes, swallowing the field whole. Don't be fooled by the modest 3 1/2 -length margin of victory over E Dubai. The largest crowd in Travers history wasn't, serenading Point Given with a standing ovation after his 1 1/4 -mile trip.
Point Given and jockey Gary Stevens had the dramatic flair at least to make it look like a two-horse race for a while. As Point Given pulled closer and closer to the lead around the final turn, front-running E Dubai shrank before everyone's eyes. E Dubai gamely tried to hold on to the lead, but he looked like a Shetland pony next to Point Given.
E Dubai is hardly alone.
"He just overpowers these horses,'' said Point Given's trainer Bob Baffert. "He's so huge, he gallops by them and runs them into the ground. When they're running, they look over and he's just cruising. It just jerks the heart of out these horses.''
Stevens, Hall of Famer that he is, didn't have much trouble figuring out what was on the mind of E Dubai jockey Jerry Bailey. At the half-mile pole, Stevens noticed Bailey sneaking a peek to see who had started breathing behind E Dubai's neck.
Bailey sneaked another peek at the 1/8 -mile pole. Point Given was even closer.
"I think Jerry had the same feeling he had in the Preakness when he was on Congaree,'' Stevens said. In that race, Point Given blew past Congaree and A P Valentine and everyone else to win by 2 /2 lengths.
"You think (Bailey) heard that 'Jaws' music?'' Baffert wondered aloud.
Pretty much.
"I figured I would have the lead coming off the turn, but I didn't think Point Given would be alongside my hip at that point,'' Bailey said. "We gave him a good battle, but he's an awesome horse.''
Point Given has run seven races this year and won six. He followed up his Preakness victory with a 12 /4 -length landslide at Belmont. He won the $1.5 million Haskell, now the $1 million Midsummer Derby. The only blemish on Point Given's record is a fifth-place finish at the Kentucky Derby. Running as the favorite, Point Given never got comfortable on a concrete-fast Churchill Downs track.
"He's the man,'' said Dallas Stewart, trainer of third-place finisher Dollar Bill. $600,000 first-place Travers check pushed Point Given's career earnings to just under $4 million. Just three weeks earlier, Point Given was set up to fail at the Haskell and won anyway. Point Given had missed three weeks of training because of a cracked left hind hoof. Running with a thin bar shoe, having been shipped all the way from California, Point Given looked beatable heading into the stretch. He found a way to beat Touch Tone by a half length, flew back to California, then made yet another cross-country flight for the Travers.
"He can overcome a lot of things,'' Baffert said. "He overcame the Haskell. I could have never done it with any other horse I've ever had. He's just an amazing animal.''
Point Given was so ornery in his younger days, his nickname around the stable was T-Rex. On the way to the Travers starting gate, Point Given decided to pull a Garbo. His handlers pulled him away from the other horses and put him in the gate alone.
"He's immature and still a big baby,'' Baffert said.
He's an even bigger star. In the estimation of Stevens, the day will come when Point Given gets mentioned in the same breath with a Seattle Slew or an Affirmed.
"I've never seen anything like him,'' Baffert said. "(Today) I could probably put him in the gate again, and he'd run the same race. That's how tough he is. He just does things so much easier than the horses that I've had in the past.''
Remember, Baffert won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 1997 with Silver Charm. Baffert won the Derby and the Preakness again the next year with Real Quiet. In every way that Baffert can think of, Point Given dwarfs his competition.
"It's just like giving the ball to Michael Jordan in the last five seconds,'' Baffert said. "At the sixteenth pole I started straightening my tie.''
He is part beast, part machine, part man, part man-eater, part diva. He is Point Given, and he is fast working his way up to living legend.
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