Walter Wlodarczyk Photo

Another “Golden Ticket” opportunity for McPeek in G1 DraftKings Travers

by Christian Abdo

In 2012, trainer Kenny McPeek believed the 1-for-9 Golden Ticket was in good enough form to contest the historic Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course. It was a massive ask for just a maiden winner, but it proved to be the right call as the 33-1 longshot dead-heated for victory with the favored Alpha in a finish for the ages.

On Saturday, McPeek sends out filly Thorpedo Anna to take on males in the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers. While she does bring a multiple Grade 1-winning resume to the starting gate, the gutsy attempt and faith in a horse is reminiscent of the ambitious try with Golden Ticket over one decade ago.

“She might be the best horse that I’ve ever taken over there,” said McPeek. “If she beats Dornoch, Fierceness, and Sierra Leone… just walk her straight over to the Hall of Fame.”

Magic City Thoroughbred Partners’ Golden Ticket, a Speightstown dark bay out of the Deputy Minister mare Business Plan, didn’t have nearly the 6-for-7 record of Thorpedo Anna entering the Travers. He graduated in his sixth start when traveling 1 1/16 miles in an off-the-turf maiden special weight in February 2012 at Gulfstream Park.

He exited the elusive win to be narrowly defeated by subsequent multiple graded stakes-winner Prospective in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, which was followed by a fifth in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland and another runner-up finish in an optional-claimer in May at Churchill Downs.

McPeek said it was a slow start, but Golden Ticket was training forwardly into the “Mid-Summer Derby.”

“He was just a horse that took a while to come around,” McPeek said. “He ended up there through a series of events. We actually entered him in an a-other-than allowance race and it didn’t fill because we had rain. We opted to run him in the Travers because he was just doing so good.”

The 11-horse field featured Godolphin’s Grade 1-placed Alpha, a Kiaran McLaughlin pupil entering off an impressive win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy under eventual Hall of Famer Ramon Dominguez. Alpha was by 2006 Travers-winner and Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Bernardini.

McPeek saddled a much more intriguing option to the betting public than Golden Ticket in 8-1 Atigun, who was a two-length third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes won by Union Rags.

“I had two horses in the race. I had Atigun also, who was a shorter price than Golden Ticket, but Golden Ticket was just training super,” McPeek said.

Liaison carried a Grade 1 victory on his resume, with Nonios and Stealcase boasting top-level placings. Street Life and Five Sixteen, the local restricted Curlin one-two finishers, joined the fray, along with graded stakes-winner Neck ‘n Neck, and the graded stakes placed duo of Fast Falcon and Speightscity rounded out the field.

Piloted by David Cohen, Golden Ticket exited post 3 and settled into third position as the field was led into the first turn by fellow longshot Speightscity being stalked by Stealcase through an opening quarter-mile in 23.51 seconds on the fast main track. In the first turn, Alpha improved to third position outside of Golden Ticket, who saved ground along the rail as the half-mile elapsed in 48.06.

“I remember telling David Cohen, ‘You drew inside, stay inside, do not leave the rail,’” McPeek recalled. “‘If you leave the rail, you take his chance away. Stay on the rail the whole way and if you get there, you get there.’ He gave me a great ride.”

Alpha advanced down the backside to be nearly on even terms with the pacesetters entering the far turn, with Cohen sitting just off-the-pace along the fence through three-quarters in 1:12.62. Around the final turn, Alpha put away Speightscity and Stealcase from the three-path to take command, but not for long, as Golden Ticket surged through the narrowest of openings to cut the corner and shoot to the lead after one-mile in 1:37.25.

With a move similar to the McPeek-trained Mystik Dan’s deciding one in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, Golden Ticket sprung to a one-length advantage at the stretch call, but his day was not done. Dominguez kept finding aboard Alpha, gaining ground with every stride to the outside.

McLaughlin said he couldn’t believe the heart displayed by a seemingly beaten Alpha.

“He kept finding, Ramon rode him great, and he ran great,” said McLaughlin. “At first, I thought we got beat.”

With Alpha resurgent down the center of the course and Golden Ticket battling on the inside, the pair hit the wire in a finish too close to call. The crowd of 46,528 waited anxiously as “Win Photo” was posted, especially McPeek and McLaughlin.

“The funny thing about the finish is that Kiaran McLaughlin and I had known each other since we were young kids in Lexington,” McPeek explained. “So we walked down the steps together, and I said to Kiaran, ‘What did you think?’ He said, ‘I’m going to be upset if I ran second.’”

McLaughlin feared it was back-to-back Travers runner-up finishes as he saddled Rattlesnake Bridge to finish second in 2011. McPeek had also been second before with Repent in 2002.

“We stood and waited and waited. They posted me on top, the three, and then they posted dead-heat,” said McPeek. “We looked at each other and high-fived because we both won.”

“It was a big dead-heat, and a big win!” McLaughlin said, with a laugh. “It was a neat story because Kenny McPeek and I grew up together. It was good for it to be a dead-heat. They both ran so well, you’d hate to see one not get there.”

For a finish that could have easily been heartbreaking, both conditioners said it was a good result and a good friend to share the title with, along with the Spa’s infield pond that featured an unprecedented two canoes painted in the winners’ respective silks.

McPeek added that the Travers has been fairly good to him over the years.

“Repent was second for me. Fourth with Atigun. Had some other ones that ran well in it too,” McPeek said of his top finishers that also included a fourth with Wild and Wicked in 2003.

Fast forward to this year’s running, McPeek will need a little more Travers good fortune to see a filly win for the first time since Lady Rotha in 1915.

“Why not her? If it’s ever going to happen, it could happen with her,” McPeek said.

*

The Travers [Race 13, 6:10 p.m. Eastern] is one of five Grade 1s scheduled for Saturday’s lucrative 14-race program, which also features two Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers with the Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer presented by Resorts World Casino [Turf] in Race 9 and the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina [Filly and Mare Sprint] in Race 10; as well as the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego in Race 11 and the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial in Race 12. First post is 11:20 a.m., with gates opening to the public at 9 a.m.

An expanded edition of Saratoga Live will begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS2 with continuing coverage on FS1 at 1:30 p.m. FOX Saratoga Saturday will present live coverage of the DraftKings Travers Day stakes action plus analysis in a special broadcast on FOX beginning at 3 p.m. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.