$294,500 Travers Stakes at Saratoga : Ogygian Skips Race; Wise Times Wins in Mud

A sloppy track was enough to keep Ogygian away from the $294,500 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Saturday, but the surface once again proved to the liking of Wise Times.

With his task made easier by Ogygian’s absence, Wise Times rallied in the final strides to defeat Broad Brush by a head and make the 117th Travers his second off-track victory in three weeks. He won the July 26 Haskell over an off track at Monmouth Park, beating Personal Best and Danzig Connection.

Those two took second and third, respectively, in the Travers when Broad Brush, ridden by Angel Cordero Jr., was disqualified and placed fourth for interfering with Personal Flag in the stretch.

“Now, maybe people will realize that maybe the Haskell wasn’t a fluke,” jockey Jerry Bailey said. “I don’t think the mud makes him run any better but I think the others might like it less than he does. But he runs his race either way.”

Phil Gleaves, the trainer of Wise Times and a former assistant to Woody Stephens, said his horse “loves the mud.”

“I was very concerned when I saw the half in 48 2/5; in fact, I was panicking,” Gleaves said. “I was screaming and I was hoping he would get up” at the end.

Wise Times, rallying down the middle of the track, came to the front as the leaders stalled in the last quarter-mile. After reaching the mile in 1:37, the final quarter was negotiated in a leisurely 26 2/5 as the heavy going took its toll.

Danzig Connection, who represented Stephens’ seventh attempt at a Travers victory and was the betting favorite after Ogygian was scratched, finished 1 lengths behind Broad Brush and a head in front of Personal Flag.

Wise Times, who was timed in 2:03 2/5, paid $13.60, $5 and $4. Danzig Connection, the Belmont Stakes winner ridden by Eddie Maple, returned $3.20 and $2.60, while Personal Flag paid $3.20 to his backers in the crowd of 43,601.

Moment Of Hope set the pace for the first three-quarters of a mile before Danzig Connection, who had been stalking him, took over with about one-quarter of a mile to go. At the time, Wise Times was fifth in the field of seven.

With less than an eighth of a mile to go, Broad Brush moved in front of Danzig Connection, only to be overtaken by the late-charging Wise Times.

During the run to the wire, Broad Brush bore out, hindering Personal Flag, who was also making a late move.

“I thought Broad Brush ran one heck of a race,” Cordero, the leading rider at Saratoga for the 10th straight year, said. “He did everything well. I’m really upset about the disqualification.”