Java Gold May Still Have Something to Prove : Trainers of Other 3-Year-Olds Want to Meet the Travers Winner on Fast Track

In 1978, the Alydar-Affirmed Travers Stakes left everybody with the taste of ashes in their mouths, and maybe a little worse. Affirmed won the race, beating Alydar as he had in all three of the Triple Crown races, but the stewards gave Alydar the win because of a foul, and Laz Barrera, who trained Affirmed, was so irked that in the heat of the decision he said he’d never run another horse at Saratoga again.

The latest Travers, which was run Saturday for a purse of $1.1 million, didn’t bring the letdown that Alydar and Affirmed did, but it was close.

Java Gold, a well-bred colt who made a sweeping move on the turn that resulted in a two-length victory, had every license to be a Travers champion. His record of never having been worse than fourth in 12 starts against top opposition helped make Java Gold the 3-1 second betting choice.

But because the Travers was run in the rain and on a saturated, sloppy track that made footing difficult for several of the contenders, Java Gold will still have to perform an encore before he can be considered the premier 3-year-old of the season.

Cautious handling by his trainer, Mack Miller, and a minor illness kept Java Gold out of the Triple Crown. As a result, he was a fresher horse than some of his well-traveled opponents, and more important than that, he was one horse in the Travers who figured to revel in the untoward going.

Even Miller is acknowledging that Java Gold has more to prove. “I wanted it to be a fast track Saturday,” the trainer said, “so that it would be a true test for all the horses. But when it rained, I knew my horse liked off going, and that it wouldn’t be equal for everyone running.”

The Travers was a freakish race in many respects. Temperate Sil and Gorky, the horses that were running 1-2 after six furlongs, wound up next to last and last in the nine-horse field. Java Gold and Cryptoclearance, who were ninth and eighth, respectively, after three-quarters of a mile, finished 1-2. And Alysheba, who had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and Bet Twice, who beat Alysheba in the Belmont Stakes and the Haskell Invitational, didn’t even hit the board, Bet Twice finishing fifth, 12 lengths behind Java Gold, and Alysheba running sixth, beaten by 20 lengths.

Alysheba hadn’t done as badly since he was fifth in the first race he ever ran, at Hollywood Park 13 months ago. Bet Twice had been worse than fourth only once in 14 races before the Travers.

“I think for Bet Twice and Alysheba, racing and training has caught up with them,” said Shug McGaughey, who trains Polish Navy, the third-place finisher in the Travers.

Maybe so. But mud seems to be a better explanation for their sudden ineptness. Bet Twice had never run on a off track, and was wearing special mud shoes for the first time. Alysheba’s trainer, Jack Van Berg, opted not to fit his colt with mud shoes. The son of Alydar had finished second in both of his only starts on off tracks, but he never acted like he wanted to run Saturday.

Chris McCarron, riding Alysheba, told Van Berg after the race that the horse was jumping up and down all around the track.

“I think this race should be thrown out,” McCarron said, “because it alters the performances of a lot of top horses and isn’t true. I still think Alysheba is the best colt in the country, even though I was surprised at his performance.”

These top 3-year-olds will definitely be battling for the divisional championship the rest of the year, and it looks as though they will be fighting for the horse of the year title as well. Only Broad Brush can be considered a horse of the year candidate from the handicap ranks right now, and the only other current contender in any other division is the grass specialist Manila.

The Travers runners apparently are headed in varied directions. Java Gold’s next race is to be the Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park on Sept. 20, with Cryptoclearance also a possibility. Another spot being considered for Cryptoclearance is the $1-million Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 27, where Alysheba and Temperate Sil could also be headed.

Polish Navy and Gulch are expected to run next in the Woodward Stakes at Belmont on Sept. 5. Plans for Fortunate Moment, the undefeated Illinois colt who ran seventh Saturday, are indefinite.

The future for Bet Twice might be the most unusual of all. Jimmy Croll, the colt’s trainer, is thinking of trying Bet Twice on the grass, and if he makes the adjustment, the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park on Nov. 21 could be on the calendar.