Saratoga Spotlight: Wonder Gadot out to end Travers streak

The filly Wonder Gadot is going to try and do something in the Travers Stakes that has not happened in 103 years: beat the boys. Fillies have been victorious seven times in the 148 runnings of this historic race, but not since Lady Rotha did it in 1915.

Wonder Gadot is in the best form of her career having swept the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, but trainer Mark Casse is going to bypass the final race of the series. The Breeders’ Stakes is run at distance of a mile and a half on the grass on the famous E. P. Taylor turf course at Woodbine. However, Casse thinks the Travers is a better spot for his star filly.

Over the years, Casse has found tremendous success at Woodbine, where has won the Sovereign Award as Top Trainer six times, so the decision to skip a chance to win the Triple Crown there at the Toronto track was not easy.

“We kind of feel that turf is her least preferred surface and then going a mile and a half," he said. "A lot of times we use races to lead into other races, and I just didn’t see where that made any sense for us. It’s disappointing. I would have liked for her to try, and it would have been nice for Canada, but I think they will all be rooting for us here.”

Before the Triple Crown began, Wonder Gadot had had trouble finding the winner’s circle. She had strung together six finishes in second or third while racing against the best 3-year-old fillies in the country. As a result, Casse decided to make an equipment change and add blinkers.

Is that the reason for her recent success? “You know I think it’s a combination of the blinkers," Casse said. "I think it’s also the combination of the distance, the farther the better. So, it’s probably a combination of both, but right now she’s 2-for-2 with blinkers.”

As history has shown, it’s been a long time since a filly has won the Travers and this year’s large field with the likes of Good Magic, Hofburg, Vino Rosso, Tenfold, Catholic Boy and Gronkowski will provide a formidable challenge for Wonder Gadot.

“The 10 furlongs and five pounds helped make the decision,” Casse said of the break the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro will receive. “I’m not a big guy on weight, but going a mile and a quarter, it’s got to mean something.”