Catholic Boy switches to dirt, wins Travers 2018 with ease

Whether running on turf or dirt, it doesn't seem to matter for Catholic Boy.

The colt switched surfaces with aplomb on Saturday to win the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes by four lengths and in the process become a top prospect for the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic.

A son of More Than Ready trained by Jonathan Thomas and ridden by Javier Castellano, Catholic Boy out-dueled Mendelssohn, who he pressed from the outside until pouncing in the stretch of the 1 1/4-mile race.

The colt's final time was 2:01.94.

"It just doesn't getting any better," said an emotional Thomas, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher who's proving his own barn's worth. "I'm just so proud of this horse."

Catholic Boy was off at 7-1 in a race where favorite Good Magic was forced wide into the first turn missed the board. Saratoga's called the Graveyard of Champions for a reason, after all. Behind the runner-up Mendelssohn were Bravazo and King Zachary, spoiling other story lines such as filly Wonder Gadot's run at history and Gronkowski's follow-up effort from a strong U.S. debut.

Mendelssohn set fractions of 23.30, 47.81 and 1:11.97, never getting too far from the eventual winner, who was also a last out victor of the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational on the grass.

"I can't put it into words," said Robert LaPenta, who campaigns the horse with Madaket Stables, Siena Farm and Twin Creeks Racing Stables. "This has been a lifetime dream for me, and to win it with a horse like Catholic Boy, I'm speechless."

Connections had tried Catholic Boy on the dirt before Saturday, as he impressively won Aqueduct's Grade 2 Remsen last November, was second in Tampa Bay Downs' Grade 3 Sam F. Davis and then finished fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. In the Florida Derby, however, Catholic Boy was said to have bled, preventing him from running his best race.

The Travers resulted in a new lifetime top for the colt, who's now 6-1-0 in eight career starts. It also marked a move forward for Mendelssohn, who flopped in the Kentucky Derby and ran third as the favorite last month in the Grade 3 Dwyer.

"This was a big improvement," said T.J. Comerford, trainer Aidan O'Brien's traveling lad. "Aidan planned on bringing him here, and he stuck to his guns. Aidan could have easily run him on the turf at home, but he stuck with it over here. It just shows he's coming back to his best. I'm sure he'll be back [in the United States] soon."

Behind King Zachary, Vino Rosso, Trigger Warning, Tenfold, Gronkowski, Good Magic and Wonder Gadot rounded out the finishing order. Meistermind, a Steve Asmussen-trained half-brother of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, was a race day scratch to leave a field of 10.