Giuseppe the Great remains on target for Travers

Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said Sunday morning that Mossarosa's Giuseppe the Great remains on target for Saratoga's marquee event for 3-year-olds, the Grade 1 Travers at 1¼ miles on August 26.

Giuseppe the Great worked for the first time on Thursday since finishing second to Good Samaritan in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 29 at Saratoga. The son of Lookin At Lucky breezed four furlongs over the Oklahoma training track in 49.87 seconds.

"He's doing great," Zito said. "We'll see what happens. The thing is that he at least has a race over the track. It was very good. No matter how you look at it, that was a gallant effort."

Since his maiden win at Keeneland in April, Giuseppe the Great has been tested and has shown improvement in three consecutive graded stakes races, finishing second to American Anthem in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens and fourth to Practical Joke in the Grade 3 Dwyer prior to his Jim Dandy effort.

"He always tries," Zito said. "The good thing about him is he fits, he belongs. He has developed into a nice horse. He's a wonderful horse. I love him. We're lucky."