Good Magic 'didn't have that horsepower' in Travers 2018

Jockey Jose Ortiz expected Good Magic to use his natural gate speed to find the front early in Saturday's Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes. When the colt didn't, trainer Chad Brown knew his chances were dashed early.

"Given the way the track's playing, you've got to be very forwardly placed the last two days on both surfaces," Brown said. "I didn't feel good right away. We wanted him no worse than third early, that's his running style, and especially given the way the track bias has been. When he didn't get there, I didn't feel too good about it."

Off his win in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, the 7/5 Travers favorite found himself stuck wide early. Good Magic went on to finish ninth of 10, 15 1/2 lengths behind winner Catholic Boy. It was his first off-the-board finish in nine career starts.

Given the break, Ortiz said he attempted to get Good Magic up into third, still in the clear. That didn't work either, as rival horses pushed the son of Curlin out in the first turn.

"So I decided to take back and I fought for that position the whole way," Ortiz said. "I took back and he relaxed well, but when I asked him to run I don't think he enjoyed being back there.

"He likes to have a clean face; that's his 'A' game. I went on with him, but I didn't have much."

Good Magic entered Saturday not only the Travers favorite, but as a top choice in future wagering for the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. He's campaigned by e Five Racing and Stonestreet Stables, though connections haven't indicated what could be next.

Brown has said 1 1/4 miles is Good Magic's limit. He may prefer to go shorter than that but put in an inspiring run to finish second in the Kentucky Derby to Justify.

"Although he had a wide trip he was moving up a little bit," Brown said of the Travers. "I figured it wasn't impossible. If he really runs an incredible race today, he could maybe circle them and go.

"But Jose reported to me that at the half-mile pole he started to not feel good under him. He didn't have that horsepower under him, so to speak. He just didn't have it. He wasn't pulling him there at point, so he started to retreat some."

The upstate New York native Brown, who has said he'd like to win the Travers more than any other race, also sent postward Gronkowski as the second choice Saturday. The Belmont Stakes runner-up ran eighth in his second U.S. start.

"This kind of trip on this track today was just not conducive for him to run a good race," Brown said. "[Jockey] Joel [Rosario] said he was pulling a little bit and i could see that down inside, and he was trying to get him to switch off a little bit, and then once he did he sort of ran into a horse that was stopping a little bit and he was trying to get inside of him.

"He said he just never had a clear run and never felt he could make up any ground on the track today."