Guillot says Laoban might rate off the pace in Travers 2016
Holding court wherever he goes, trainer Eric Guillot was on the backside of the main track Thursday morning
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Holding court wherever he goes, trainer Eric Guillot was on the backside of the main track Thursday morning where he continued to express high confidence in Travers 2016 entrant Laoban. The son of Uncle Mo picked up his first win on July 30 in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy, the traditional Travers prep at Saratoga, by going wire-to-wire and beating Governor Malibu by 1 ¼ lengths at odds of 27-1.
"The last race was the first time he went :49 [seconds for the opening half-mile], wasn't it?" Guillot said.
Prior to the Jim Dandy, the slowest opening half-mile Laoban had seen was :47 flat.
While he appears to prefer running on the lead, Laoban might rate off the pace in the Travers, Guillot said, because he's a more relaxed horse having been stabled this summer at Saratoga. Laoban has made eight starts at eight different racetracks.
"The horse needs to run out of his stall," Guillot said, "because I'm able to school him numerous times. I schooled him Sunday. I schooled him yesterday during the races and I'll school him [Friday] during the races. When you fly in Wednesday on Tex Sutton and get there late at night . . . he's already not a good doer. You can't just go school Wednesday night when he gets there."
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After Grade 1 Travers contender Governor Malibu galloped 1 ¼ miles over the Oklahoma training track this morning, trainer Christophe Clement reported his Grade 2 Jim Dandy runner-up was in good condition and added he was looking forward to seeing how the 1 ¼-mile plays out on Saturday.
"He galloped out and looked well this morning," said Clement. "I have no issues with our post [No. 4]. Of course, with a field of this size you just know have to hope for a bit of racing luck. You just hope you get a clean trip and things work out."
With the big race now two days away, Clement added Governor Malibu would put in another gallop tomorrow morning.
Source: NYRA Communications