Laoban looks for his Second Victory in the Travers

Maiden-cum-Grade 2 Jim Dandy winner Laoban earned the bullet for his five-furlong breeze on Saratoga's main track early Saturday morning as the colt wrapped up his major preparations for the Grade 1 Travers under the watchful eye of trainer Eric Guillot.

"He worked like a beaver with an overactive thyroid trying to dam the mouth of the Mississippi," raved the Louisiana native. "That's how good that work was. It was incredible."

Stepping onto the track shortly after 6 a.m., Laoban and jockey Jose Ortiz broke away from his lead pony on the backstretch, well behind stablemate Blue Xanadu, as NYRA clockers timed the 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo in splits of :24 and :35 2/5. Laoban swept by his workmate, an unraced 2-year-old colt by Shackleford, as he turned down the stretch and tucked in along the rail to pass another worker just before the wire. As the fastest of 31 workers at the distance, Laoban hit the wire in 59.77 seconds.

Guillot said his stopwatch caught the colt galloping out six furlongs in 1:12 1/5 and seven in 1:25 1/5.

Source: NYRA Communications