Morning Report: Asmussen, Ortiz and Handal talk Travers day

HRN Staff
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Horse Racing Nation's Andrew Capone will be hitting the backside all summer to talk to connections at Saratoga.

In this Travers (G1) day report, he talks to jockey José Ortiz as well as trainers Steve Asmussen and Ray Handal.

Asmussen highlights what he learned about Epicenter in his Jim Dandy (G2) victory last month and discusses the kind of trip he wants his 3-year-old star to get in the Travers.

Ortiz recounts his road into becoming a professional jockey. He looks back to the the race that made him realize he could be a top-level jockey, and talks about what it is like being married to a former jockey from a racing family, Taylor Rice. Ortiz also discusses two of his major mounts on Saturday, Jack Christopher in the H. Allen Jerkens (G1) and Early Voting in the Travers.

Handal explains why he entered last-out Saratoga allowance winner Three Two Zone in the Forego (G1), and what it is like to enter a horse against a generational talent like Jackie's Warrior.

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