Travers: Magnitude has 'big opportunity' to shake up division

Just three years ago, Winchell Thoroughbreds and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen enjoyed a marquee victory with a strapping son of Not This Time as Epicenter romped to victory in the Grade 1 Travers. This year, the same connections have a chance to do it all over again with yet another son of Not This Time as Magnitude takes on the $1.25 million Travers on Saturday at Saratoga.  

“We’ve got a nice horse and a big opportunity,” said David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds. “He missed the Kentucky Derby, so this is kind of like his Derby. Hopefully, he can do what he does best, which is win with a big speed figure.”

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A big figure will be needed to topple the current division leader Sovereignty, the 2-5 morning-line favorite and dual Classic winner who earned a field-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form for a three-length score in the Belmont Stakes in June over the same course and distance.

The speedy Magnitude is not far behind in terms of career-best numbers, boasting a 108 Beyer for a 9 3/4-length trouncing of the Risen Star (G2) under Ben Curtis in February at Fair Grounds in wire-to-wire fashion. An ankle chip kept him off the road to the Kentucky Derby, which Sovereignty won by 1 1/2 lengths, but Magnitude returned with aplomb last out to post a similar pacesetting victory under Curtis in the Iowa Derby on July 5 at Prairie Meadows, which registered a 105 Beyer.

“We couldn’t be more excited for this. We’ve been waiting for months now,” Fiske said. “Ever since February when we won the Risen Star and then two days later, it was, ‘oh, time to cancel the Derby reservations.’ The way he came back in Iowa was pretty impressive, and he again got a big speed figure. It was always the plan that if he ran well in his comeback that we would show up for the Travers.”

Magnitude entered the Risen Star off a pair of even efforts at Fair Grounds, finishing second to Built in the Gun Runner and sixth in the Lecomte (G3). Despite going off at 43-1 in the Risen Star, Fiske said there was always confidence that the $450,000 purchase at the Keeneland September yearling sale could be brilliant in the afternoons.

“We always believed in this horse ever since the previous summer, and he’d kind of shown talent in the mornings, talent in the afternoons, and then for whatever reason, he didn’t show up a couple times,” Fiske said. “It was maybe a lack of maturity. Steve sends me videos every morning of the horses, and going into the Risen Star, Magnitude looked like King Kong.”

Fiske said Magnitude is not one-dimensional, but his natural speed makes him the likely pacesetter in the field of five on Saturday.

“I don’t think he’s necessarily a need-the-lead, pulling the rider out of the saddle kind of guy,” Fiske said. “He is very tractable, and I have seen him run alongside other horses, inside or outside, and that doesn’t seem to bother him at all. But in a smaller field, if there’s anybody that can keep up with him, good luck. It looks like there might be a couple that might try, but we’ll see.”

Magnitude will exit the inside post with Curtis in the irons, and Fiske said he welcomes the lofty challenge ahead.

“To be the champ, you have to beat the champ,” Fiske said. “Sovereignty is the leader in the clubhouse at the moment for the Eclipse Award, so we’ll see if we can shake up the balloting a little bit.”

Winchell Thoroughbreds also will have a chance to secure their second victory in the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego with Extra Anejo, who runs one race before the Travers in the prestigious seven-furlong sprint for older horses.

The Forego winner will receive a win-and-you’re-in berth to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Winchell Thoroughbreds captured the 2023 Forego with the Asmussen-trained Gunite en route to a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Extra Anejo enters from a 1 1/2-length third in the Hanshin traveling one mile on June 29 at Churchill Downs. There, he tracked in fifth of eight early and improved to be within a neck of the lead at the stretch call but weakened late as Will Take It claimed victory.

Fiske said he was pleased to see Extra Anejo rebound after a distant off-the-board finish in the Churchill Downs (G1) in May over seven furlongs of sloppy and sealed Churchill dirt.

“He always seems to show up, and I think his race in the mud was his worst race, but he runs well fresh,” Fiske said. “I think he just got a little late in the stretch the last sixteenth of a mile (in the Hanshin).”

Extra Anejo was awarded a 95 Beyer for the Hanshin effort, two points off his career best earned for a 1 1/2-length score with a deep-closing trip in the seven-furlong Commonwealth (G3) in April at Keeneland.

Fiske said the 5-year-old Into Mischief bay is in peak condition heading into the Forego.

“He’s doing great. He’s about as fit as I’ve seen him,” Fiske said. “We’ve been able to train him consistently, and he looks great. He’s an Into Mischief, so he’s a pretty big-bodied colt, but he’s fit.”

Extra Anejo, who also will be piloted by Curtis, drew post 5 of 11 in the Forego with a morning line assessment of 20-1.

Fiske also noted that three-time Grade 1-placed Disarm is on schedule for a start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) on Aug. 31 at Saratoga on the heels of a game third-place finish to Sierra Leone in the Whitney (G1) on Aug. 2. The 10-furlong Jockey Club Gold Cup offers a win-and-you’re-in berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.