What to watch for: Battle of Midway may race Saturday

Saturday marks a major day of racing, highlighted by the 2018 Travers Stakes and multiple other Grade 1 races on the Saratoga undercard. But it's not all we'll be watching. Check out these story lines to know:

Once retired, Breeders' Cup winner nears return

Battle of Midway ran a respectable third in the 2017 Kentucky Derby and capped the year off by winning the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The colt, only 3 at the time, retired early to WinStar Farm for a stud career but returned to Jerry Hollendorfer’s care after he was found subfertile.

Hollendorfer has been conditioning the horse on the West Coast, and Saturday’s Grade 2 Pat O’Brien is a possible spot for his return. It is also a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile expected to include breakout Grade 2 San Diego Handicap winner Catalina Cruiser.

Battle of Midway could face other Grade 1 winners Roy H and Ransom the Moon, as well as up-and-coming Grade 2 winner Catalina Cruiser. Entries have not been taken yet, but the Pat O’Brien could prove a tough spot considering it has been over nine months since the colt's last race.

The Harry F. Brubaker was another race Battle of Midway was nominated to, though it runs Wednesday at Del Mar. Entries include another former Kentucky Derby runner, Bob Baffert-trained Mubtaahij.

Filly Wonder Gadot takes on the boys

Wonder Gadot has continued to make headlines. She already beat boys twice in the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, and Saturday she will face males again in the Travers Stakes. While the Travers will feature tougher competition than the Canadian-breds she faced, Wonder Gadot looks to be at the top of her game right now.

The Mark Casse trainee will also try to change a lengthy history. The last filly to race in the Travers was Davona Dale in 1979, who ran fourth, and the last to win was Lady Rotha via disqualification in 1915. Only seven fillies have won the Travers since it first ran in 1864.

The Travers will mark the filly's 14th career start overall. Earlier this year, she ran a close second to division leader Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks. The Travers means taking on the likes of Good Magic and others looking to supplant retired Triple Crown winner Justify as the top 3-year-old male in training.

The Abel Tasman-Elate Saratoga rematch

Abel Tasman and Elate belong at the top of the older filly and mare division. The two have met twice, including a close call in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks last summer, and are up for a rematch in Saturday’s Grade 1 Personal Ensign at the same track.

The two fillies will represent East Coast versus West Coast, with Elate trained by Bill Mott and Abel Tasman shipping from Bob Baffert’s Southern California stable. The two last met in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar, with Abel Tasman finishing second and Elate fourth.

Abel Tasman had a disappointing start to her 4-year-old season. She returned to Churchill Downs one year after winning the Kentucky Oaks and ran fourth in the Grade 1 La Troienne. But she looked her old self in Belmont Stakes weekend as an impressive winner of the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps.

Mott waited longer with Elate to make her seasonal bow. There were questions of how fit she would be in July’s Grade 2 Delaware Handicap, but Elate silenced those questions with a sharp performance.

The two fillies get a Saratoga rematch Satuday, and both have Grade 1 wins at the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Personal Ensign. Abel Tasman is stretching out another eighth from her last race while Elate shortens up an eighth. Both had winning margins with plenty of room to spare, and if they run their A game, it will be a true test of which filly leads the division.

The Personal Ensign is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff, with Abel Tasman previously earning an automatic berth into the race from the Ogden Phipps.

Sadler’s Joy goes for major repeat win at Saratoga

On last year’s Travers undercard, Sadler’s Joy scored the biggest win of his career, rallying from last to capture the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational by half a length. After continuously putting in competitive performances against top turf horses on the East Coast, the Tom Albertrani trainee returns in the Sword Dancer this Saturday.

Sadler’s Joy has finished no worse than fourth during the past year and is taking the same path into the Sword Dancer as he did in 2017, hitting the board in the Grade 1 Man O’ War, the Grade 1 Manhattan and the Grade 2 Bowling Green. 

The Sword Dancer is 1 ½ miles, a distance he also won at in last year’s Grade 2 Pan American. The extra ground should be appreciated by this late runner and places him in position to close in on familiar rivals at the wire.

The Sword Dancer also awards the winner a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Turf run a 1 ½ miles, a race in which Sadler’s Joy finished fourth in last year.