Zito says Giuseppe the Great primed for Travers

Mossarosa's Giuseppe the Great is primed for next Saturday's Grade 1 Travers, according to Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito. The Lookin At Lucky colt worked four furlongs in 48.80 seconds over the Oklahoma training track labeled as fast on Friday morning in between raindrops thanks to some luck and planning by Zito.

"I was lucky; I was going to wait until tomorrow," said Zito. "I scheduled the work today or tomorrow with the weather, and there was a deluge at 6:30 and then all of a sudden it stops."

Zito said Friday's breeze reinforced his confidence in Giuseppe the Great, who finished second-place in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 29, to take the colt to the 148th Travers, a race he won in 2004 with Birdstone.

"It was great, he does everything," he said. "When they say 'professional,' that's all he wants to do. He just does what he has to do, and that's why he's so consistent. There are plenty of non-believers. I'm a believer in him. I'm not even hoping for hope, I'm pretty confident in what I've got because he runs good all the time, he tries all the time, and I tell you he really passed the test last time."