SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Bob Baffert got his Travers Stakes winners circle celebration — just a year later than expected.
Arrogate and jockey Mike Smith made sure Baffert didn’t have to wait long once the gates opened.
The horse set a track record of 1 minute, 59.36 seconds in a runaway Travers victory, leaving American Freedom — another Baffert-trained horse — and Gun Runner behind him.
“We were supposed to do this last year!” the trainer joked, referring to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s upset loss to Keen Ice in the 2015 Travers. “I don’t know what happened!”
What happened Saturday evening was simple: Arrogate was superb in the season's $1.25 million signature race in front of a crowd of 48,630 in Saratoga.
“We knew he liked the mile-and-a-quarter, but down the backside, they were going pretty fast,” Baffert said. “It’s good to come up here and [win].”
"Bob was very high on him," Smith told NBC after the race. "We headed for home and he picked it up when I asked him. Every other third stride, he would look and kind of halfway pull up, so I got after him just a little bit to keep his mind on the business. I was amazed how he lengthened his stride the last 16th of a mile and opened up."
Gift Box, trained by Mechanicville native Chad Brown, finished fourth. His other horses in the field were sixth-place Connect and eighth-place My Man Sam.
"I was feeling good midway down the backside but, boy, that was some performance," Brown said. "I don't know that I've ever seen a performance like that in any Travers. For Bob Baffert to run 1-2, he brought two well-prepared horses."
Time Warner Cable News will have full coverage later tonight.