Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Summer Bird was sent off as the second favorite in the 140^th running of the Grade 1 Shadwell Travers and he didn’t disappoint as he took over at the mile mark in the mile-and-a-quarter race and then went on to win by three-and-a-half lengths in a time of 2:02.85 over a sloppy main track.

Summer Bird who has been referred to as “the other bird,” proved he may be “the best bird” after winning two of the four premier races for three-year-olds in the United States. He also won the Belmont Stakes on June 9 at Belmont Park in New York. He was coming into the Travers off a second-place finish to Rachel Alexandra on Aug. 2 in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Rachel Alexandra’s connections opted not to run her in the Travers, but to take on older males in the Woodward on Sept. 5 at Saratoga. Rachel Alexandra also beat the boys in the Preakness on May 16 at Pimlico in Baltimore, Md.

Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner, did not run in the Travers because his trainer and owners were concerned about a recent throat surgery the colt had. They erred on the side of caution.

Our Edge was the first one out of the gate in the $1 million race and he quickly was pursued by Kensei who was into the bit and prompted the pace through fractions of 23.19, 46.86 and 1:11.12 for six furlongs.

“It was a funny thing.  (Kensei) was in a good spot.  He got along beautiful.  When I asked him for a little more, he responded nicely.  I was very happy most of the way.  I didn’t want to get out in front there, but the other horses kind of died in front of me, so I inherited the lead nice and easy without even asking my horse.  The winner (No. 6 Summer Bird) was next to me, so I wanted to go together to the finish line, but it didn’t work out. When I asked him to go, I thought he would have a bigger kick.  I’m kind of disappointed,” jockey Edgar Prado said.

Prado was scrubbing on Kensei around the turn as Summer Bird loomed large. Jockey Kent Desormeaux was happy with his trip at the time.

“In the starting gate I thought I’d be sitting second-to-last. But Tim (trainer Ice) has such confidence in me, I was able to just take it as it comes. He left the gate, wanting to run. Within 200 yards I was camped out behind the leaders, galloping along. I saw an opportunity to clean him up, get him to the outside. From there, he actually tried to make the lead, he wanted to run. I spent the next half-mile, three-quarters, slowing him down, causing him to wait,” Desormeaux said.

When Summer Bird and Desormeaux made their move, no one went with them.

As Tim and I know about the colt, he’s not sitting on a burst of speed but he can gallop them into the ground so I got to the point ‘Let’s stretch them out from here, let them keep up with me.’ With that being said, I got to my breaking point, which was the five-sixteenths, and let him go. He took off, full of run. Thank goodness for the Jumbotron, I was never nervous because I could see the field was well behind me,” Desormeaux said.

Hold Me Back tried to challenge late but he was passing tired horses. He finished a length and a half in front of Quality Road. Charitable Man was fourth.

John Velazquez was aboard Quality Road, who was sent off as the favorite. He said the troubles with Quality Road started early.

 ”He bumped me off going into the gate. He didn’t break very good. There was nothing I could do, but he came back and got himself back into the race. He handled it pretty well. There was no room for me to go around the far turn. I had to wait for some running room. Once we got some room, he was starting to run again,” Velazquez said.

Trainer Tim Ice saw two reason for the improvement of Summer Bird.

“I think the rider change helped a bunch, and the blinkers helped (blinkers were added before the Belmont Stakes). The more races he runs, I think he’s going to get better. For this race, he was already a proven Grade 1 winner. It was just a matter of getting the right trip and the way he handled the track. Winning this race means as much as winning the Belmont. I can’t say that I feel better about either one. For my colt to win the Belmont and come back and win the Travers, like his sire, Birdstone, and be the 30th horse to come out of the Belmont and win the Travers means a lot.”

Birdstone won the Travers in 2004, the same year he upset Smarty Jones’ bid for a Triple Crown when he won the Belmont Stakes. Summer Bird also is the grandson of Grindstone, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1996.

The winner returned $7.80, $4.30 and $2.70. The on-track attendance was 34,221, which was down 6,500 from 2008 when the weather was sunny and dry.