SARATOGA SPRINGS — In the spring, trainer Michael McCarthy had one of the top 3-year-olds in the country in Rombauer.
He won the Preakness. Then he finished third in the Belmont Stakes. McCarthy was hoping he would be in the Spa City with his flashy colt for a possible run in the Travers. McCarthy is in town, but Rombauer isn't.
McCarthy will run Ce Ce in the Grade I, $500,000 Ballerina on Travers day. The 5-year-old mare is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line behind the imposing Gamine, who is 3-5 after winning her three starts this year by a combined 16 1/2 lengths.
"Gamine is fast; she is incredibly fast," McCarthy said Thursday morning on the Oklahoma Training Track. "I can't worry about her. I have to worry about my filly. I am going to lead her over there knowing she is doing as well as she can possibly be. Crazy things happen here in Saratoga."
Before going out on his own in 2014, McCarthy spent 11 years as an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Ce Ce is bunking in Pletcher's barn while here.
She has won two of three starts this year, both at the Ballerina distance of seven furlongs. In her latest start, the daughter of Elusive Quality won the Grade II Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park on July 3 by 3 1/4 lengths. Overall, she has six wins in 13 career starts.
She will be ridden by Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza, who will be making his first Saratoga appearance since he rode Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to a second-place finish in the 2015 Travers.
As for Rombauer, he is at Peacefield Equine Rehab Farm in Temecula, Calif. McCarthy hopes to have him back in 60 days. He is not injured, just getting some time off.
"I didn't think he was as sharp as he was at Preakness and Belmont time," McCarthy said. "The horse has had a fairly steady campaign. As you know, picking up and traveling can take a little bit out of you. It was a big ask for a young horse. In his eight (career) races, he had been to six different tracks."
McCarthy is hopeful for a 2022 campaign and said races like the Pegasus World Cup (a race he won in 2019 with City of Light) and the Saudi World Cup could be on his radar.
"I just want to get him back and get him going and let him navigate where we are going," McCarthy said.
McPeek doesn't like the odds
The horse with the longest odds in Saturday's Travers is King Fury, who was assigned 15-1.
Trainer Kenny McPeek was a little surprised when he saw that. King Fury finished second in the Ohio Derby on June 26, getting beat by a half-length by Masqueparade. He was a nose in front of Keepmeinmind. Both those horses are in the Midsummer Derby.
"We split those two and we really thought we could make a case that he should have won that day," McPeek said. "He got shuffled back in the second turn and had to rally and still almost won the race. He's a good colt and he's going to make his presence felt."
In his Travers prep, King Fury was 10th in the Grade I Saratoga Derby on the grass.
McPeek wanted to run the son of Curlin in the Jim Dandy here on July 31, but the horse, like all of McPeek's, were under quarantine because of a case of equine herpesvirus in the barn.
"I'm not a gambler. The price is the price," McPeek said about the Travers odds. "When Golden Ticket won (the 2012 Travers at 33-1 in a dead heat with Alpha), nobody paid attention. When Sarava won (the Belmont in 2002 at 70-1), nobody was paying attention. Maybe that's better. No pressure."
The Riskaverse
A day after winning five races, Mechanicville's Chad Brown stayed hot as he got three more horses to the winner's circle on Thursday. The trainer's third victory came in the $120,000 Riskaverse for 3-year-old fillies on the inner turf.
Rastafara, making her first start against winners, won the race by 1 1/2 lengths for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
"It's a morale booster for the barn and gives you confidence moving forward," Brown said of the eight wins over two days. "Any time you are on a winning streak, it just seems to be contagious throughout the barn. Hopefully, we can keep it going and end the meet strong."
Brown has moved into first place in the trainers' standings as he now has 30 winners, six more than Mike Maker.
Rastafara, owned by Peter Brant, paid $6.20, $3.80 and $3.10 and ran the distance in 1:35.53 over the firm course.
The horse did not run as a 2-year-old.
"This was a filly we always thought a lot of," Brown said. "Unfortunately, she had some minor issues at 2 and Mr. Brant was so patient with her."
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