Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.
Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.
Just when you thought it was safe to assume this year's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships would be anything but vintage, up come more equines waiting to step onto a vacant Sport of Kings pedestal.
With the more-than-average attrition rate for this year-end trophy run, the weekend's action on the track proves there's always that next star waiting in the wings.
Saturday, historic Saratoga Race Course hosted its biggest day of the summer session in upstate New York. The highlight of the four stakes races on the card was the Travers Stakes. Known as the "Midsummer Derby," this centerpiece race of the season assembled a field of surviving sophomores from the glamour group in racing.
Earlier, the Hopeful Stakes featured the precocious youngsters while the Fourstardave drew the best turf milers and the King's Bishop gave top sophomore sprinters an added-money outlet.
While the intent for each graded stakes race was to attract the best of their conditions, the foursome of events at the Spa gave a Breeders' Cup feeling to the competition.
The most notable was the King's Bishop. Although the 7-furlong race gathers fleet-footed sophomores each year, this year the presence of Lost In The Fog made it a happening.
The son of Lost Soldier has been nothing but brilliant in all of his eight career starts, having won each by no less than a length while racking up almost seven lengths in average margin of victory. He had won at six tracks from coast to coast before his Saratoga visit.
Under regular rider Russell Baze, Lost In The Fog took his overmatched but ambitious competition on a gate-to-wire chase while reporting home by daylight -- again. Now 9-for-9 while yet to register a Beyer speed figure under 102, Lost In The Fog's only remaining challenge is to face and beat the best older sprinters in the world at the Breeders' Cup. He must be supplemented to the Breeders' Cup Sprint for that privilege.
The 136th Travers featured the return of Bellamy Road. The son of Concerto was last seen checking in seventh as the Kentucky Derby favorite on May 7. He suffered an injury in that Louisville cavalry charge that kept him sidelined until Saturday.
Although the 1 1/4-mile distance may have seemed a tall order coming off the bench, the alternative was facing Lost In The Fog in the King's Bishop. Although the race featured four Derby starters and a pair of Belmont Stakes runners, Bellamy Road was favorite to capture the $ 1 million race.
While Flower Alley collared Bellamy Road to take the Travers, giving Saratoga's leading pair of jockey John Velazquez and trainer Todd Pletcher their first Travers victory, Bellamy Road ran the better race in defeat.
He led a talented field of runners until deep in the home stretch before settling for second. The Nick Zito trainee should move forward from that experience as well as Flower Alley. After the defections of Ghostzapper, Roses In May and Afleet Alex, the Breeders' Cup Classic is in recovery.
The Hopeful is just what it implies -- a 7-furlong stakes race for 2-year-olds. This 101st edition featured a match between a pair of undefeated colts in Henny Hughes and First Samurai.
Although Henny Hughes posted a trio of lopsided victories, First Samurai so impressed jockey Jerry Bailey that he rode the son of Giant's Causeway to a victory at Saratoga on Aug. 7, before jumping a helicopter in time to ride Roman Ruler to victory in the $1 million Haskell Invitational on the same day in New Jersey.
First Samurai lived up to billing, as he soundly beat Henny Hughes and Too Much Bling to climb to the top of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile list.
Finally, the Fourstardave produced a clear-cut leader among American-based grass milers.
Trainer Bobby Frankel has Leroidesanimaux on track for the Breeders' Cup Mile. The Brazilian-bred son of Candy Stripes went gate-to-wire to win the 1 1/16-mile Fourstardave under jockey John Velaquez.
Leroidesanimaux ran his consecutive turf win streak to seven and lost only his American debut since coming stateside. While last year's Breeders' Cup Mile winner Singletary waits to defend, Leroidesanimaux is now considered the favorite for that event.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.
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