Who knows? A prep race for the Travers Stakes might be as noteworthy as the main event.
They give away neither the Grade 1 Midsummer Derby, which is four weeks off, or its Grade 2 forerunner, the Jim Dandy. The latter race, after all, was named for the 100-1 Travers upsetter of 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox.
Today's running spotlights Forte, the male juvenile champion last year and 7-5 favorite, against three horses trained by Brad Cox and a starter trained by Steve Asmussen. Disarm represents Asmussen, the Hall of Fame trainer with more than 10,000 victories, a North American record he set in February at Oaklawn.
Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire and Saudi Crown are listed at 5-2 with the Cox-trained Hit Show 6-1.
Forte hopes to get back on track for the male 3-year-old championship, not having won since the Grade 1 Florida Derby and scratching on race day from the Kentucky Derby. A confident Mike Repole, Forte's owner, concedes that Derby winner Mage is in the discussion although the Good Magic colt ran second in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park.
"I think Forte is the leader. Mage won the Kentucky Derby and was third in the Preakness and second in the Haskell but he was second to us twice (in the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby). Belmont winner Arcangelo is third and I don't know who else you consider," Repole said.
The Asmussen-trained Epicenter, runner-up in the Derby and Preakness, cleared up similar confusion in the 3-year-old division last summer with a Jim Dandy-Travers sweep; so did Belmont winner and Cox-trained Essential Quality in 2021. Both Saratoga winners were named champion at 3 despite not winning the Breeders' Cup Classic, which this year is Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
Forte has won six of eight starts, winning the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga last summer for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Repole, though his horse has not won in a few months, still claims the Violence colt deserves the division lead, although he concedes "it's been frustrating. I think that finishing second in the mile-and-a-half Belmont off 10 weeks rest shows you how great a horse Forte is."
Irad Ortiz Jr. keeps the mount, though Forte is equipped with blinkers.
"Todd has been tempted to try it before," Repole said. "It's probably 50-50 he'll use them in the Travers. In the stretch lately he's been leaning on horses and this might help him focus more and he'll move a little earlier."
Angel of Empire, Jan. 1 runner-up to stablemate Victory Formation in the Smarty Jones mile at Oaklawn, can give the Arkansas Derby its first winner since the Cox-trained Cyberknife in last year's Haskell. The Classic Empire colt on April 1 equaled his sire's 2017 victory in the Oaklawn race. A December Oaklawn winner going a mile, Hit Show won the Grade 2 Withers in the spring and dead-heated Angel of Empire in the Belmont. Saudi Crown is the likely pacesetter going nine furlongs.
Disarm comes off a Grade 3 win in the Matt Winn at Ellis Park in Kentucky.
"Obviously we are very fond of the horse and we expect huge things from him," Asmussen said. "He's very talented but this is his opportunity to step forward."
Post time for the Jim Dandy, race 10 on the program, is 4:45 p.m. CDT.