Travers Dead-Heat

Too Close to Call - Alpha and Golden Ticket dead-heated in the Travers

Alpha failed to step up to the plate and establish himself as the leading American three-year-old still in training last night in the $1 million Travers Stakes, in spite of technically winning the race.

The reason being that 33/1 outsider Golden Ticket managed to hang on in the straight to force the G1 contest’s first ever official dead heat.

With Triple Crown race winners I’ll Have Another and Union Rags now in the breeding sheds as well the highly thought of Bodemeister and last year’s champion Hansen there is a huge gap in the three-year-old ranks across the Atlantic now and this was supposed to be Alpha’s time to shine.

Having landed the Jim Dandy at the same track at the end of last month Alpha was supposed to confirm he was the last leading three-year-old standing in the Travers; and although he showed heart to reel in his shock co-winner Golden Ticket having looked like he’d left it too late, it was still disappointing he was unable to win the race in more dominant and definitive style.

A 50/50 share of the $800,000 winner’s prize money will surely feel like a win for both sets of connections and it probably was a fair result in the end, although a yard or so further 2/1 favourite Alpha would have won.

Tradition dictates that a canoe is painted in the colours of the Travers winners silks and floated in the pond in the middle of the track, for the first time two canoes will be there but we are still without one truly stand-out three-year-old in America.