Brad Grady's Girvin (Tale of Ekati) shipped in to Barn 77 on Saratoga's backstretch Monday morning, less than 24 hours after his flying finish earned him the victory in the GI betfair.com Haskell Invitational Sunday. If all goes according to plan in the next few weeks, the Joe Sharp trainee will make his next start in the GI Travers S. Aug. 26.
“More than likely, we'll run here,” Sharp told the NYRA notes team. “That is the way we are leaning, but we will also look at the Smarty Jones [S. at Parx Sept. 4] and the [GII] Pennsylvania Derby [Sept. 23 at Parx]. We always keep our options open.”
Girvin, who also captured the GII Risen Star S. and GII Louisiana Derby before finishing 13th in the GI Kentucky Derby and second in the Ohio Derby, fought hard to eke out the Haskell win after getting held up on the far turn.
“He gives it his all every time, and he did that yesterday,” Sharp commented. “He never wins by a lot. He likes to engage other horses, he likes to be in a dogfight. [It] makes it fun to be around him. He is a very honest horse, he tries very, very hard. He continues to go above and beyond our expectations.”
The horse Girvin nailed in the last jump of the Haskell, 'TDN Rising Star' McCraken (Ghostzapper), will likely get a chance to avenge that beat in the Travers, according to the colt's trainer, Ian Wilkes.
“Yeah, I am planning on it, the Travers,” Wilkes said. “As long as he trains well, because I'm not just going to run him to run him. A final decision will be made in a few days after we get him back to the track.”
The Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred captured the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. as a 2-year-old and the GIII Sam F. Davis S. in his sophomore debut, and was eighth in the Kentucky Derby before winning the GIII Matt Winn S. prior to his Haskell runner-up finish.
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