Golden Tempo Returns to Training and Sets Sights on the Travers Stakes

The winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes covered 800 meters in 48s40/100 at Keeneland in his first breeze since the final gem of the Triple Corona. This Saturday, he will travel to Saratoga, where he will be prepared for the big challenge on August 29

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (Special to Turf Diario).- Golden Tempo returned to action and formally began his preparation for the DraftKings Travers Stakes (G1-2000 m, dirt, $1,250,000), one of the most important races of the second half of the season for 3-year-old colts in the United States.

The winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and the Belmont Stakes (G1) breezed 800 meters this Friday in 48s40/100 over the fast track at the Keeneland training center, representing his first demanding exercise since his June 6 triumph at Saratoga.

With Ameth González, his regular exercise rider, the son of Curlin moved alone and posted fractions of 12s80/100, 24s60/100, and 36s60/100 before completing the half-mile. He then galloped out to 1,000 meters in 1m1s40/100 and finished the 1,200 meters in 1m14s80/100.

“It was a beautiful work. It was his first since the Belmont,” commented David Carroll, assistant to trainer Cherie DeVaux. “Normally he works in company, but this time he went solo and was always well within himself. We couldn't have asked for more. I am really very pleased with what I saw,” he added.

Golden Tempo remains stabled in DeVaux’s barn inside the Keeneland Training Center, an area popularly known as Rice Road, after the road that cuts through the western part of the racetrack property.

From there, he built an extraordinary campaign during the spring, traveling on two occasions to capture the two most important legs of the Triple Crown that he contested.

On May 2, he prevailed in the $5,000,000 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and just over a month later, he delivered again in the Belmont Stakes, run at Saratoga with a $2,000,000 purse.

Bred and owned by Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, Golden Tempo boasts four victories from six starts and earnings of $4,633,000, figures that rank him among the undisputed leaders of his generation.

His next target will be the Travers, scheduled for August 29 at Saratoga, where he will seek to expand a campaign that already features two classic victories and positions him as a firm candidate for the title of Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.

The plan calls for him to leave Keeneland this Saturday, July 18, to settle in at Saratoga and complete the most important part of his preparation there.

Golden Tempo will have sufficient time to add further breezes and readapt to the venue where he captured the Belmont, a significant advantage ahead of a race that typically brings together the division's top names.

For now, his return to activity delivered fully satisfactory signals. Smooth, comfortable, and always under control, the son of Curlin did exactly what was expected by his team.

After conquering Churchill Downs and Saratoga during the spring, Golden Tempo now starts the road toward the Travers, the so-called "Midsummer Derby," where he will attempt to confirm that his dominance among the 3-year-olds still has several chapters left to be written.