Saturdays Race #11 the Travers Stakes has a purse of $1.25 Million.
1st - $670K
2nd - $230k
3rd - $125k
4th - $85k
5th - $50k
6th - $35k
7th - $30k
8th - $25k

$1,250 Subscription
$9,000 Nomination
[u]$9,750 To Start $12,500 to supplement[/u]
$20,000 sans any supplement

So Winstar Farms (generally regarded as an astute bunch of business people trying to make a profit have their trainer Steven Asmussen enter [b]Meistermind[/b] ridden by generally competent Manny Franco. At 5:44 p.m. est Winstar can make $5K less trainer and jockey expenses by beating three horses.

imo, the whole idea makes more sense if I think I can beat say six horses and grab the $50k 5th spot. In any event its of no interest to pari mutual players because only the top four placings are relevant.

We know based on Tg #'s Meistermind has never earned a # that would make him relevant in the Travers, yet He is entered. His most productive effort was @ 1+1/4 mile when breaking his maiden. A race that is noteworthy to me because they went so slow early Meistermind really had little chance to earn a significant final time, even though he came home like a BC Turf winner.

Many handicappers would opine the classic mile and one quarter distance is not a favorite distance for most race horses. In this case I suspect its all about the distance. I suppose Franco will reserve early and his withering late run could get a piece especially if one of the known fast horses freaks and runs off like some recent winners of this classic. The race could possibly blow up if GM gets too headstrong.

Good Luck!