Dornoch will be looking to join a most exclusive fraternity when he runs as one of the favorites in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 24 at Saratoga. The membership is so exclusive, in fact, that it currently consists of only one.
It would be unfair at this point in his career to compare Dornoch to Point Given. Things could change in the next few months, however. If the handsome bay wins the mid-summer derby against what promises to be a stellar field, he will join the 2001 horse of the year in sweeping the Belmont Stakes, the Haskell (G1) and the Travers.
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So difficult has the New York-New Jersey trifecta proven to be, two dozen years have passed since the Bob Baffert-trained son of Thunder Gulch became the first and only horse to turn the trick. Many have attempted the feat since, but none has succeeded.
American Pharoah came very close nine seasons ago, but alas, the Triple Crown winner wilted to grueling middle fractions and saw his Travers chances go up in smoke in the last 100 yards to the late rush of Keen Ice.
Point Given was a monster in more ways than one. Like Dornoch he was the son of a champion and a striking Thoroughbred specimen. Unlike the current leader of the 3-year-old male division, he had the type of size rarely seen at the track.
Standing more than 17 hands tall, T-Rex, as he was called, was a man among boys back in 2001. After a failed attempt in the Kentucky Derby broke up a three-race winning streak, Point Given bounced right back to win the Preakness two weeks later.
That victory reaffirmed his position at the top of his division, and a runaway victory in the Belmont Stakes left no doubt as to who the best 3-year-old of 2001 was. A hard-fought victory when cutting back to nine furlongs in the Haskell followed.
Little did we know at the time when he powered away from his competition to win by 3 1/2 uncomplicated lengths in Saratoga’s most prestigious race, it would turn out to be his final career race.
Despite an injury that forced him into early retirement, his August wins in the Haskell and Travers pushed him over the top to beat out the older champion Tiznow as the horse of the year. The first horse to win four $1 million races in a row, Point Given retired with a record of 13: 9-3-0.
Dornoch is not Point Given. The son of Good Magic did win two graded stakes in succession early in his career, but those victories in the Remsen (G2) and Fountain of Youth (G2) were temporarily sidetracked by a pair of defeats in Kentucky.
Perhaps his trainer Danny Gargan got him beaten in the Blue Grass (G1) when they tried to rate the $325,000 yearling purchase. Then the Kentucky Derby proved to be as forgettable a race for Dornoch as it was Point Given.
Squeezed, shuffled back and checked in the early stages of the run for the roses, he was left with absolutely no chance from his rail draw. Bad trips happen in America’s most prestigious race, and in the 2024 edition, Dornoch was the poster child for having no luck on the wrong afternoon.
Largely ignored in his next race, Dornoch ran a big Belmont Stakes. Hounding the Preakness winner from the start under regular rider Luis Sáez, he took over at the head of the Saratoga stretch and then gamely held off advances by Mindframe and Sierra Leone.
Although the race was 10 furlongs rather than the traditional 12, Dornoch deserves plenty of respect for his brave victory in this year’s Belmont Stakes.
His gameness and refusal to let another horse pass was even more evident in Monmouth Park’s Haskell, where he emphatically turned away Mindframe. Dornoch’s strong will to win has made him a fun horse to root for. It also pushed him to the summit among all 3-year-old American males.
Why is sweeping the Belmont, Haskell and Travers so difficult? Typically run at three different distances at three very different tracks in just under three months, each of the trio of Grade 1 races offers its own demands. It also comes just five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness.
Many of the nation’s best 3-year-olds already have been through the grind of the Triple Crown trail. While late-developing sophomores are just hitting their strides in the summer, they are ready to challenge the best of the division. In short, winning all three takes a very special horse.
Point Given was that very special horse. He was the epitome of all the ingredients needed to complete such a feat. Does Dornoch have what it takes to become only the second horse in history to sweep the Belmont, Haskell and Travers?
The Travers may be his toughest test yet, but if Dornoch wins, it would be hard to deny him the 2024 horse-of-the-year title.
