Manny Franco, Leading Change pull off upset in Travers Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Talent over experience.

Leading Change proved you can have the former and not the latter, and still win Saratoga Race Course’s crown jewel, the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes.

Making only his third career start, Leading Change ran down front-running Preakness Stakes champion Napoleon Solo in the final yards to win the 157th running of the Midsummer Derby by a half-length in front of a crowd of 47,659 on Saturday evening.

Leading Change won at 10-1 odds to give trainer Brad Cox and jockey Manny Franco each a second career Travers victory. Despite being lightly raced, Leading Change managed to beat a deep field of 3-year-olds that included Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo, who came in third.

“He was able to get the job done, substituting talent for seasoning – and that means a lot,” Cox said. “It’s very hard for a horse to come into the Midsummer Derby and have only two career starts; second start around two turns in his life, going a mile and a quarter. Never been further than a mile-and-a-sixteenth. It was a big ask.”

He had the answer, as Leading Change finished the 1 ¼-mile Travers in 2 minutes, 2.98 seconds.

Cox pointed to Leading Change’s strong pedigree as a son of Hall of Famer Gun Runner out of the Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed. Owner Wathnan Racing bought Leading Change for $800,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland sales in 2024.

He went unraced as a 2-year-old. He was scratched from his scheduled debut at Keeneland last October because of bone bruising.

Leading Change improved to 3-for-3 for his career. He broke his maiden in his first career start at Churchill Downs on June 7, then won the Grade 3 Indiana Derby by a neck on July 11.

“We did right by the horse, and he’s done right by us,” Cox said. “Just a tremendous colt with a tremendous amount of talent. We always felt he was a horse that would be able to compete at the Grade 1 level.”

Cox also won the 2021 Travers with Essential Quality.

In the Travers, Leading Change broke alertly and stalked Napoleon Solo and Sea Strike through fractions of 23.66 seconds through a quarter-mile, 47.95 for a half-mile and 1:12.62 after six furlongs.

“We wanted to be forward behind Napoleon Solo and Sea Strike,” said Franco, who won the 2020 Travers on Tiz the Law. “I just sat on the rail the whole way around. When we headed for home, I put (Leading Change) on the outside. He was digging in, so I was happy the way he finished up.”

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who was aboard Napoleon Solo, barely missed his fourth Travers victory. Trainer Chad Summers came up short in the quest for his first.

“He ran great,” Velazquez said. “He put in a really good effort today. Maybe the mile and a quarter is a little far for him, maybe. I don’t know. The other one (Leading Change) was better than me. That’s it.”

The deep closer Golden Tempo, the 2-1 favorite, fell 16 lengths behind and made his usual late run. He didn’t have enough to overcome a fairly mild pace.

“He ran well,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “He just had a lot to do and he had a good run, but he just got a little shy when he was coming up on horses, so it just stopped his momentum a bit. But, really proud of how he ran.”

With Leading Change, Cox said he would check the horse on Saturday night and make sure he was in good order. He said he’ll ship the horse back to Kentucky before deciding upon his next race.

Cox’s better-known 3-year-old was Commandment, who finished second in the Belmont Stakes and Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Also owned by Wathnan Racing, Commandment skipped the Travers for a possible start in the Pennsylvania Derby in September.

However, Cox said Commandment’s absence from the race didn’t play into his decision to enter Leading Change.

“I think this is a solid group of 3-year-olds, but there was no one to really be scared of based on the two figures that he’d run,” Cox said. “(Leading Change) was obviously able to come out on the right end of it.”

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This article originally published at Manny Franco, Leading Change pull off upset in Travers Stakes.

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