Jaxon Traveler Returns Home for $200,000 Chick Lang
At 0h01, on May 14, 2021 • By PIMLICO
West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner’s speedy sophomore Jaxon Traveler, a head shy of being undefeated through five starts that include a pair of stakes victories, returns to Maryland seeking his first graded score in Saturday’s $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.
The 46th running of the six-furlong Chick Lang and 23rd renewal of the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton, both for 3-year-olds, are among 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million in purses on a spectacular 14-race program headlined by the 146th renewal of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
First race post time is 10:30 a.m.
Jaxon Traveler is no stranger to Pimlico, having romped to a 10-length debut victory last September. Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. A. Leonard Pineau, the son of multiple graded-stakes winning sprinter Munnings then beat winners at first asking in October and became a stakes winner with a three-quarter-length triumph in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 5.
“He’s going to be hard to beat,” Scott Blasi, top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, said.
Asmussen has taken horses down this road before, winning the Chick Lang with Lantana Mob (2008), Holy Boss (2015), Mitole (2018) and Yaupon, who tied a stakes record (1:09.10) with his victory last fall.
Jaxon Traveler was being pointed to make his 3-year-old debut in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16 at Laurel but was sidelined with a minor foot injury.
