SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — Fort Larned will be a clear favorite when he faces seven opponents in Saturday’s $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap at Saratoga Race Course.
The 5-year-old winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic will be trying to win consecutive runnings of the 1 1/8-mile Whitney and comes off an impressive victory in the June 15 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.
Discovery won the race three times from 1934 to 1936, and is the only horse to capture consecutive runnings of the Whitney.
Brian Hernandez Jr. will ride Fort Larned, who will carry 122 pounds. He faces an accomplished group that includes Ron the Greek, runner-up in the 2012 Whitney.
