JUST as the three-year-old pool started to clear, Laoban did a cannonball into the middle of it, winning a race named after Jim Dandy, a horse who upset Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox in the 1930 Travers.

Twenty-fours later, the pool didn’t exactly clear as Exaggerator rallied from last to win the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. The long-striding son of Curlin won the Preakness, then flopped in the Belmont. Freshened up, he returned with a vengeance, rolling past American Freedom and the Derby winner Nyquist to score by one and a half lengths in the Grade 1 stakes race.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux shipped Exaggerator a few hours from Saratoga for the Haskell. Watching the forecast that called for rain, Desormeaux got it right as a deluge turned the track to sloppy and Exaggerator did what he does best, skimming over a sloppy track while his rivals paddled.

Dropped to last by Kent Desormeaux, Exaggerator loped along as Nyquist, American Freedom and Awesome slew duelled on the front end. Awesome Slew plummeted first, Nyquist came next and finally American Freedom as Exaggerator dominated another top-tier stakes.

After the race, Exaggerator shipped back to Saratoga for a possible clash with Laoban and others in the Travers Stakes August 27th.