Somehow, despite his clean, solid Belmont win, the fine Travers winner Arcangelo truly needed the Travers to cement his champion’s status. Put another way, the horse didn’t need a whit of vindication for anything. The hesitancy lay more in the racing world — specifically, in the NYRA oddsmakers who slotted him as the second favorite in the Travers’ morning line last week, and in fact in the Saratoga money on race day, just hours before post, as he topped Forte for favorite status and then slid back to second.

So, in this way, having the colt come back after the Belmont to beat Derby winner Mage, Preakness winner National Treasure, and supposed main rival Forte tastes a bit sweeter to trainer Jena Antonucci and Arcangelo’s owners. Ms. Antonucci has run an admirable, most careful campaign, giving the colt weeks off before running him back, for anything.