Prominent young stallion Not This Time, whose dam was sired by the Drakenstein Stud based Trippi, came up with his third G1 winner when his brilliant three-year-old Epicenter ran out a commanding, five and a quarter length winner of Saturday’s G1 Runhappy Travers Stakes.

On Saturday, before a near-capacity crowd of 49,672. Epicenter removed any doubt over his leadership role in the 3-year-old division with a powerhouse performance that accounted for his first grade 1 victory and helped wash away the sting of runner-up finishes as the favorite in both the G1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and the G1 Preakness Stakes. In one fell swoop, he finished in front of the horses who beat him in the first legs of the Triple Crown, Rich Strike (Derby, fourth in the Travers) and Early Voting (Preakness, eighth).

A first Travers winner for trainer Steve Asmussen, Epicenter won for the fourth time in seven 2022 starts, with three second-place finishes rounding out his 3-year-old resume, and pushed his career earnings to $2,940,639. Aside from the Travers and his runner-up finishes in the Triple Crown, he has won the G2 Jim Dandy Stakes, G2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby, and G2Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford.

Taylor Made’s Not This Time, whose dam is the Trippi sired G3 Winning Colors Stakes winner Miss Macy Sue, has had an outstanding year in 2022 thus far.
The son of Giant’s Causeway is North America’s Leading Third Crop Sire for the year thus far, with Not This Time having already been responsible for eight black type winners in 2022 including G1 Madison Stakes heroine Just One Time.

Currently sire of 19 black type winners, Not This Time’s other top-level G1 winner is Del Mar Debutante winner Princess Noor.