The 2024 Travers Stakes will run on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, which also hosted the Belmont Stakes this year and will again in 2025 with Belmont Park undergoing renovations. Dornoch was the winner when the third leg of the Triple Crown was held at Saratoga and is the 5-2 favorite in the 2024 Travers Stakes odds after following that victory up with another in the Haskell Stakes. He's followed by Thorpedo Anna (3-1), Fierceness (3-1) and Sierra Leone (7-2) among top 2024 Travers Stakes contenders. Post time is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. ET and there will be eight horses in this year's 2024 Travers Stakes field. With so much to consider while making your 2024 Travers Stakes picks, a little expert help can go a long way .
The 2024 Travers Stakes will be the 155th "Midsummer Derby" and jockey Javier Castellano will return to seek his eighth Travers win. He won for the first time in 2006 on Bernardini and then most recently on Arcangelo in 2023. He'll ride Corporate Power (15-1) and will join forces with Shug McGaughey, who could join Bert Mulholland as the only trainers to win the Travers five times. Thorpedo Anna will also have a chance to become the first filly since Lady Rotha (1915) to win the "Midsummer Derby."
Given all the history, there's a method to picking which horses to focus on for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets in a Travers Stakes like this, and SportsLine expert Gene Menez knows what it is. He can help you make the best 2024 Travers Stakes picks possible .
A former reporter and editor at Sports Illustrated, Menez covered an array of sports, including horse racing, for the magazine and its website for almost 14 years. Between 2010 and 2012, he served as SI's handicapper for the Triple Crown races and correctly predicted Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby in 2010.
In 2015, while writing for Sports on Earth, Menez accurately gave out the Kentucky Derby superfecta (American Pharoah, Firing Line, Dortmund and Frosted), which paid $1,268.20 for $2. Then in 2017, he tweeted out his Kentucky Derby picks, including Always Dreaming to win. He also hit the Pick 4, which paid almost $6,900 on a $1 bet.
In a span of seven races last year for SportsLine, he cashed the winner of the Lecomte Stakes, the exacta in the Southwest Stakes, the winner of the Holy Bull Stakes, the winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes, and the trifecta in the Jenny Wiley Stakes. He also nailed National Treasure's win in the Preakness. In May, he gave out 18-1 Mystik Dan as a live longshot in the Kentucky Derby. In June, he nailed Trikari to win the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes.
Here's a refresher on these types of bets from SportsLine's Gene Menez:
Travers Stakes Exacta: Pick the first- and second-place finishers in the correct order. A $2 exacta returned $72.50 at the 2023 Travers Stakes with Arcangelo and Disarm.
Travers Stakes Trifecta: Pick the first-, second- and third-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 trifecta returned $281.50 at the 2023 Travers Stakes with Arcangelo, Disarm and Tapit Trice.
Travers Stakes Superfecta: Pick the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 superfecta returned $788 at the 2023 Travers Stakes with Arcangelo, Disarm, Tapit Trice and Forte.
For the 2024 Travers Stakes, Menez is fading former Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness. Instead, he is building his tickets around Sierra Leone and a double-digit longshot who is "interesting at a big price." You can see all of Menez's 2024 Travers Stakes bets here .
How to make 2024 Travers Stakes picks
Moreover, Menez's top pick is a horse who will "come roaring down the lane late." He also is high on a double-digit longshot who is "interesting at a big price." He is including these horses in his wagers, and so should you. He's sharing what horses to back at SportsLine .
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