Travers Stakes 2024 predictions, odds, horses, time, entries, post positions: Expert picks from racing insider

The 2024 Travers Stakes, also known as the Midsummer Derby, will take place on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. It's considered one of the most prestigious races outside of the Triple Crown and since it was inaugurated in 1864, the Travers Stakes predates all three Triple Crown races. Last year's Travers saw jockey Javier Castellano win his record seventh running of the race and he's back again, this time aboard longshot Corporate Power for the Travers Stakes 2024. The eight 2024 Travers Stakes horses will go to post at 6:10 p.m. ET.

Belmont Stakes champion, Dornoch, is the favorite at 5-2, just edging out Fierceness (3-1) and Thorpedo Anna (3-1) in the 2024 Travers Stakes odds. Unmatched Wisdom, a Chad Brown-trained horse who is undefeated across five starts, is 8-1 in the 2024 Travers Stakes lineup, while Corporate Power comes is 15-1. With several accomplished horses set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you'll want to see what Santa Anita Park-based racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2024 Travers Stakes picks .

Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.

Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager two years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.

She enters the Travers Stakes on a roll. She correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup, predicted Stronghold's upset win in the Santa Anita Derby, en route to a $219.50 payday, and smashed the exacta in the Apple Blossom Handicap as part of a $410 score. On the Belmont Stakes undercard, she nailed National Treasure's win in the Met Mile ($235) and had both the winner and exacta in the Woody Stephens Stakes. Anyone who has followed her is way up.

For the 2024 Travers Stakes, Yu has handicapped the field, made her picks and constructed her best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them .

Top 2024 Travers Stakes predictions

One surprise: Yu is completely fading Fierceness, even though he's one of the favorites at 3-1. Fierceness is built for speed, not distance. That was evident at the Kentucky Derby, where he was the favorite and among the early leaders. However, Fierceness then quickly tired out at the mile marker of the 1 1/4-mile race and finished 15th. He was 24 1/2 lengths back of the winner in what was, to date, his only career start at 1 1/4 miles.

His next will come at the Travers, but Fierceness' pedigree doesn't suggest that the race will go much differently than his Kentucky Derby letdown. Sire, City of Light, also never won a race of at least 1 1/4 miles in distance, while his dam, Nonna Bella, never won a race of one mile in length. With Fierceness alternating wins and losses over his last five starts, the horse hasn't displayed the consistency or endurance to be utilized in 2024 Travers Stakes wagers, given his short odds. You can see all of Yu's 2024 Travers Stakes bets here .

How to make 2024 Travers Stakes picks

Moreover, Yu's top pick is a horse who has still has plenty of naysayers, but Yu isn't deterred. She is including this horse in her 2024 Travers bets, and so should you. She's sharing which 2024 Travers Stakes horses to back only at SportsLine .

So who wins the 2024 Travers Stakes, and how has Yu constructed her wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Yu's picks for the Travers Stakes 2024, all from the Santa Anita-based racing insider who has been red-hot all year , and find out.

2024 Travers Stakes odds, contenders