The $1.25 million Travers Stakes, set for Saturday evening at Saratoga Race Course in New York, boasts a field of eight 3-year-olds running 1 ¼ miles.
The task is nothing like the annual Kentucky Derby, a 20-horse mosh pit of a race often won by the best horse but sometimes by the luckiest.
What the 155 th Travers, with a 6:10 p.m. post time on Fox-56, lacks in volume it more than makes up for in talent.
The field includes the winners of this year’s Blue Grass Stakes, Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Oaks — yes, a filly! — in addition to the 2024 post-time favorite in the Run for the Roses.
The only thing missing is the Kentucky Derby champion himself, Mystik Dan, who is taking a summer breather for Lexington trainer Kenny McPeek after finishing second in the Preakness Stakes and eighth in the Belmont in pursuit of a Triple Crown. Also steering clear of the Travers is Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey, who will instead run in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 21.
McPeek did not leave Saratoga without a star attraction for Saturday night. He also trains 2024 Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna, who enters the Travers as the 3-1 co-second choice.
Thorpedo Anna, with Brian Hernandez Jr. riding, wins the 150th Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in May. The filly is the 3-1 co-second choice in Saturday’s Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Alex Slitz
Thorpedo Anna, trying to become the first filly to win the Travers since 1915, has won six of her seven career races with one runner-up finish. She brings a four-race win streak into the Travers, which includes Grade 1 victories in the Acorn Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga after the Kentucky Oaks.
“I don’t see much downside, I think if she’s third or better it’s practically a victory,” McPeek told the Daily Racing Form. “Not that we want to be third. I think that’s a respectable race and if she wins, she’s immortal. You have to take those chances sometimes.”
Dornoch, who finished 10 th in the Kentucky Derby before striking back-to-back Grade 1 gold in the Belmont at Saratoga and the Haskell at Monmouth for trainer Danny Gargan, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the Travers.
Joining Thorpedo Anna at 3-1 odds is Fierceness, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Florida Derby before a disappointing 15 th -place effort in the Kentucky Derby as the favorite. The Todd Pletcher trainee has since bounced back with a win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga.
Right behind that group, at 7-2 is Sierra Leone, who won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland before a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby. The Chad Brown trainee went on to take third in the Belmont and second in the Jim Dandy.
Brown will also send to post 8-1 choice Unmatched Wisdom, a late-starting 3-year-old who is undefeated in three career starts — all since May 10.
Corporate Power (15-1), Batten Down (20-1) and Honor Marie (20-1) complete the Travers field. Honor Marie ran eighth in the Derby and fourth in the Belmont. Batten Down won the Ohio Derby in June before running third in the Jim Dandy.
Lexington-based trainer Kenny McPeek completed the rare double this spring of winning the Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna and the Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan. Jonathan Palmer
Saturday
Travers Stakes
What: “Midsummer Derby” for 3-year-olds
When: 6:10 p.m.
Where: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Most Popular
Comments / 0