Travers includes winners of all three Triple Crown races. None of them is the favorite.
Seven 3-year-old Thoroughbreds will go to post for Saturday’s 154th running of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and there’s a good chance you know quite a bit about most of the contenders.
All three winners of this year’s Triple Crown races are entered in the $1.25 million “Midsummer Derby” to be run at the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 ¼ miles. It’s the first time that’s happened in the Travers since 2017.
In addition to Mage (Kentucky Derby), National Treasure (Preakness Stakes) and Arcangelo (Belmont Stakes), you’ll also find the winner of the 2023 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Tapit Trice.
Standing above that celebrated foursome, though, is Forte, the 7-5 morning line favorite for the Travers.
Forte was scratched due to injury on the morning of the Kentucky Derby as the favorite to win the Run for the Roses. He also missed the Preakness as a result of that scratch. He then closed out the Triple Crown season by running second in the Belmont Stakes.
In his only start since then, Forte won the $500,000, Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 29. Forte has now won seven of his nine career starts, amassing a bankroll of $2,954,830.
“He’s a very seasoned horse,” trainer Todd Pletcher told the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union this week. “He’s experienced in all kinds of positions.”
Second choice in the Travers is 5-2 pick Arcangelo, the horse who beat Forte by a length and a half in the Belmont and enters Saturday’s event on a three-race winning streak. Arcangelo, a son of Arrogate, made Jena Antonucci the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race.
Kentucky Derby champion Mage is the 4-1 third choice in the Travers. Since his victory on the first Saturday in May, Mage finished third in the Preakness then second in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 22.
“It’s a mile and a quarter, so everyone will have time to get position,” Mage’s assistant trainer, Gustavo Delgado Jr., told the Albany newspaper this week. “We’re excited. He had a strong gallop this morning and he is feeling good. It’s a very strong field and we’re happy to be here and be a part of it.”
National Treasure (8-1) won the Preakness after skipping the Kentucky Derby, then ran sixth in the Belmont and has not raced since.
Tapit Trice (12-1) is looking for his first win since capturing the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 8. Tapit Trice was seventh in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Belmont and fifth in the Haskell.
The remainder of the Travers field includes Disarm (8-1) and Scotland (12-1). Disarm was fourth in the Kentucky Derby. Lightly raced Scotland did not participate in the Triple Crown series but has won three of his four career starts including, most recently, the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga on July 21.
Post time for the Travers Stakes is 6:11 p.m. The race will be televised on Fox-56.
Saturday
Travers Stakes
What: Grade 1 stakes race for 3-year-olds
Where: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
When: 6:11 p.m.
TV: Fox-56
Distance: 1 1/4 miles (dirt)
Purse: $1.25 million
Favorite: Forte (7-5)
Travers Stakes field with odds
1. Forte (7-5)
2. Arcangelo (5-2)
3. Tapit Trice (12-1)
4. Mage (4-1)
5. National Treasure (8-1)
6. Disarm (8-1)
7. Scotland (12-1)
