Saturday’s 154th Travers Stakes is a historic matchup between all three Triple Crown races winners and last year’s Champion 2-Year-Old. It’s a Who’s Who of the 2023 sophomore class with championship implications on the line at Saratoga. The 13-race card includes five Grade 1 stakes, featuring reigning Breeders’ Cup champions Elite Power and Goodnight Olive on the undercard.
Horseplayers utilizing the 1/ST BET and Xpressbet platforms can take advantage of $25,000 in Hit & Split promotions on Saratoga’s Travers Day Day multi-race bets.
• $10,000 Hit & Split // All-Stakes Pick 4 (Races 9 - 12)
• $5,000 Hit & Split // All-Stakes Pick 5 (Races 8 - 12)
• $2,500 Hit & Split // Early Pick 4 (Races 2 - 5)
• $2,500 Hit & Split // Middle Pick 4 (Races 4 - 7)
• $2,500 Hit & Split // Middle Pick 4 (Races 6 - 9)
• $2,500 Hit & Split // Late Pick 4 (Races 10 - 13)
Let’s Meet the Contenders for the Travers:
#1-Forte (Irad Ortiz Jr. // Todd Pletcher) 7-5
The 2022 Eclipse Champion 2-Year-Old has registered wins this year in the Fountain of Youth, Florida Derby and Jim Dandy, the latter a key local prep for the Travers. A foot bruise sidelined him from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but is now in the rearview mirror. Right now he’s top-ranked nationally in the Breeders’ Cup Classic division against older horses, but gets another chance to show he’s the cream of the sophomore crop. The addition of blinkers in the Jim Dandy kept him closer to the pace than his previous style, and Forte can be expected to be mid-pack during the backstretch run of the Travers. Street Sense (2007) and Essential Quality (2021) are the most-recent reigning 2-year-old champs to add the Midsummer Derby to their resume. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has a resounding 11 stakes wins at Saratoga this season heading into this week’s action, more than doubling any other rider.
#2-Arcangelo (Javier Castellano // Jena Antonucci) 5-2
The Belmont Stakes was the coming out party for this rising 3-year-old, and this son of Arrogate ventures to the scene of his sire’s prodigious Travers victory (1:59.36 track record, 13-1/2 length margin). His three consecutive victories include scores at Gulfstream and Belmont (adding the Peter Pan as well). Pedigree and his local training suggest the new surroundings at the Spa won’t provide a substantial hurdle. Jockey Javier Castellano – a record six Travers trophies already in tow – opted to ride Arcangelo over Kentucky Derby winner Mage, a significant note. Belmont Stakes winners have a strong recent history in the Travers, include dual winners Point Given (2001), Birdstone (2004), Summer Bird (2009), Tiz the Law (2020) and Essential Quality (2021). Expect Arcangelo among the first flight of the early pace scene Saturday.
#3-Tapit Trice (Jose Ortiz // Todd Pletcher) 12-1
Three straight defeats in the Kentucky Derby (seventh), Belmont (third) and Haskell (fifth) leave the 2023 Blue Grass Stakes winner as one of the Travers longshots. That lack of production led to jockey Luis Saez jumping off for the chance to reunite with Mage on Saturday, who came open when Castellano opted for Arcangelo. The $1.3 million yearling buy has earned back just over $1 million of the investment to date. Trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn has gone soft in stakes this Saratoga meet with a 2-for-22 record heading into Travers week. Tapit Trice should be among the back markers in the field down the backstretch and hope to make a closing rally.
#4-Mage (Luis Saez // Gustavo Delgado) 4-1
The last Kentucky Derby winners to also add the Travers were Street Sense (2007) and Thunder Gulch (1995), so history offers a tough challenge on Saturday. Mage also loses jockey Javier Castellano to Arcangelo, but gets a return engagement from Luis Saez, a two-time Travers winner (2013 Will Take Charge, 2021 Essential Quality). Mage lost both head-to-head decisions vs. Forte earlier this season at Gulfstream, by 6-3/4 lengths in the Fountain of Youth and a single length in the Florida Derby. To earn the 3-year-old championship, he may need to turn those tables directly in the Travers. His running style has tilted toward a more closing style since his initial sprint success, and I keep thinking that he’ll eventually show more speed in his races than he does. Perhaps the return to Saez accomplishes that. He could be anywhere from second through sixth down the backstretch and not be a surprise.
#5-National Treasure (John Velazquez // Bob Baffert) 8-1
The front-running Preakness champion looks to put himself on the Travers engine and take them as far as he can. National Treasure is a son of 2009 Travers third-place finisher Quality Road, whose Saratoga resume included victories in the Woodward and Amsterdam. No reason to think National Treasure won’t handle the conditions from his Southern California base. Bernardini (2006) and Point Given (2001) are the most recent horses to win the Preakness and Travers, so it’s been a tall historical hurdle … though Baffert accomplished that feat with the latter. Velazquez, a two-time Travers winner, has had a single Saratoga stakes win this season coming into Travers week.
#6-Disarm (Joel Rosario // Steve Assmussen) 8-1
Son of 2016 Travers third-place finisher Gun Runner has just won just one of six starts this year, the Grade 3 Matt Win at Churchill Downs. But Travers favorite Forte beat him by only 2-1/2 lengths in the Jim Dandy and Mage topped him by 4-1/2 lengths when he was a credible fourth in the Kentucky Derby. This same jockey-trainer combination comes off a 2022 Travers victory with the more accomplished Epicenter. The Mike Smith-Bob Baffert team went back-to-back in the 2016 and 2017 Travers with Arrogate and West Coast at 11-1 and 6-1 odds, respectively, so there’s some precedent, though just that once throughout history.
#7-Scotland (Junior Alvarado // Bill Mott) 12-1
Wire-to-wire winner of the Curlin Stakes looks to continue a fabulous Saratoga meeting for trainer Bill Mott in the stakes ranks. His barn came into Travers Week with a 12: 5-3-2 stakes mark at the current stand, winning two Grade 1s and a quartet of graded offerings overall. However, the Curlin Stakes has produced just one Travers winner since its inception in 2009, that being 2014 upsetter V.E. Day (19-1 odds). Scotland figures to be pressing the early pacemaker National Treasure or vying for the lead from his outside post draw if jockey Junior Alvarado is intent on the front. He’s a son of Good Magic, the same sire as Travers rival Mage.
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