One of the biggest races of the summer takes place on Saturday, as Saratoga hosts the Travers Stakes. This year’s race will feature all three Triple Crown winners, as well as the hot favorite for Breeders’ Cup Classic glory at Santa Anita later this year.
Before Betting On Travers Stakes
This year’s renewal of the Travers Stakes is a fascinating race at Saratoga. The field of horses aged three will compete over 1 ¼ miles, with the winning connections landing their share of the $1.25 million purse. All three Triple Crown winners will be involved this weekend, but all eyes will be on Breeders’ Cup Juvenile hero Forte, who looks set to be a hot favorite.
The Todd Pletcher runner will start from stall one this weekend, and he is yet to finish outside the first three in four starts this year. However, his only defeat was suffered in the G1 Belmont Derby, as he was held by Arcangelo over a mile and a half. But, he bounced back from that defeat in a pleasing manner, as he produced a stunning effort at Saratoga in late July to score in the G2 Jim Dandy. But, he will need to back up that effort back in Grade 1 company on Saturday.
Arcangelo is the only runner in this field to have got the better of Forte, and he couldn’t be in any better form for trainer Jena Antonucci. The three-year-old landed glory in the Belmont Stakes in June, which was a second straight win in stakes company following his success in the G3 Peter Pan. However, it will be fascinating to see whether that Grade 1 was a flash in the pan.
Both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners are also involved, but the former has serious questions to address. Mage could be forgiven for his third-place finish in the Preakness, but there was an expectation that he would bounce back in the G1 Haskell, but he could only finish second.
Travers Stakes Offshore Odds & Pick
| Horse | Odds |
|---|---|
| Forte | 2.65 |
| Arcangelo | 4.00 |
| Mage | 6.00 |
| Disarm | 13.00 |
| National Treasure | 13.00 |
| Scotland | 13.00 |
| Tapit Trice | 13.00 |
In truth, we find it hard to sway away from the top two in the betting when it comes to the most likely winner this weekend. We expect Forte to showcase his prowess in the division to land the Travers, with Arcangelo taking second.
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