Triple Crown Winners go Head to Head in Travers Stakes

The Graveyard of Champions will prove to be the ultimate test for horse racing’s top three-year-olds in Saturday’s Travers Stakes.

The Midsummer Derby at Saratoga is living up to its name. The race features the winners of all three Triple Crown races: Mage (Kentucky Derby), National Treasure (Preakness Stakes) and Arcangelo (Belmont Stakes). It’s the first time since 2017 that the Travers has featured the winners of all three Triple Crown races.

But wait — THERE’S MORE!

None of the Triple Crown winners are the morning line favorite. That honor belongs to Forte. Mike Repole’s colt was scratched by vets the morning of the Kentucky Derby, which also forced the horse to the sideline for the second leg of the Triple Crown. Forte returned for a runner-up finish in the Belmont, then triumphed by a nose in a thrilling finish in the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. Last year’s two-year-old champion has won seven races in nine career starts.

Mage and Forte battled on the Florida circuit prior to the former’s romp at Churchill Downs in May. This time Mage is missing a significant piece of the puzzle. Jockey Luis Saez suffered a broken wrist and a dislocated collarbone earlier this week at Saratoga. Flavien Prat will pick up the mount in his place.

“He’s a really great colt that seems like he’s doing great,” Prat said earlier this week. “We’ll see how the race unfolds, but I really like him going into the race.”

Mage most recently ran second in the Haskell Stakes, after a third-place finish to National Treasure in the Preakness. Baffert’s horse finished sixth in the Belmont and has not raced since.

Ahead of the Triple Crown season, many thought Tapit Trice might be the best of the bunch. The winner of the Blue Grass Stakes has a chance at redemption after coming up short in the Derby (7th), Belmont (3rd) and Haskell (5th).

The Travers Stakes is a $1.25 million 1 ¼ miles race. Post time is at 6:11 pm EST. Race day coverage from Saratoga is on Fox from 4-6:30 pm EST.

Travers Stakes Post Positions, Morning Line Odds

Post	Horse	Odds	Jockey
1	Forte	7-5	Irad Ortiz
2	Arcangelo	5-2	Javier Castellano
3	Tapit Trice	12-1	Jose Ortize
4	Mage	4-1	Flavien Prat
5	National Treasure	8-1	John Velazquez
6	Disarm	8-1	Joel Rasario
7	Scotland	12-1	Junior Alvarado