In 2023, the 3-year-old male division in North American Thoroughbred racing has been highly competitive to say the least. Three different horses won Triple Crown races, and in the minds of many fans and handicappers the divisional leader is not among them. That makes Saturday’s $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course even more important than usual – this year’s renewal is shaping up to be the key race in setting the leaderboard for the fall months, with the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic in November the final determining factor in the competition for champion 3-year-old male honors.

The 1 ¼-mile, Grade 1 Travers, known as the “Mid-Summer Derby,” is the centerpiece of Saratoga’s meet and is, aside from the Triple Crown, the most sought after prize for 3-year-old racehorses. It’s been won by some of the sport’s biggest stars since its inaugural running way back in 1864, and 23 Travers victors have been named champion 3-year-old male since divisional honors first were awarded in 1936, when Granville won the race and was later voted champion.

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Notable Travers winners since then include Whirlaway (1941, champion); Native Dancer (1953, champion); Gallant Man (1957); Sword Dancer (1959, champion); Buckpasser (1966, champion); Damascus (1967, champion); Arts and Letters (1969, champion); Alydar (1978, by DQ); Temperence Hill (1980, champion); Forty Niner (1988); Easy Goer (1989); Holy Bull (1994, champion); Thunder Gulch (1995, champion); Point Given (2001, champion); Medaglia d’Oro (2002); Bernardini (2006, champion); Street Sense (2007); Arrogate (2016, champion); and Essential Quality (2021, champion). Last year’s Travers winner, Epicenter, was also voted champion 3-year-old male despite being injured during his run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The 154th Travers brings together a star-studded field. For the first time since 2017, the winners of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (Mage), the Preakness Stakes (National Treasure), and the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (Arcangelo) are all slated to run in the Travers, and they’ll be joined by Forte. That colt was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby before being withdrawn, and he currently leads the poll for Breeders’ Cup Classic contenders voted on by turf writers and industry leaders.

The Travers will be broadcast nationwide on FOX during NYRA’s “Fox Saratoga Saturday” show, during a 3 1/2-hour broadcast that will also include other stakes races from Saratoga’s jam-packed Saturday card. Post time is set for 6:11 p.m. ET.

Bet the world-famous Travers Stakes this weekend with a $200 sign up bonus from NYRA Bets, the official betting partner of Saratoga Racetrack. Available in 31 states nationwide, NYRA Bets offers best-in-class HD live video and replays, online contests, exclusive player promotions, and expert picks and analysis. With an easy to use, free to download app, betting horse racing online with a $200 sign up bonus has never been easier. Download the NYRA Bets app today to get started.

Read on for information on all Travers Stakes contenders.

Adam Coglianese/NYRA

1. Forte (7-5 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owners: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable

Career record: 9 starts – 7 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $2,954,830

Earnings per start: $328,314

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 109

Pedigree: Violence – Queen Caroline, by Blame

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: After being withdrawn from the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve by the state veterinarian the morning of the race due to a bruised hoof and then finishing a late-running second in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, Forte re-established himself among many analysts as the leading contender in the 3-year-old male division with a gritty win in the July 29 Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by DK Horse at Saratoga. Racing 1 1/8 miles on a sloppy track against only four opponents, Forte rallied from a stalking position to narrowly edge pacesetter Saudi Crown by a nose in a thrilling finish that involved some bumping by Forte against the third-place finisher Angel of Empire and then some late drifting out initiated by Saudi Crown. Forte had won five races in a row prior to the Belmont going back to last fall, defeating most of the top members of his age group along the way. He has been training steadily for Todd Pletcher since his bounce-back win in the Jim Dandy and will probably go off as the deserving post-time favorite in Travers 154. If there’s a concern, it’s that in his last three starts (starting with a length victory over Mage in the April 1 Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa) Forte has had to race wide in the stretch and/or overcome some adversity while only reaching his top gear in the late stages of the race. With that in mind, look for Saratoga’s leading jockey and Forte’s regular rider, Irad Ortiz Jr., to keep his mount in touch with the projected leaders Scotland and National Treasure while saving ground in order to secure a better spot at the top of the stretch and set up this talented runner’s finishing kick. Mike Repole won the 2011 Travers with Stay Thirsty, who was trained by Pletcher. Pletcher’s first win in this race came back in 2005 with Flower Alley. Irad Ortiz, who won the Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey last year among four times in his career, is seeking his first Travers victory and surprisingly has never finished in the top three positions through 11 career starts.

Bet Forte in the Travers Stakes

Janet Garaguso/NYRA

2. Arcangelo (5-2)

Jockey: Javier Castellano

Trainer: Jena Antonucci

Owner: Blue Rose Farm

Career record: 5 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $1,067,400

Earnings per start: $213,480

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 100

Pedigree: Arrogate – Modeling, by Tapit

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Arcangelo provided one of the undisputed feel-good stories of 2023 in horse racing when he won the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets June 10, making Jena Antonucci the first woman to train a winner of a Triple Crown race. Antonucci decided not long after the Belmont to condition Arcangelo all the way up to the Travers Stakes, bypassing a prep race in July, and the ridgling has been turning heads every morning he’s exercised at Saratoga in recent weeks. He won his third race in a row in the Belmont, making a bid for the lead entering the stretch while racing on an inside path and drawing clear of a quality field to win by 1 ½ lengths. Overall, Arcangelo has been patiently handled by Antonucci through only five career starts and appears to have plenty of untapped potential. Plus, jockey Javier Castellano, who has been aboard Arcangelo for all three of his victories, keeps the mount for the Travers, and the Hall of Famer is the all-time winningest jockey in this historic race with six victories. Arcangelo should be fit and ready for a career-best effort in the Travers, and if he can pull it off against a field that’s arguably even more formidable than the one he faced in the Belmont Stakes, an Eclipse Award is in his future. Castellano’s six Travers wins came aboard Bernardini (2006), Afleet Express (2010), Stay Thirsty (2011), V. E. Day (2014), Keen Ice (2015), and Catholic Boy (2018).

Bet Arcangelo in the Travers Stakes

Susie Raisher/NYRA

3. Tapit Trice (12-1)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owners: Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable

Career record: 8 starts – 4 wins – 0 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,063,650

Earnings per start: $132,956

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 103

Pedigree: Tapit – Danzatrice, by Dunkirk

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: After winning four races in a row from December 2022 through April and establishing himself as a leading divisional contender, Tapit Trice has apparently reached a plateau a rung below that elite level. He was sent off as the second post-time betting choice in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve but endured some bumping and a wide trip to finish a well-beaten seventh, rebounded somewhat to finish a late-closing third in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and then failed to fire in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, finishing fifth by 8 ¾ lengths. Now he seeks redemption against a Travers Stakes field that includes several horses who have already defeated him, and the fact that this Grade 1 winner and millionaire could possibly go off at double-digit odds speaks to its quality. Those looking for positive signs should note that Tapit Trice only finished a nose behind stablemate Forte out of second-place in the Belmont and that he should benefit from racing on Saratoga’s dirt track for the first time as opposed to the speed-favoring surface at Monmouth that didn’t suit his late-closing style. This well-bred colt has only cracked the triple-digit Equibase Speed Figure mark once in his career – when he won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes last spring at Keeneland – and he’ll need to do much more than that to pull off the upset in the Travers. Filling out the trifecta or superfecta is a more realistic outcome. Tapit Trice will add blinkers for the Travers, and Todd Pletcher told NYRA’s Acacia Courtney Clement after the Aug. 22 draw that he hopes to improve this colt’s focus getting out of the gate and staying in touch with the field. Pletcher has two Travers wins in his Hall of Fame career: Flower Alley in 2005 and Stay Thirsty in 2011. Gainesway Farm co-owned 2010 Travers winner Afleet Express. Jockey Jose Ortiz takes the mount on Tapit Trice for the first time Saturday; he’s finished second twice in this race but has never won it.

Bet Tapit Trice in the Travers Stakes

Susie Raisher/NYRA

4. Mage (4-1)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Trainer: Gustavo Delgado Sr.

Owners: OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and CMNWLTH

Career record: 6 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $2,488,700

Earnings per start: $414,783

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 104

Pedigree: Good Magic – Puca, by Big Brown

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Mage is yet another live win contender in what is a very competitive renewal of the Travers Stakes. Three and a half months ago, this Florida-based runner entered horse racing history with a visually impressive, rallying win in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. While he couldn’t secure the second jewel of the Triple Crown, finishing a decent third in the Preakness Stakes, he came back with an encouraging runner-up effort behind Geaux Rocket Ride in the July 22 TVG.com Haskell Stakes. In the 1 1/8-mile Haskell, he engaged the eventual winner at the top of the stretch before leveling out late. Trainer Gustavo Delgado said that he was using the Haskell as Mage’s prep for the Travers Stakes and did not have his charge cranked up at 100%. If that is indeed the case and Mage can cycle back to his breakthrough Kentucky Derby effort, he’s got a good chance to vault back atop the 3-year-old rankings with a win Saturday. It has to be noted, however, that Mage will face Forte again for the first time since his rival bested him by a length in the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa, and he’ll also square off against the only horse to defeat Forte in nearly a year in Arcangelo. This easy-to-root-for colt is dependent on a fast pace to set up his closing rally, and that’s a dicey proposition in a small field with only a couple of front-running types in Scotland and National Treasure. That being said, it would be a surprise if Mage did not show up with his usual competitive effort, which should be good enough to ensure a top-three finish. Jockey Luis Saez, who rode Mage in the Florida Derby, was initally pegged to ride him in the Travers, but Saez was injured in a race on Aug. 23 and will be replaced by Flavien Prat. Prat has finished third in the past two editions of the Travers and is seeking his first win in the race. 

Bet Mage in the Travers Stakes

Eclipse Sportswire

5. National Treasure (8-1)

Jockey: John Velazquez

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan

Career record: 7 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,365,000

Earnings per start: $195,000

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 102

Pedigree: Quality Road – Treasure, by Medaglia d’Oro

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure enters the Travers somewhat overshadowed by several opponents who have been training at Saratoga for weeks while this Bob Baffert trainee has been preparing at Del Mar in California. He has put in a series of fast breezes for Baffert over the past two-plus months, however, and figures to be ready for a rebound effort after he found the 1 ½-mile distance of the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets too taxing and finished sixth of nine runners. In the Preakness – which was National Treasure’s first win since his September 2022 debut at Del Mar – he benefited from an expert ride by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who aggressively pushed National Treasure to the lead in a field lacking early speed and then settled him down to set a soft pace. That left plenty in the tank for this colt to draw on as he gamely responded to the challenge of Blazing Sevens and won by a head, and it’s possible that Velazquez will attempt to navigate a similar trip come Saturday in the Travers, when he will race without blinkers. National Treasure will be competing against another runner with a frontrunning style in Scotland, however, and that gelding may have more upside going into this race with only four career starts (three wins) and a much higher last-race Equibase Speed Figure. If for some reason Scotland fails to vie for the lead and National Treasure has things his own way for the first mile or so, he should be in contention into early stretch at least – although even then, the final furlong of this classic distance looms as a major obstacle to his win chances. Bob Baffert has won the Travers three times, with Point Given in 2001, Arrogate in 2016 (who set the stakes and track record of 1:59.36 for 1 ¼ miles), and West Coast in 2017. John Velazquez has two Travers wins on his résumé: Flower Alley in 2005 and Code of Honor in 2019. Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables was part of the partnership that raced 2018 Travers winner Catholic Boy.

Bet National Treasure in the Travers Stakes

Coady Photography

6. Disarm (8-1)

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds

Career record: 8 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $750,200

Earnings per start: $93,775

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 106

Pedigree: Gun Runner – Easy Tap, by Tapit

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Disarm’s connections will be vying for their second consecutive Travers Stakes win Saturday after celebrating last August when Epicenter dominated a good field by 5 ¼ lengths. A few weeks before Epicenter’s Travers romp, this son of 2017 Horse of the Year and outstanding young sire Gun Runner unleashed a similarly impressive performance in his second start, taking a seven-furlong Saratoga maiden by 6 ¼ lengths, and Steve Asmussen has been high on Disarm’s potential ever since. Since coming back for this 3-year-old campaign, this colt has not had an outright bad effort through six starts, but he’s only got one win to show for it – a gritty half-length score over Verifying in the June 11 Matt Winn Stakes at Ellis Park. In his subsequent race, Disarm was reserved off the pace in the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by DK Horse at Saratoga and briefly loomed a threat when angling out in early stretch, but he failed to sustain a rally and finished fourth out of five starters, defeated 2 ¼ lengths by Forte. Obviously, he’ll need a much better effort to be competitive in the Travers Stakes, and on the positive side, he earned a career-best 106 Equibase Speed Figure in the Jim Dandy and has posted a couple of solid workouts for Asmussen since then. The Travers’ 1 ¼-mile distance should be right up Disarm’s alley and elite finishing jockey Joel Rosario is back aboard this colt for the fourth straight start, which began with a fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. He’s an outsider as a win candidate, but a logical horse to consider for exacta and trifecta tickets at what should be good odds, and he adds blinkers for this race which his connections hope will help him concentrate more in the late stages. In addition to Epicenter’s win for Winchell Thoroughbreds and Asmussen, that duo also finished a close second in the 2021 Travers with Midnight Bourbon.

Bet Disarm in the Travers Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA

7. Scotland (12-1)

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Trainer: Bill Mott

Owner: LNJ Foxwoods

Career record: 4 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $211,210

Earnings per start: $52,803

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 107

Pedigree: Good Magic – Gemswick Park, by Speightstown

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This lightly raced but talented runner is the Travers wild card as he makes his first graded stakes appearance against an accomplished field. Scotland enters having won three of four career starts since debuting back in March, his last a very impressive 3 ¼-length romp in the 1 1/8-mile Curlin Stakes July 21 at Saratoga, which was his first start around two turns. Scotland set a contested pace in the Curlin and kicked clear in upper stretch to win going away, earning a 107 Equibase Speed Figure that is actually the second-best career number among Travers contenders, behind Forte’s 109 earned in the Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by DK Horse. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has since put Scotland through a series of good workouts at the Spa over the past month, topped by a bullet four-furlong workout Aug. 20 in :47.60, after which he told NYRA’s press office, “I think we’re fit enough.” In his races prior to the Curlin Stakes, Scotland won twice while coming from off the pace and also finished second by a nose, so he’s proved to not be a “need-the-lead” type. On the other hand, his main pace threat in the Travers, National Treasure, is 2-for-2 when leading at every point of call and 0-for-5 otherwise, so it will be interesting to see how jockey Junior Alvarado decides to ride Scotland come Saturday afternoon as he breaks from the outside post position. He faces a big class test, to be sure, but this gelding could be up to it and is definitely worth using in exotic bets based on his excellent record to date and his eye-catching performance on Saratoga’s track last month. Bill Mott has finished second in the Travers three times but has yet to win the race.

Bet Scotland in the Travers Stakes