The Travers Stakes is considered the oldest American thoroughbred stakes race. The classic race was inaugurated in 1864 and named for Saratoga Race Course founder, William R. Travers. Being the best known race hosted by Saratoga, almost annually, this race is celebrated with a trophy, a blanket and… a canoe. The trophy is an elegant Tiffany piece named the Man O’ War Cup. The blanket is large and made with carnations. Meanwhile, the canoe, that is displayed in the track’s infield pond, is painted in the color of the Travers winner’s silks.
The $1.25 million dollar Grade I Runhappy Travers Stakes will take place this Saturday, 8/24/19. Nicknamed, “The Mid-Summer Derby”, the 1 and 1/4 mile (10 furlongs) dirt race for 3 year-old thoroughbreds will post at 5:44 P.M. ET. It is the 11th race on a card of a lucky 13. Gates open at 7 A.M. ET and first post is at 11:35 A.M. Three races on the day’s card are Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” berths. In all, 6 of the 13 races at Saratoga on Saturday are stakes. Fox will televise the races from 5 to 6 P.M. TVG will also cover Saratoga’s stakes.
Twelve talented Thoroughbreds take to the track to triumph in the Travers! Here they are by post/horse/jockey/trainer/owner/and morning- line odds:
- Owendale/Florent Geroux/Brad H. Cox/Rupp Racing/6-1
- Code of Honor/John R. Velazquez/Claude R. McGaughey III/W.S. Farish/4-1
- Highest Honors/Luis Saez/Chad C. Brown/W.S. Farish/10-1
- Laughing Fox/Ricardo Santana Jr./Steven M. Asmussen/Alex and JoAnn Lieblong/30-1
- Everfast/Martin Chuan/Dale L. Romans/Calumet Farms/30-1
- Tacitus/Jose L. Ortiz/William I. Mott/Juddmonte Farms, Inc/5-2
- Mucho Gusto/Joseph Talamo/Bob Baffert/Michael Lund Peterson/6-1
- Chess Chief/Mike W. Smith/Dallas Stewart/Estate of James J. Coleman Jr./30-1
- Looking At Bikinis/Javier Castellano/Chad C. Brown/Long Lake Stable, LLC., Madaket Stables LLC., Thomas Coleman and Doheny Racing Stable/10-1
- Scars Are Cool/Tyler Gaffalione/Stanley M. Hough/Sagamore Farm LLC./30-1
- Endorsed/Joel Rosario/Kiaran P. McLaughlin/Godolphin LLC./15-1
- Tax/Irad Ortiz Jr./Danny Gargan/R.A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch and Corms Racing Stable/6-1
The 150th Travers will be fun to witness and wager. This is one of the finest Stakes for three- year old thoroughbreds and a fantastic opportunity to see how this elite class is developing. Who do you think will be chosen for Horse of the Year?
I’d like to thank our regularly contributing handicapper for providing all of the photos in this post. Be sure not to miss this weekend’s racing and to share Thoroughbred U.
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