The 156th running of the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) is next Saturday (Aug. 23) at Saratoga Race Course. It should be a dandy, featuring Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner Sovereignty.
The showcase event of the summer racing season has delivered some of the most thrilling moments in the sport, from upsets of Triple Crown champions (Gallant Fox, American Pharoah), to a disqualification that lifted Alydar over Triple Crown-winning rival Affirmed, to the Jaipur-Ridan race-long, head-to-head duel, to a dead heat between Alpha and Golden Ticket.
Even last year’s Travers – star filly Thorpedo Anna beaten a head by Fierceness -- was a doozy.
The 1 ¼-mile race for 3-year-olds is the oldest major thoroughbred race in America, dating to 1864.
The race will be televised on FOX and FOX Sports.
A year after Upset beat the great Man o’War in the Sanford for 2-year-olds, it was Man o’War beating Upset in the Travers.
Jim Dandy, a 100-1 longshot, upsets Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox.
Triple Crown winner Whirlaway adds the Travers Stakes to his Hall of Fame resume.
Considered one of the greatest Travers in history, Jaipur won by a nose in track record time over Ridan after a head-to-head duel throughout the entire race.
Triple Crown winner Affirmed crossed the finish line ahead of Alydar in the 1978 Travers Stakes, but Affirmed was disqualified for interference and Alydar was declared the winner.
Canada-bred Runaway Groom (13-1) beat Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Gato Del Sol, Preakness (G1) winner Aloma’s Ruler, and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Conquistador Cielo.
Thunder Rumble became the first New York-bred to win the Travers since 1867.
With a thunderstorm descending in near darkness, Birdstone (who spoiled Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown bid in the Belmont Stakes a few months earlier) won for Saratoga socialite owner Marylou Whitney.
Golden Ticket (33-1) and favorite Alpha hit the wire together, resulting in two winners for the first time in the history of the Travers (In 1874, the race also ended in a dead heat, but Attila was declared the official winner after a runoff with Acrobat)
American Pharoah, the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, was upset by Keen Ice as a crowd capped at 50,000 watched in stunned silence.
Arrogate, in his first stakes race, won by 13 ½ lengths and set a track record of 1:59.36 for 1 ¼ miles.
All three of the year’s Triple Crown race winners ran for just the fourth time -- Mage, National Treasure, and Arcangelo. Arcangelo won.
Voted the top race of 2024, it was a showdown featuring top 3-year-old colts Fierceness, Sierra Leone, and Dornoch, and star filly Thorpedo Anna. Fierceness dug down in the final strides and held off Thorpedo Anna by a head with Sierra Leone third, and Dornoch fourth.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
