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Saratoga Race Course has become synonymous with late summer horse racing over the years. This small town in upstate New York has been a premier horse racing destination going back quite a few years.
One of this track’s biggest races during the summer season is the Travers Stakes. This is also one of the biggest stakes events in all of horse racing leading up to the annual Breeders’ Cup Classic in early November.
All told, there are six major graded events on this Saturday’s race card at Saratoga as the track’s premier racing day of the summer meet.
While the Travers is the biggest betting event, the other five stakes races should garner some major interest from bettors all across the US. When you add it all up, there is close to $5 million up for grabs in total prize money on this Saturday’s Saratoga card.
2021 Travers Stakes Picks
When: Saturday, August 28th 2021
Where: Saratoga Race Course
The Travers is a Grade 1 stakes race open to three-year old Thoroughbreds. Contested on the dirt track at Saratoga, it covers 1¼ miles in total distance. The total prize money in play for this year’s Travers Stakes is $1,250,000.
Top Choice
The projected field for this year’s Travers at Horse Racing Nation has seven horses listed as probable. My top choice to win is Essential Quality as the likely favorite when the morning line is released. Trained by Brian Cox, this Kentucky-bred colt has made quite a name for himself as a three-year old.
Originally favored to win the 2021 Kentucky Derby, he ended up fourth in that race before winning the Belmont Stakes as the final Triple Crown race this season. The son of Tapit then went on to win this year’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 31. In that race, he covered the 1 1/8 miles on dirt in 1:49.92 past Keepmeinmind and Masqueparade. Each of those two horses are also listed as probable entries for Saturday.
With the exception of the fourth-place finish at Churchill Downs, Essential Quality has won each of his other seven career events.
Second Choice
I decided to use trainer Steve Asmussen’s Midnight Bourbon as my second choice in the Travers. There is some concern with this three-year old Kentucky-bred colt following his fade to sixth in this year’s Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 17. However, he is still a proven commodity given his record this season.
After placing sixth in the Kentucky Derby, the son of Tiznow went on to take second place in the Preakness Stakes as the second leg of the Triple Crown. He has been able to finish in the money in eight of 10 races over the course of his early racing career.
Third Choice
Even with Keepmeinmind and Masqueparade projected to be in the Travers’ field, I decided to stretch the odds a bit with trainer Todd Pletcher’s Dynamic One as my third choice. Sired by Union Rags, he looked sharp his last time out with a victory in the ungraded Curlin Stakes at Saratoga on July 30.
His winning time in that 1 1/8-mile run on dirt was 1:49.36. This helped to ease the memory of a very disappointing 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. The highlight of his three-year old campaign was a second-place finish in this year’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct as a key Kentucky Derby prep.
