TheTravers Stakes is an AmericanGrade IThoroughbred horse race held atSaratoga Race Course inSaratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Midsummer Derby"[2] and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to international classifications, behind only the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.[3] First held in 1864, it is the oldest stakes race in the United States specifically for 3-year-olds,[4] and was named forWilliam R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers. The race was not run in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1911, and 1912. From 1943-5, it was run atBelmont Park instead of Saratoga due to the war.
The race is the highlight of the summer race meeting at Saratoga, just as theBelmont Stakes is the highlight of the spring meeting atBelmont Park. The purse was increased to $1,000,000 in 1999 and then to $1,250,000 in 2014. The purse for the 2015 renewal was increased to $1,600,000 due to the presence of Triple Crown winnerAmerican Pharoah.[1]
From 2018 until 2022 the Travers Stakes was sponsored byJim McIngvale under the name of retired stallionRunhappy.[5]
The 155th Travers Stakes will be run on Saturday, August 24, 2024.[6]
The winner's trophy, known as theMan o' War Cup, was designed byTiffany & Co. Its namesake,Man o' War, won this race in 1920. The trophy was won by Man o' War in a special match race in 1920 againstSir Barton, the 1919 American Triple Crown winner. The wife of ownerSamuel Riddle donated the trophy in 1936 as the permanent award for winning the race. Each year, the name of the winner is inscribed on the Cup. A gold-plated replica is presented to the winner each year by a member of the Riddle family.[7][8]
The winner of the race is presented with a blanket of carnations, which is approximately 10 feet long and requires about 1,500 flowers and is draped over thewithers of the winner. The blanket is red in color outlined with a fringe of white carnation and a large "T" also in white. The carnations are red and white, which are the colors of Saratoga Race Track. The blanket is prepared the night before the race by a Saratoga florist.[9]
Winning connections are also given a lawn jockey statue custom-painted in the silk colors of the winning owner to be displayed at the racecourse entrance for the next year.
Since 1961, the colors of the Travers winner have been painted onto a canoe which sits on a pond in the infield. The canoe itself has been a fixture at the track since 1926.[7]
The 1921 Travers Stakes is known for abetting scandal. In those days,bookmaking rather thanparimutuel wagering was the primary method of taking bets on horse races.
The original field was fairly light with the favorite, the fillyPrudery, owned byHarry Payne Whitney, facing no serious competition. ThenArnold Rothstein entered his colt,Sporting Blood, ostensibly to pick up second place. A few days before the race, however, Rothstein had learned that Prudery was off her feed.[10] He knew he might have a real chance to win. Initially, the odds on the filly were 1-4, while Rothstein's colt was 5–2. On the day of the race, however, a leading three-year-old,Grey Lag, was entered by trainerSam Hildreth. Grey Lag immediately became the favorite, with Prudery the second choice, driving the odds on Sporting Blood up to 3–1. Rothstein bet $150,000 on his horse. Just beforepost time, Grey Lag was scratched with no explanation. During the race, Sporting Blood overtook the ailing Prudery, gaining his owner nearly half a million dollars, including wagers and thepurse.
Although many smelled foul play, it was never proven that Hildreth received any payoff or that there was aconspiracy between him and Rothstein.[10]
In 1962,Jaipur won by a nose-bob in track record time over the arguably more talentedRidan after a long, head-to-head battle over the entire mile and a quarter. Still written and talked about today, the race is listed in the 2006 book Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments written by the staff ofBlood-Horse Publications. The race result determined which colt would be named the 1962U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Horse.
In 1978,Affirmed finished the Travers ahead of rivalAlydar but was disqualified for crowding Alydar off the rail. Alydar was awarded the win. It was the last of 10 times the two would race each other in one of the sport's greatest rivalries.
The 1997 Travers sawU.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockeysJerry Bailey andChris McCarron (aboardBehrens andDeputy Commander respectively) in a home-stretch duel wherein Deputy Commander prevailed. Adding to the drama was a thunderstorm which produced hail 24 hours before the race, and the uncertainty around whether or not McCarron would be present after the recent death of his mother.[11]
American Pharoah after his defeat in the 2015 Travers
In 2001,Point Given won the Travers before a record Travers Stakes day attendance of 60,486. The total betting handle was $34,529,273, which was a Saratoga record at that time.[7][12]
On August 25, 2012, Alpha and Golden Ticket finished in a dead heat for first place – meaning they could not be separated in the photo finish. Following the race, two canoes were put in the infield pond to commemorate the winners. It was the first official tie in the race's history and the winning owners split the $800,000 first-place prize money.[13] In 1874, Attila and Acrobat dead heated but were forced to run off to break the tie.[14]
On August 29, 2015, the 146th Travers Stakes sawTriple Crown winnerAmerican Pharoah race[15] in front of a NYRA capped crowd of 50,000, making the event a sellout for the first time ever.[16] In addition, the purse was raised to $1.6 million. The race reaffirmed Saratoga's reputation as the "graveyard of champions" whenKeen Ice defeated American Pharoah.[17]
In 2016, The 147th Travers was equally notable asArrogate rolled home to win by 13 1/2 lengths and set a new stakes record, finishing the race in 1:59:36. Arrogate's victory helped Bob Baffert to avenge his loss the previous year with American Pharoah.
In 2023,Arcangelo by Arrogate won the 154th Travers trained byJena Antonucci, the first woman to have a horse she trained win one of the three races in American horse racing's triple crown.[18] The horse was ridden in the 2023 Belmont Stakes by jockeyJavier Castellano, winner aboardMage in the 2023Kentucky Derby.[19] Arcangelo was shipped to theSaratoga Race Course where he won the Travers.[20] by one length in a time of 2:02.23 over a muddy track making Antonucci the second female to win the race in its 154-year history. The horse was ridden by jockeyJavier Castellano who set a record of seven winnings in the race.
In 2024,Thorpedo Anna competed in the 155th Travers looking to become the first filly to win this race since 1915. Despite a late challenge down the home stretch,Fierceness ended up winning the race, defeating her by a nose at the wire.
theDarley Arabian (1700c) sire line (all branched through theEclipse (1764) line)[21] produced 127 Stakes winners (120 colts, 4 geldings, 3 fillies), including all winners from 2009 to present. The main branches of this sire line are:
theKing Fergus (1775) branch (all branched through theVoltigeur (1847) line), produced 15 winners. His sire line continued primarily through his sonVedette (1854) with 12 winners, due primarily to his sonGalopin (1872) with 8 winners (exclusively throughSt. Simon (1881), most recentlyThunder Rumble in1992)[22][23][24]
thePotoooooooo (1773) branch[25] produced 112 winners (all branched through theWaxy (1790) line). The primary branch of this sire line is throughWhalebone (1807), which has produced 109 winners. In turn, the primary branch continues throughSir Hercules (1826), which has produced 83 winners, and then theBirdcatcher (1833) branch[26] which produced 77 winners. From Birdcatcher, the branch ofThe Baron (1842) has produced 73 winners (exclusively through theStockwell (1849) line).[27] Birdcatcher's grandsonDoncaster (1870) siredBend Or (1877), whose sire line accounts for 66 winners.[28] The main branch of the Bend Or sire line continued through his sonBona Vista (1889) with 53 winners, exclusively through thePhalaris (1913) line, which has dominated in the last several decades (including all winners from 2009 to present) through the following sons:[29][30]
theSickle (1924) branch (22 winners exclusively throughNative Dancer (1950) with his win in the1953 Travers Stakes, exclusively through his sonRaise a Native (1961) with 21 winners, down throughMr Prospector (1970) with 18 winners through 9 different sons:Rhythm, with his win in the1990 Travers Stakes, and 8 other sons through their progeny (most recentlyArcangelo (through Mr Prospector's sonFappiano (1977), exclusively through his sonUnbridled (1987) with 6 winners) in2023));
thePharos (1920) branch, (27 winners all branched through theNearco (1935) line, through his sonsRoyal Charger (1942),Nearctic (1954), andNasrullah (1940)). The Royal Charger branch (exclusively through theHail To Reason (1958) line) produced 5 winners (most recentlyCatholic Boy in2018), the Nearctic branch produced 7 winners (exclusively through his sonNorthern Dancer (1961), most recentlyEpicenter in2022), while the Nasrullah branch produced 15 winners primarily due to his sonBold Ruler (1954) with 10 winners (primarily through his sonBoldnesian (1963) with 6 winners (exclusively through theA.P. Indy (1989) line), most recentlyEssential Quality in2021).
special notes:
the Whalebone (1807) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Sir Hercules (1826), and the secondary branch ofCamel (1822) which produced 21 winners (exclusively through theTouchstone (1831) line). The Camel branch continued primarily through two of this grandsons: theOrlando (1841) branch (8 winners, primarily throughHimyar (1875) with 6 winners, most recentlyHoly Bull in1994) and theNewminster (1848) branch (11 winners, primarily through theBay Ronald (1893) line with 6 winners, most recentlyLoud in1970).[31][32] A third branch through Whalebone is viaWaverley (exclusively through theBen Brush (1893) line) which produced 5 winners, most recentlyThinking Cap in1955.[33]
the Sir Hercules (1826) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Birdcatcher (1833), and the secondary branch ofFaugh-a-Ballagh (1841) which produced 6 winners (exclusively through theLeamington (1853) line), most recently1894 Travers Stakes winnerHenry of Navarre.[34]
the Stockwell (1849) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Doncaster (1870), and the secondary branch ofSt Albans (1857) which produced 5 winners (exclusively through theRock Sand (1900) line), most recently1963 Travers Stakes winnerCrewman.[35]
the Bend Or (1877) branch produced two main lines: the primary branch of Bona Vista (1889), and the secondary branch ofOrmonde (1883) which produced 8 winners (exclusively through theTeddy (1913) line), most recently1991 Travers Stakes winnerCorporate Report.[36]
theGodolphin Arabian (1724c) sire line[37] produced 14 winners (13 colts, 1 filly). The main branches of this sire (all branched through theWest Australian (1850) line) are:
theByerley Turk (1680c) sire line[52][53][54] produced 14 winners (10 colts, 1 gelding, 3 fillies). The main branches of this sire (all branched through theHerod (1758) line) are:
theWoodpecker (1773) branch produced 4 winners (all branched through theBuzzard (1787) line). The main branches of this sire line are:
theFlorizel (1768) branch produced 10 winners, all branched through theLexington (1850) line. Lexington sired 9 winners plus one additional direct sire line progeny, including:
