Travers Stakes Betting Odds
Widely known as the Midsummer Derby, the Travers Stakes is the premier summer race for three-year-olds. Held annually at Saratoga, this horse race covers 1¼ miles on dirt and regularly draws the top contenders from the Triple Crown trail. The 2025 Travers Stakes is set for Saturday, August 23, with a $1.25 million purse up for grabs—making it one of the most prestigious and lucrative races of the year.
Travers Stakes Odds and Favorites
Travers Stakes betting odds will come to sportsbooks as the Travers Stakes draws closer. The race is scheduled for Saturday, August 23, meaning that the draw will be made around August 20. As the week of the race draws closer, the field will become clearer and sportsbooks will begin to offer odds on the horses in the race.
Travers Stakes Favorites
The 2025 Travers Stakes, set for Saturday, August 23, features a deep crop of standout three-year-olds. Early betting favorite Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher, returns to Saratoga after a dominant Kentucky Derby win and a sharp prep run. Known for his front-running power, Fierceness will look to prove he can carry that speed over 1¼ miles against top competition.
Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty looms as a serious challenger, bringing a strong stamina profile and the ability to close into a fast pace. Journalism, winner of the Preakness Stakes, adds further intrigue with his versatility and tactical speed. All three Triple Crown race winners are expected to enter, setting the stage for a rare and highly anticipated clash.
Other notable contenders include Mindframe, an up-and-coming colt from Brad Cox’s barn, and Domestic Product, who has already shown solid form over the Saratoga surface. As the draw and final workouts approach, sportsbooks will begin sharpening the odds for what could be the most competitive Travers in years.
Where to Bet the Travers Stakes Online
Now is the time to make sure you know the best place to bet the Travers Stakes online. Choosing an online sportsbook can be difficult. There are hundreds of options out there, and all of them offer different features, bonuses, and odds.
Fortunately, our betting experts have done the research. Our guide to the best online sportsbooks tells you everything you need to know about choosing a trusted sportsbook and getting the most for your betting money. Learn about your options, make an account at one or more sportsbooks that give you the features you want, and then be ready to bet the Travers Stakes online with confidence.
Travers Stakes History
The Travers Stakes is one of the oldest horse races in North America. The first-ever Travers Stakes happened in 1864, three years before the first running of the Belmont Stakes. Though the race has been run at distances ranging from 1 1/8 miles to 1 3/4 miles, the race currently covers 1 1/4 miles around the Saratoga dirt.
In addition to the biggest share of the $1.25 million purse, the Travers Stakes winner is awarded other traditional spoils. He wins a blanket of red and white roses, as well as the Man O’ War Cup. The winner’s silks are also painted on a canoe in the Saratoga infield pond, as well as on a jockey statue on the Saratoga grounds.
Travers Stakes Horses
Even though the Travers Stakes has always been run at Saratoga, in New York State, the race’s first winner back in 1864 was named after a different haven of American horse racing: his name was Kentucky.
It is only fitting that the trophy in the Travers Stakes is named the Man O’ War Cup. After all, Man O’ War himself won the race in 1920. In that race he defeated Upset, remembered to history as the only horse who ever defeated Man O’ War, a feat he accomplished in the 1919 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga.
1941 winner Whirlaway is the only Triple Crown winner to add the Travers to his accolades. Others have tried and failed. In 1930, Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox lost the Travers to 100-1 shot Jim Dandy, now the namesake of the premier local prep. 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah also found defeat in the Travers, being run down late by longshot Keen Ice.
Affirmed, the Triple Crown winner in 1978, came closer than anyone to matching Whirlaway’s feat. He crossed the wire first in the 1978 Travers. However, he was disqualified for coming in on Alydar, causing him to hit the fence and almost go down. Alydar, who had finished second behind Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races that year, was placed first after the incident.
Some of the most engaging editions of the Travers have featured all three Triple Crown race winners clashing in Saratoga. Sometimes, a new face comes and beats them all! In 1918 Kentucky Derby winner Exterminator, Preakness winner War Cloud, and Belmont winner Johren all met in the Travers, but Sun Briar emerged victorious. In 1983 it was longshot Canadian-bred Sun Briar who beat Gato Del Sol, Aloma’s Ruler, and Conquistador Cielo.
Most recently, this happened in 2017 when Always Dreaming, Cloud Computing, and Tapwrit all clashed in the Travers. However, California raider West Coast was ready to take them all down under a frontrunning ride by Mike Smith.
Possibly the most thrilling edition of the Travers Stakes happened in 1962. Two of the best horses in the country, Ridan and Jaipur, met in the race. Both had been top-class horses at both two and three. They raced in, as the chart caller from the Daily Racing Form out it, “a torrid duel” around the track. After ten furlongs, just a nose separated the two, with Jaipur getting up to beat Ridan in track record time.
Travers Stakes Trainers
Trainer Bert Mulholland leads all trainers with five wins in the Travers. He won his first in 1939 with Eight Thirty, and his last in 1963 with Crewman.
Right on his heels with four Travers Stakes winners is the still-active Shug McGaughey. He won his first two Travers in consecutive years with Easy Goer (1989) and Rhythm (1990). He won again with Coronado’s Quest (1998), then added his fourth over twenty years later with Code of Honor (2019).
Other active trainers with multiple wins in the Travers Stakes include three-time winners D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert, and two-time winners Todd Pletcher and James Jerkens.
Travers Stakes Jockeys
As of July 2025, Javier Castellano remains the winningest jockey in Travers Stakes history, with seven victories—a record that includes wins aboard Bernardini (2006), Afleet Express (2010), Stay Thirsty (2011), V. E. Day (2014), Keen Ice (2015), Catholic Boy (2018), and most recently Arcangelo (2023).
Despite his age, Castellano is still active and targeting an eighth Travers title this August. His recent Triple Crown success aboard Mage in the Kentucky Derby and Arcangelo in the Belmont Stakes underscores his continued elite status in American racing.
Other active riders with multiple Travers wins include Mike Smith, who has four wins (most recently aboard West Coast in 2017), and John Velázquez, with two victories (most recently aboard Code of Honor in 2019).
Travers Stakes Betting
Once you have made your account on the top sportsbook that best fits your needs, it is time to start thinking about how to bet on the Travers Stakes.
Saratoga Wagering Menu
When deciding how to bet the Travers Stakes, you can make the full range of horse racing wagers. Wagers on races at Saratoga include:
- Win: Bet a horse to finish first
- Place: Bet a horse to finish first or second
- Show: Bet a horse to finish first, second, or third
- Exacta: Bet two horses to finish first and second in order
- Trifecta: Bet three horses to finish first, second, and third in order
- Superfecta: Bet four horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth in that order.
You can also bet boxes, which cover every possible combination in an exacta, trifecta, or superfecta, as well as keys, which center around one horse to finish in the top two, three, or four with another group of horses around them as possibilities. Your Travers Stakes best bet should be defined on what you think the horses’ capabilities are, compared to what prices they offer.
Saratoga also offers multi-race wagers, which require the winner to pick the winners of consecutive races. Those wagers include the Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6.
Travers Stakes Odds
There is a storied history of longshots in the Travers Stakes, and recent editions of the race have continued that legacy. Even the most impressive winner of the Travers in recent years, 2016 winner Arrogate, was a 11-1 longshot.
These are the win bet payouts in the last 15 editions of the Travers Stakes, with winning favorites marked with an asterisk:
- 2024 – Fierceness* – $3.00
- 2023 – Arcangelo – $7.40
- 2022 – Epicenter* – $4.00
- 2021 – Essential Quality* – $2.90
- 2020 – Tiz the Law* $3.00
- 2019 – Code of Honor $10.80
- 2018 – Catholic Boy $16.20
- 2017 – West Coast $14.20
- 2016 – Arrogate $25.40
- 2015 – Keen Ice $34.00
- 2014 – V.E. Day $41.00
- 2013 – Will Take Charge $21.20
- 2012 – Golden Ticket $26.80/Alpha* $4.10 (dead heat)
- 2011 – Stay Thirsty* $6.80
- 2010 – Afleet Express $16.00
- 2009 – Summer Bird $7.80
- 2008 – Colonel John $10.40
- 2007 – Street Sense* $2.70
- 2006 – Bernardini* $2.70
- 2005 – Flower Alley $8.00
In the past 15 runnings, only five favorites have won outright—Fierceness (2024), Epicenter (2022), Essential Quality (2021), Tiz the Law (2020), and Stay Thirsty (2011)—with another (Alpha in 2012) sharing the victory in a dead heat. The rest of the time, longshots have ruled the day, often paying $20 or more on a $2 win bet. Bettors should keep that in mind as they evaluate the 2025 field.
Travers Stakes Handicapping
As the Travers Stakes draws closer we will have full analysis of the race. However, if you are thinking about future wagers, there are things you can keep in mind.
First, look at prep race winners, especially local prep race winners. Even though longshots can win the Travers, and sometimes the winners come out of smaller stakes races or even allowance races, horses coming into the race in good form tend to do well.
The Jim Dandy (G2) tends to be a better predictor of the Travers than the Haskell (G1). The Jim Dandy winner has won the Travers seven times, and a win in the Jim Dandy proves that the horse is not only running well, but can run well over the Saratoga surface. Even the ungraded Curlin Stakes at Saratoga has produced a Travers winner, V. E. Day in 2014.
Place these bets and more at top online sportsbooks.
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