Travers Stakes Handicapping Picks
Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2024 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2024 (G1) Travers is set for August 24 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, NY. Here’s a preview of our top contenders.
Travers Stakes Preview
- Race: Travers Stakes
- Purse: $1.25 million
- Track: Saratoga Race Course
- Date: August 24, 2024
- Post Time: 6:10 PM (ET)
- Live: Travers Stakes Odds: Click Here
Before we can give you our expert 2024 Travers Stakes free pick, we have to break down the entries! In fact, we’d love to hear from you after you’ve given this post a read to see if you see an angle that we don’t!
2024 Travers Stakes Handicapping
Often referred to as the Mid-Summer Derby, the (G1) Travers is the marquee summer race for three-year-old horses in the United States. It also happens to be the oldest stakes race in the US, with the first Travers taking place in 1864, 11 years before the first Kentucky Derby.
This year’s Travers is one of the most highly anticipated in years, as the field includes not only three of the biggest names from this past spring’s Triple Crown trail, but will also include a super filly taking on the boys. Only seven fillies have ever won the Travers, and the last time it happened was way back in 1915.
The 2024 Tracers has drawn eight runners, and they’ll go 1 1/4 miles on the Saratoga dirt.
Odds listed here are provided by the Saratoga track oddsmaker.
2024 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Dornoch Race Odds: 5-2
After a tough trip in the Kentucky Derby resulted in a 10th-place finish for Dornoch, he was all but ignored by bettors in the Belmont Stakes. But he proved his doubters wrong when he won that race at odds of 18-1, and backed it up last out by winning the (G1) Haskell.
In both cases he had the lead, lost the lead, and then battled back to win, something of a rare feat at this level of racing. He does his best running when he’s on the front end, and in this field he just may have to put up yet other late fight to get to the wire first.
2024 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Fierceness Race Odds: 3-1
With just a glance at the past performance information, even a novice handicapper can spot the good race-bad race pattern in the career of Fierceness. He can totally dominate, as he did in winning the (G1) Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year and the (G1) Florida Derby this past spring.
Or he can throw in a complete clunker, as he did in last year’s (G1) Champagne Stakes – finishing 7th – and this year’s Kentucky Derby, where he was 15th as the post-time favourite. There’s no doubt as to his talent and he comes in off a very solid win in the (G2) Jim Dandy at Saratoga one month ago.
Thorpedo Anna Race Odds: 3-1
After reeling off four straight wins this year by a combined 18 lengths against other fillies, Thorpedo Anna has nothing left to prove versus her own gender. That being the case, the connections have decided to take a shot at history – and likely Horse of the Year honours – by running her against males on Saturday.
She’s proven to be very versatile and can win on the lead or coming from off the pace, over both wet and dry surfaces. But this will be the toughest test of her career at a distance she has yet to try. Having said that, she does have a win at the slightly short 1 3/16 miles, albeit against much easier.
Sierra Leone Race Odds: 7-2
While it’s unclear as to how the race will unfold for the top three contenders here, there’s little doubt as to what we’ll see from Sierra Leone. He’ll drop back early and then make a powerful move on the turn and through the stretch.
That’s the style he’s shown so far in winning efforts like the (G1) Blue Grass Stakes, and oh-so-close efforts in the Kentucky Derby (2nd by a nose), the Belmont (3rd by 1 1/2 lengths) and 2nd (by 1 length) last out behind Fierceness in the Jim Dandy.
What works his favour here is that he should get lots of early pace to close into.
Here’s My 2024 Travers Stakes Free Pick.
Despite the fact we have seen some big long shots win the Travers in recent years, and Saratoga can be a graveyard of champions, I don’t expect to see an upset on Saturday. The four top contenders just seem to be that much better than the four other challengers, and I can’t see all four being beaten.
Among those, I just can’t trust which version of Fierceness will show up, so he’s hard to take for the win. Thorpedo Anna is an outstanding talent, but the question can be asked as to how good her competition among fillies has been. And while Sierra Leone is always a lock to hit the board, in his last two he couldn’t get by Dornoch, and then couldn’t get by Fierceness.
Although Haskell Stakes winners haven’t done well at the Travers, I’m going to buck that trend and play Dornoch for the win, because he’s simply the one I trust the most. He’s been very good in his last two, and although he’s going to have to fend off a lot of pressure up front, he’s shown that he has a lot of fight when the battle heats up.
I see no reason why he can’t do it again. So he’s the win pick, in an exacta with Sierra Leone.
Full Field: 2024 Travers Stakes Odds
By post position
- #1 – Thorpedo Anna 3-1
- #2 – Sierra Leone 7-2
- #3 – Unmatched Wisdom 8-1
- #4 – Corporate Power 15-1
- #5 – Batten Down 20-1
- #6 – Honor Marie 20-1
- #7 – Dornoch 5-2
- #8 – Fierceness 3-1
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