Travers 2015: Date, Post Positions, Saratoga Odds, Prize Money Purse and More
For those who have been, Saratoga Race Course is one of the most magical places in the sporting world. Right on par with iconic venues like Madison Square Garden, Lambeau Field, Yankee Stadium and Augusta National, Saratoga has seen its fair share of memorable moments.
The Super Bowl here in upstate New York, the Travers Stakes takes place at Saratoga, and it has never disappointed.
Last year, the race presented one of the most intense finishes in the race's history, as V.E. Day was able to make a late run at Wicked Strong—both trained by James Jerkens (son of the late, great H. Allen Jerkens)—to take the race by a neck. V.E. Day paid a whopping $41.00 to win that day.
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The year before that, Will Take Charge was able to make a similar run at the ever-speedy Moreno in order to best him by a nose—Will Take Charge paid $21.20 to win, while Moreno paid out a remarkable $25.40 to place, per Equibase.com.
One year before Will Take Charge and Moreno awed at the Spa, Golden Ticket and Alpha came down to the wire and were, in the words of the immortal Tom Durkin, "too close to call." The duo finished in a dead heat as the 33-1 long shot, Golden Ticket, couldn't quite hold off the hard-charging favorite, Alpha.
While all of that is history, there's something to be learned from past runnings of the Grade 1 Travers. No favorite goes in with a guaranteed victory, and that includes this year's runaway morning-line favorite, recent Triple Crown and Haskell Invitational winner American Pharoah.
Pharoah was never not going to run at Saratoga, though all the posturing and maybes did build quite a bit of hype as the 50,000 patron-admissions cap was reached two weeks ago. So, now we have the most famous horse in the world racing at what is arguably the most famous and revered track in the world.
What should you expect? Well, let's find out.
2015 Travers Stakes Info:
Where: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga New York
When: Saturday, August 29
Purse: $1.25 million ($1.6 million contingent upon American Pharoah running)
First Post: 11:45 a.m. ET
Travers Stakes Post Time: 5:46 p.m. ET
Where To Watch: NBC, NBC Live Extra
Post Positions, Runners and Odds
| 1 | Upstart | Richard Violette Jr. | Irad Ortiz | 15-1 |
| 2 | American Pharoah | Bob Baffert | Victor Espinoza | 1-5 |
| 3 | Mid Ocean | George Weaver | Manuel Franco | 50-1 |
| 4 | Texas Red | J. Keith Desormeaux | Kent Desormeaux | 8-1 |
| 5 | Frammento | Nick Zito | Jose Ortiz | 30-1 |
| 6 | Frosted | Kiaran McLaughlin | Joel Rosario | 6-1 |
| 7 | Keen Ice | Dale Romans | Javier Castellano | 12-1 |
| 8 | Tale of Verve | Dallas Stewart | Gary Stevens | 30-1 |
| 9 | King of New York | Kenneth McPeek | Julien Leparoux | 50-1 |
| 10 | Smart Transition | John Shirreffs | John Velazquez | 20-1 |
Travers Stakes Predictions
Pharoah is the best horse in this field, and there's really no way around that. He's run against all but three of the horses in this field, and he's never lost to them.
Why should you expect anything different?
Locals and naysayers will tell you "well, because this is Saratoga!" or even that, "he won't win, it's The Graveyard of Favorites."
Hogwash.
Pharoah is well-tested, and yes, he's also been run quite a bit—this will be his fifth race in 17 weeks—and one would think that the three-year-old superstar will have to fall off at some point.
Who's going to beat him, though? Two horses come to mind—Texas Red and Frosted—but we've seen this song and dance before.
Frosted and AP last met up in the Belmont Stakes, where Pharoah won by an impressive 5 1/2 lengths. This time, though, Frosted has the added benefit of a race over the track—a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy.
On top of that, Frosted's trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, ranks as the fourth-winningest trainer on the grounds this meet, with 11 victories in just 34 starts. Throw in the sixth-winningest jockey through this point in the meet, Joel Rosario, and you've got connections that match the physical strengths of this beautiful Tapit colt.
The biggest thing for Frosted will be to prove that he's capable of winning and not being just a runner-up. Through 10 career starts, the McLaughlin trainee has just two victories—only one is of the graded stakes variety (that came in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial)—and it's starting to feel more and more like he can't get the job done.
Frosted will come up short once again and log a fourth-place finish.
Texas Red is the other big name to look out for, and he looks the part of a Travers winner. An offspring of Afleet Alex, Texas Red is rounding nicely into form after missing a good chunk of his three-year-old campaign due to injury.
The J. Keith Desormeaux trainee took a five-month absence from racing but bounced back with a second-place showing in the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont Park, then a winning effort at Saratoga in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy.
Texas Red has shown the ability to beat Frosted, who, to date, has given Pharoah the most trouble of any of these runners. That bodes well for his chances at Saratoga, as does the fact that he, like Frosted, owns a victory over the track.
The problem, though, is that Pharoah and his two biggest threats share one thing in common: They love to sit just off the pace. With no cheap speed to speak of, the threat of a closer is nonexistent. That will leave Pharoah, Frosted and Texas Red—and maybe Upstart—to ultimately catch and beat whoever jumps out to an early lead.
What it all comes down to, though, is the fact that nobody does what Pharoah does as well as Pharoah does. You're not going to beat him without a complete pace breakdown, and both he and Espinoza are too smart to put themselves in a position where they stake themselves out to an unsustainable pace.
Pharoah could lose, sure. It wouldn't be the first time a Triple-Crown-winning colt set foot on the hallowed grounds of Saratoga only to leave in disappointment—see Secretariat and Affirmed—but this feels different.
This time, there's no Alydar or Onion to trip them up. In fact, there isn't a horse in this race that could even carry their bit.
Look for top-three finishes from American Pharoah, Texas Red and Upstart, in that order.
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