Horse Racing

Travers Stakes 2024 Preview, Picks And Horse Profiles Including Top Filly Thorpedo Anna

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3 months ago

August 20, 2024

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Travers Stakes 2024 Preview, Picks And Horse Profiles Including Top Filly Thorpedo Anna

The 155th running of the Travers Stakes headlines the biggest day of racing at Saratoga on Sat., … [+] Aug. 24. (Photo by Horsephotos/Getty Images)

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The 155th running of the 1 1/4 mile Travers Stakes headlines the biggest day of the summer racing at Saratoga. Five Grade 1 races highlight the Sat., Aug. 24 card. The $1.25 million Travers drew a comptitive field of eight 3-year-old runners for the “Midsummer Derby”. That includes the fine filly Thorpedo Anna, who is the dominant horse in her division and now tries to tackle the boys in the Travers breaking from the inside rail post No. 1.

“It’s exciting, and it’s historic,” her trainer Kenny McPeek said describing the upcoming Travers. “I really think she deserves an opportunity to compete against the best. She’s pretty much shown that she’s the best in her division, and she’s going to get a 5-pound weight allowance. There’s a million and two reasons to give it a shot.”

During Tuesday’s media conference call, McPeek said that Thorpedo Anna is “a swift galloping filly with a huge, long stride. She’s very capable, and I’m confident she can handle the added distance (1 1/4 miles).”

McPeek also added, “I’m not overly intimidated by this field, and it’s time to find out how good or great she can be.”

McPeek won the Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan and Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna. He added that Thorpedoa Anna has worked alongside Mystik Dan in training, and has been a handful for him as well.

Jonathon Kinchen, a Fox Sports handicapping analyst on the New York Racing Association circuit and a top handicapping contest player, had additional comments on Thorpedo Anna on the In the Money players podcast Monday.

“I think she’s got a chance at immortality if she can win this race, and also a chance at Horse of the Year,” (including colts).

But Kinchen doesn’t think Thorpedo Anna will win the Travers adding, “there are nine other races, from four different horses in this race, that are as fast or faster than her best lifetime race,” (which was her last race in top form).

Still, watch Thorpedo Anna during her winning ride by 5-lenths in last month’s 1 1/8 mile Coaching Club American Oaks – her third straight Grade 1 win over fillies. She’s worthy of a chance to become the first filly in more than a century to win the Travers Stakes.

Saratoga track announcer during Thorpedo Anna’s stretch finish in CC American Oaks race. “The leader of the division is simply spectacular.” Yes she is.

FOX Sports carries TV coverage from 3-6:30 p.m. ET Saturday from Saratoga with the Travers Stakes Race 13 at 6:10 p.m.

2024 Travers Stakes Field and Odds

Four horses enter the Travers off wins in their last race – Thorpedo Anna, Unmatched Wisdom, Dornoch and Fierceness, who finished 1-length in front of late charging race favorite Sierra Leone in the July 27 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga with Batten Down 6-lengths further back.

Horse Racing Betting and Strategy

Picks for the Travers and other four Grade 1 races will be added later in the week from contacts and colleagues. But I’m betting on Sierra Leone to win with trainer Chad Brown saddling him along with lightly-raced Unmatched Wisdom off his stakes debut win last month at Saratoga. Brown will send Unmatched Wisdom towards the lead to press or set the pace, hoping for faster fractions and allow the deep closer Sierra Leone to have a winning ride under strong stretch rider Flavien Prat.

A review of the field shows some close races and results between many horses in the Travers.

Last year, each of the three Triple Crown race winners ran in the 2023 Travers. Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo (5/2) emerged as the winner over a muddy track to earn the $687,000 top prize for his connections. Arcangelo is the son of awesome Arrogate, who won the 2016 Travers by 13-lengths in his stakes debut and set the track record in under 2 minutes at 1:59.36. The great Gun Runner finished 3rd in that race, and both top Thoroughbreds went on to become Breeders’ Cup Classic champions.

Now Sierra Leone, purchased for $2.3 million and a son of the great Gun Runner, will try to win the Travers from well off the pace. Sierra Leone finished 2nd by a length as the 4/5 favorite last month at Saratoga in the Jim Dandy Stakes behind Fierceness. Jonathan Kitchen said Sierra Leone also finished 3rd in the Belmont Stakes and 2nd in the Kentucky Derby after winning the Blue Grass Stakes.

Dornock won last month’s Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, and should he win the Travers, he’ll become just the eighth horse to win both races. Holy Bull (1994) and most recent duel winner Point Given (2001) went on to become Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and Horse of the Year, and were later inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame. Dornoch won the Fountain of Youth, 4th in the Blue Grass, 10th in the Kentucky Derby before winning the Belmont Stakes (17/1) and Haskell (7/2). Recall the Belmont Stakes was contested at 1 1/4 miles and held at Saratoga this year while Belmont Park undergoes a $455 million transformation modernizing the facility and upgrading racing services. Dornoch’s trainer Danny Gargan is 0-for-11 so far at the summer Saratoga meet.

Horse Trainer Comments

The Tuesday, Aug. 20 media teleconference provide more insight into some of the horses running in the Travers. I asked a few trainers some questions including Chad Brown about Sierra Leone and Unmatched Wisdom. Brown is shooting for his first Travers victory and has a solid pair of runners to break through.

Chad Brown: “Sierra Leone is very fit from a long campaign.” When I asked him about the forward-favoring surface at Saratoga and potential to make up ground like he had to at the Belmont Stakes held at Saratoga, Brown said, “as he settles, we hope he can be in a better position, and be a bit closer.”

On Unmatched Wisdom, Brown said his horse “has good early speed, but prefers a target.” Top jockey Irad Ortiz races him for the first time, and Brown added Unmatched Wisdom “has developed quickly, and the talent has always been there,” after he was sick last fall in 2023 before getting his 2024 sophomore campaign started. Brown places his horses based on timing, distance and class level, and rarely based on the field or other horses. He’s giving Unmatched Wisdom a chance in the Travers, but perhaps its a better chance to have him force the pace with a wave of other front runners to aid Sierra Leone and a better pace scenario.

Todd Pletcher: On Fierceness, “The Jim Dandy was a terrific win. I love the way he’s been training since.”

Danny Gargan: “We got to see the real Dornoch in the Belmont Stakes. When he switches his lead, he finds another gear. Winning three-straight Grade 1 races would be special, and a rare accomplishment and huge for the horse and owners. Dornoch derserves all accolades – he’s a fantastic animal.”

Understanding Horse Racing and Bet Types

Along with the $1.25 million Grade 1 Travers in Race 13 at 6:10 p.m. ET, there are four other Grade 1 races Saturday at Saratoga. Two are also Breeders’ Cup (BC) “Win and You’re In” races to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.

Race 9: Resorts World Sword Dancer (G1) $750,000 – 1 1/2 miles for older horses on inner turf – 7 runners with winner to BC Turf
Race 10: Ballerina (G1) $500,000 – 7 furlongs for F/M – 11 scheduled runners with winner automatic qualifier to the BC Filly & Mare Sprint
Race 11: Forego (G1) $500,000 – 7 furlongs for older horses – 8 scheduled runners
Race 12: H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) $500,000 – 7 furlongs for 3-year-olds – 11 scheduled runners

While FanDuel TV and TVG remain in a contract dispute with the NYRA and will not have racing coverage from Saratoga, racing fans can catch the Breeders Cup Challenge Series race at Del Mar this Sat. on FanDuelTV and FanDuel Racing. The Pat O’Brien Stakes will send the winner to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 2 at Del Mar. FanDuel TV is available in as many as 60 million U.S. homes.

The $500,000 Grade 1 Personal Ensign for older fillies and mares is Friday to kickoff the big weekend of racing at Saratoga. Just four other runners will challenge the magnificent mare Idiomatic, who has won 7-of-9 graded stakes starts. But the Travers headlines the most popular race day this summer at Saratoga. The last eight Travers winners also won their previous race, and FanDuel Racing gives top filly Thorpedo Anna a solid shot to make history with the last filly to win the Travers more than a century ago.

Check out more horse racing news, races and picks with information you can bet on for the biggest races on the way to the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.

You can bet on it.