$1,000,000 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course

Rob Gregorka

Las Vegas, NV -- Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford and Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice are in the field for Saturday's $1 million dollar Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course but it is Jim Dandy Stakes winner Stay Thirsty who is the 5-2 morning line favorite in horse betting.

Stay Thirsty is probably best known as being the stablemate of Uncle Mo, but that is starting to change as Stay Thirsty was superb in winning the Jim Dandy Stakes with a speed figure of 106. Stay Thirsty is trained by Todd Pletcher and will be ridden by Javier Castellano, who won last year's Travers aboard Afleet Express.

The second choice in off-track betting is the Bob Baffert trained Coil, who is 3-1. The horse won the Haskell Invitational and has three wins in four starts this year. Coil is working superbly for Saturday's race and could be primed for a big effort.

Travers Stakes betting at Saratoga Race Course at Off Track Betting

Preakness winner Shackleford is the third choice in horse wagering at 9-2. The horse finished a close second to Coil in the Haskell for trainer Dale Romans. Belmont winner Ruler On Ice is the fourth choice at 6-1. He was third behind both Coil and Shackleford in the Haskell.

The rest of the field includes Bowman's Causeway, Rattlesnake Bridge, Moonshine Mullin, Malibu Glow, Raison d'Etat and JW Blue. The only threat from these horses would appear to be Bowman's Causeway, who may have the talent to be in the picture.

The Travers is the 12th race on the card for Saturday at Saratoga and has a post time of 5:45 p.m. Eastern. The race will be shown live on NBC television.

Just before the Travers is run on Saturday, it will be the King's Bishop as the 11th race on the card. That race will get some serious attention because it marks the return of Uncle Mo. Owner Mike Repole could definitely have a big day with Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty. "It would be nerve-wracking enough just to have a horse in one of those races," Repole said. "Now that you have Uncle Mo at 5:15 EDT and Stay Thirsty at 5:45 EDT, it's just a dream come true."

Here is the full field for Saturday's Travers Stakes:

Post

Horse

Jockey

ML Odds

1

Bowman's Causeway

Ramon Dominguez

12-1

2

Rattlesnake Bridge

John Velazquez

8-1

3

Moonshine Mullen

Emma-Jayne Wilson

20-1

4

Ruler On Ice

Jose Valdivia Jr.

6-1

5

Malibu Glow

Rajiv Maragh

20-1

6

Raison d'Etat

Eddie Castro

10-1

7

Coil

Martin Garcia

3-1

8

J W Blue

Cornelio Velasquez

20-1

9

Stay Thirsty

Javier Castellano

5-2

10

Shackleford

Jesus Castanon

9-2