The 156th running of the $1,250,000 Travers Stakes will be held on Saturday, August 23 at Saratoga Race Course and can be wagered on and watched here at OffTrackBetting.com - US legal online OTB.

The Travers Stakes, also known as the Midsummer Derby, is one of the most historic races in the country and has been an annual feature at Saratoga for nearly as long as the track has been running.

Sovereignty sets sights on Travers Stakes (G1)

July 27 - Sovereignty, Godolphin's dual Classic-winning homebred, had a successful prep for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes when taking the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy by one length on Saturday, July 26th at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner was guided to victory by regular pilot Junior Alvarado, who allowed the often late-footed son of Into Mischief to utilize prominent tactics and stick close to the pace set by Mo Plex through splits of 24.54 seconds, 48.49, 1:12.42 over the fast main track.

Sovereignty was briefly last-of-5 in the turn as late runners Sandman and Hill Road advanced into contention, but a confident Alvarado needed to wait only a few strides to press the gas and was soon at the front of the field with a wide move. Baeza was game to his inside as Mo Plex faded, but Sovereignty was much-the-best and swept past Baeza inside the final eighth to win comfortably in a final time of 1:49.52.

Mott said he was pleased to see Sovereignty prove superior again in his first start since his three-length Belmont Stakes coup.

"He looks good. I was happy with his job," Mott said. "I was a little nervous beforehand because the expectations were pretty high, but he took care of that for me."

Mott added there were few tense moments for him when Sovereignty briefly lost position.

"Not really, no. It's never over until it's over," Mott said. "There were no more nervous moments at that point than there were before the race."

With a successful prep race now under his belt, Sovereignty will continue to train at Saratoga on the path to the 10-furlong Travers on August 23.

"He'll walk for two or three days and then have a few easy days on the track and maybe he'll have a couple works before the Travers," Mott said. "He's had a race now, so we'll probably work him a couple times. Nothing fancy or different."

Mott, a 15-time Breeders' Cup winner with two-thirds of the Triple Crown and a Group 1 Dubai World Cup win on his resume, is in search of his first win in the Travers, a race that serves as the centerpiece of the meeting at his home track.

"It's probably our best chance so far to do it," Mott said. "I've gone into it with some chances before, but this would have to be the biggest chance. Now the expectations are high, so it's one of those situations where as long as he's running well, he's always going to be one of the favorites. Everybody's expectations are high."

Magnitude works for G1 Travers

July 26 - Magnitude (Winchell Thoroughbreds) worked five-eighths in 1:01.70 Saturday over the Saratoga Race Course main track for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen as he prepares for a start in the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on August 23.

"He went nice and smooth," Asmussen said. "He's got several works before the Travers, and we will steadily pick it up with him. I'm extremely happy with how he's doing today."

The Not This Time bay won 2-of-5 starts as a juvenile, taking an optional-claimer in November at Churchill Downs ahead of a distant second in the Listed Gun Runner in December at Fair Grounds.

Magnitude was a 2 3/4-length sixth in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds to kick off his current campaign, but improved markedly when stretched out to nine furlongs at the Louisiana oval for a frontrunning 9 3/4-length romp in the Grade 2 Risen Star on February 15.

He missed the Triple Crown races with an ankle chip but returned victorious last out on July 5 with a 9 1/4-length frontrunning score in the Listed Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows over good going.

Asmussen said both time and added distance have benefitted Magnitude's improvement.

"He's a horse that always showed a lot of ability but wasn't really living up to how he was training early. He's finally filling out his frame and maturing like we expected him to do. His early form was OK, but his last two races are excellent," Asmussen said.

Magnitude, out of the Bernardini mare Rockadelic, was a $450,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. His second dam is dual Grade 1 winner Octave, who notched top-flight victories on the NYRA circuit in 2007 in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park and Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

Goal Oriented Pointed at Travers Stakes - Journalism?

July 20 - While trainer Michael McCarthy has yet to decide what's next for Journalism following the colt's thrilling, come-from-behind win in the Grade 1 Haskell on Saturday, Bob Baffert is definitive about the next step for Goal Oriented, who finished third by a neck behind Gosger.

"He's going to the Travers," the Hall of Fame conditioner said by phone from his base in Southern California. "We'll get him home. He's flying home on Tuesday and then back (to the East Coast) for the Travers (at Saratoga on Aug. 23)."

The half-length win by Journalism in the Haskell secured an automatic spot in the starting gate for the $7 million, Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1 through the Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" Challenge Series.

Preakness Stakes winner Journalism was the only horse to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown and he was the runner-up to Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty, whom Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott is pointing to the Grade 1 Travers.

When asked if there is a plan on how to bring Journalism up to the Breeders' Cup, and if the Travers might be on his dance card, McCarthy said, "We've got a couple of scenarios to work out. We're just going to enjoy this for now."

Belmont Stakes Winner Sovereignty possible for Travers

June 8 - For many in horse racing, success is all in the family, whether it be the connections of the sport's star athletes or the pedigrees of blue-blooded horses. For the trio of Godolphin, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and jockey Junior Alvarado, "family" is the best way to describe the closely-knit connections of Saturday's Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty.

"I do my best for everybody, but you feel the power when you get those blue Godolphin silks on," Alvarado said. "You know that it could be something special. If it's a horse that's never run, you always think this could be a good one."

The trio have achieved success at the pinnacle of the sport with horses like Grade 1-winner Speaker's Corner, three-time graded stakes-winner Caramel Swirl, and dual-Champion Cody's Wish, who retired in 2023 after a career that featured back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a story that touched the nation as he ran in honor of the late Cody Dorman.

Cody's Wish brought the venerable connections closer together than ever, and when the Curlin colt departed the Mott barn to take up stud duties at Darley's Jonabell Farm, a question lingered about who the next great horse could be for the team. Enter Sovereignty, who debuted last summer at Saratoga Race Course and went on to piece together the next chapter in the great saga of Mott-trained and Alvarado-ridden Godolphin color-bearers.

Sovereignty has solidified his status as one of the greats for Mott, adding a three-length triumph in Saturday's 10-furlong Belmont Stakes to a similar 1 1/2-length annexing of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May. The Belmont victory, which came thanks to a close stalking trip engineered by Alvarado, was awarded a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure.

Patience was key to Saturday's victory for Sovereignty, who was pointed towards the Belmont immediately following the Derby instead of the traditional route a Derby winner takes to the Grade 1 Preakness two weeks later in Baltimore. Mott quickly returned the colt to his home base at Saratoga's Oklahoma training track, where he made his preparations for his rematch with Journalism.

"He's a horse who is pretty adaptable. This is a pretty good environment for both of us," Mott said. "He's here. He's comfortable. He's got a nice shade tree out here. He's got some green grass to eat, and he's got pretty good people who take care of him. Here is a good spot for him. I'm sure if we were somewhere else, I don't know if it would change anything dramatically. Here, I think the good thing is, naturally, the environment that he lives in with the racetrack that he is able to train on, I think we feel pretty comfortable about training over this track."

Luckily for the Sovereignty camp, some of the nation's most prestigious events for sophomores take place right in their backyard again this summer during the Saratoga meet, led by the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 23, one of the only marquee events absent from Mott's remarkable list of accolades. The traditional local prep for the Travers is the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented on July 26, a race Mott sees as a logical steppingstone.

"I think we are very lucky, if we are talking about the Travers, we'll probably stay here until then. I think we would probably run in the Jim Dandy," Mott said. "I think that's a good possibility. Surely, it's not set in stone. It's here. This is all depending on him, what he's doing, and what the next couple of months brings. If he was going to have a race before the Travers, it would be the Jim Dandy. I'm sure by the time the Jim Dandy rolls around, he's probably going to be ready to do something."

About the Travers Stakes

The Travers Stakes is the oldest major stakes race in the U.S. having first been conducted in 1864.

The Travers was named for William R. Travers, president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. The initial running of the race was won by his horse Kentucky. From 1864 to 1889, the race was run at 1 3/4 miles, and the current distance was adopted for the 1904 running.

In 1941 Triple Crown champion Whirlaway became the first and only horse to win the Travers after sweeping the Triple Crown. In the 1982 Travers, Canadian champion Runaway Groom became the first horse to defeat the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont winners in a single race. No other horse has accomplished this feat since. In 2012 Alpha and Golden Ticket won the race the first and only Travers dead heat.

Other top horses to win the Travers include Bernardini, Medaglia d'Oro, Holy Bull, Easy Goer, Forty Niner, Alydar, Arts and Letters, Damascus, Sword Dancer, Native Dancer and Man o' War.

The Travers is amongst the most prestigious races for sophomores, and predates all three Triple Crown races. Inaugurated in 1864, the historic 10-furlong event is the Spa's marquee race and honors Saratoga's first president William Travers, who won the first running with the A.J. Minor-trained Kentucky. Since then, the Travers has been captured by a total of 25 Hall of Fame thoroughbreds including Kentucky, Ruthless [1867], Harry Bassett [1871], Tom Bowling [1873], Duke of Magenta [1878], Hindoo [1881], Henry of Navarre [1894], Broomstick [1904], Roamer [1914], Man o' War [1920], Twenty Grand [1931], Granville [1936], Eight Thirty [1939], Whirlaway [1941], Native Dancer [1953], Gallant Man [1957], Sword Dancer [1959], Buckpasser [1966], Damascus [1967], Arts and Letters [1969], Alydar [1978], Easy Goer [1989], Holy Bull [1994], Point Given [2001], and 2024 inductee Arrogate [2016].