Travers Stakes Handicapping Picks
Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2021 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2021 Travers Stakes is set for August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Here’s a preview of our top contenders.
Travers Stakes Preview and Prediction
- Race: Travers Stakes
- Purse: $1.25 million
- Track: Saratoga Race Course
- Date: August 28
- Post Time: 6:15 PM (ET)
- Live: Travers Stakes Odds: Click Here
2021 Travers Stakes Handicapping
The biggest card on the Saratoga summer racing meet schedule goes Saturday with six Grade 1 stakes on tap, including the (G1) Travers.
Often called the ‘Mid-Summer Classic’, the first Travers was run in 1864 – six years before the first Kentucky Derby – and is significant for bringing together many horses that battled through the Triple Crown series in the spring.
The Travers is open to horses age three, and they’ll be racing 1 1/4 miles on the Saratoga dirt.
Odds listed here are provided by Bovada’s racebook.
2021 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Essential Quality Race Odds: 5-7
A true superstar among this year’s crop of North American bred three-year-olds, Essential Quality comes into the Travers on a two-race win streak and with a career record of seven wins in eight races.
The only blemish on his resume was his fourth-place run in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, where a tough post position and wide trip probably made all the difference in denying him the win. He rebounded from that effort to cruise to victory in the (G1) Belmont.
Last out he was a winner over the Saratoga dirt when he took the (G2) Jim Dandy by a half-length over a pair he’ll face here again.
Trainer Brad Cox looks for his first Travers title, jockey Luis Saez won the race in the 2013.
2021 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Midnight Bourbon Race Odds: 7-1
A colt that never really runs a bad race, Midnight Bourbon has finished in the money in eight of his 10 lifetime starts but he’s a bit win shy with only two victories in those starts.
He ran very well two back to lead the (G1) Preakness Stakes into the stretch before being passed late and settling for second-place money. Last out he clipped heels and lost his rider as the field turned for home in the (G1) Haskell Stakes, but it is worth noting he was being passed at the time and falling off the pace.
Trainer Steve Asmussen earlier this summer became the all-time leading US trainer in wins, but has never won the Travers. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. also goes for his first.
2021 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Keepmeinmind Race Odds: 8-1
A close-up second behind Essential Quality in the Jim Dandy, Keepmeinmind has been very competitive in his last few races but is still looking for his second lifetime win – and first in 2021 – in what will be his 11th lifetime start.
He ran a decent seventh in the Derby, and since then has been fourth, then third, then second in his last three starts. As a dead closer, the distance here could play to his advantage, although on paper it doesn’t look like there will be a ton of early pace for him to close into.
The trainer is Robertino Diodoro, jockey Joel Rosario will be in the irons.
2021 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Masqueparade Race Odds: 16-1
It took Masqueparade four starts to get his maiden win, and that came when the horse hitting the wire first was DQ’d, but he showed he can compete at this level when he won the (G3) Ohio Derby ahead of both King Fury (also entered Saturday) and Keepmeinmind.
He followed that up by running third in the Jim Dandy just under three lengths back of Essential Quality.
He’s one of the few in the race that has shown early speed in previous races, and they just may decide to take him to the front out of the gate and try to play catch-me-if-you can.
Albert Stall Jr. trains, Miguel Mena rides.
Here’s My 2021 Travers Stakes Free Pick.
This is a short but good field of horses with lots of graded stakes experience and where four of the seven starters have put at least a half-million dollars in the bank already in their careers.
At the same time, just a glance at the win records shows Essential Quality is clearly the class of the field, and I won’t try and get cute and bet against him for the win. Even though Saratoga in general and the Travers in particular has the reputation as the graveyard of favourites.
There won’t be any value in a win bet, so I will try to get a better return on my investment by playing both Keepmeinmind and Masqueparade in the exacta.
Full Field: Travers Stakes Odds
(By post position)
- #1 – Midnight Bourbon 7-1
- #2 – Essential Quality 5-7
- #3 – Keepmeinmind 8-1
- #4 – Dynamic One 6-1
- #5 – Miles D 14-1
- #6 – Masqueparade 16-1
- #7 – King Fury 12-1
What do you think of our 2021 Travers Stakes Race Odds & Predictions? Weigh in below with a comment. We welcome your feedback.
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