Travers Stakes Handicapping Picks
Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2023 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2023 Travers is set for August 26 at Saratoga race track in Saratoga Springs, NY. Here’s a preview of our top contenders.
Travers Stakes Preview
- Race: Travers Stakes
- Purse: $1.25 million
- Track: Saratoga Race Track
- Date: August 26
- Post Time: 6:11 PM (ET)
- Live: Travers Stakes Odds: Click Here
2023 Travers Stakes Racebooks / Betting Apps We Like!
Before we can give you our expert 2023 Travers Stakes free pick, we have to break down the entries! In fact, we’d love to hear from you after you’ve given this post a read to see if you see an angle that we don’t!
2023 Travers Stakes Handicapping
First run 11 years before the first Kentucky Derby, the Travers Stakes is the oldest stakes race still running in the US, and is often referred to as “the Mid-Summer Derby” as the premier summer stakes race for three-year-old horses.
For 2023, the Travers has drawn an excellent and very competitive field that includes the winners of all three Triple Crown races as well as the reigning two-year-old champion and winner of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
They’ll be racing 1 1/4 miles on the Saratoga dirt course.
Odds listed here are provided by the Saratoga track oddsmaker.
2023 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Forte Race Odds: 7-5
Favoured in all four of his 2023 starts since winning the 2022 BC Juvenile, Forte has made good on that support in winning three of those races. He took the (G2) Fountain of Youth Stakes and the (G1) Florida Derby and was the favourite for the Kentucky Derby until being scratched with a foot problem.
He was then off for more than two months before coming back to run second as the favourite in the (G1) Belmont Stakes and last out narrowly won the (G1) Jim Dandy Stakes going 1 1/8 miles on the Saratoga dirt.
The trainer is 2011 Travers winner Todd Pletcher. Regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr. once again gets the call.
2023 Travers Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Arcangelo Race Odds: 5-2
Coming into this on a three-race winning streak, Arcangelo rode the rail to a 1 1/2 length victory over Forte last out in the Belmont Stakes.
Prior to that he had won the (G2) Peter Pan Stakes, also at Belmont. It’s worthwhile to note that the Belmont was more than two months ago, and unlike the others in here Arcangelo did not run a prep race for the Travers. Instead has been training up to the race, and by all accounts putting in some very good works prior to his Saratoga debut.
Just as she did at the Belmont, trainer Jena Antonucci tries to become the first female trainer to win the Travers. Kentucky Derby (aboard Mage) and Belmont winning Jockey Javier Castellano will ride.
Mage Race Odds: 4-1
The 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Mage tried for Triple Crown glory but could only manage a third-place finish in the (G1) Preakness Stakes and so then skipped the Belmont Stakes.
He was last seen running second in the 1 1/8 mile (G1) Haskell Stakes, although he was not really a threat to the winner. In the Kentucky Derby he was able to take advantage of a very fast early pace to run them all down late, and the question is if he can repeat that effort or if it was a case of everything going his way on the day.
Gustavo Delgado trains, two-time race winner Luis Saez picks up the mount.
Disarm Race Odds: 8-1
Although a bit win-shy, Disarm has been consistent enough in his eight-race career, finishing in the money six times, with an even record of two wins, two second-place finishes and two thirds in those races.
Last out he was only fourth in the Jim Dandy but hit the wire only 2 1/4 lengths back of Forte after running into some late traffic trouble. The blinkers go on here in an attempt to get him to focus a bit better in the early stages of the race.
Trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Joel Rosario teamed up to win the 2022 Travers.
Here’s My 2023 Travers Stakes Free Pick.
It’s looking like it’s going to be Forte versus everyone else here, and although he doesn’t offer much value, I think he’s simply the best horse in the race and I have to pick him for the win.
It may all depend in the type of trip he gets. He seems to do best when he can swing wide into an open lane off the turn and then grind down his rivals in the stretch. Last out in the Jim Dandy he was stuck down on the rail off the turn and then had to bull his way out to get running room, barely getting up at the wire. To that end, it will be up to jockey Ortiz to find a clear path, and the 1 1/4 mile distance should help.
That being the case, the trick is to find some value in the exacta, and I’m going to use Disarm. While he needs to prove he can step up and challenge the big boys, you could argue that he has had a series of bad-luck trips recently that have kept him out of the winners circle. In addition, he has put together back-to-back career best speed figures that would suggest right now he’s in top form.
Full Field: 2023 Travers Stakes Odds
By post position
- #1 – Forte 7-5
- #2 – Arcangelo 5-2
- #3 – Tapit Trice 12-1
- #4 – Mage 4-1
- #5 – National Treasure 8-1
- #6 – Disarm 8-1
- #7 – Scotland 12-1
Travers Stakes Tweet of the Day
Work hard, play hard. @BelmontStakes winner Arcangelo after working 5 furlongs in 1:01.63 for trainer @jenaantonucci w/ @jjcjockey aboard. The Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 @thenyra Saratoga is next. pic.twitter.com/0C3BLpNZir
— Horse Racing Nation (@HR_Nation) August 16, 2023
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