Saratoga’s Midsummer Derby is here. The Travers Stakes has been a proving ground for champions and a graveyard for favorites for more than 150 years. This Saturday, August 23rd, we line up for the 156th running, with history hanging in the balance.

📋 2025 Field & Post Positions

It’s a five-horse field, the smallest since 1994 — but don’t let the size fool you. This one has serious storylines.

Spotlight:

• Sovereignty (Post 4) is the heavy chalk. Already a winner of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Jim Dandy, he’s chasing a Travers win that would cement a rare historic sweep.

• Magnitude (Post 1) comes in off an ankle injury but looked sharp in the Iowa Derby — could test the favorite early.

• Strategic Focus (Post 3, Chad Brown) gets blinkers, a classic Saratoga angle.

📜 Travers History – Graveyard of Favorites

The Travers has been called the “Graveyard of Favorites” for a reason:

• In the last decade, only Tiz the Law (2020), Essential Quality (2021), and Epicenter (2022) have delivered as favorites.

• The rest? Upsets galore — none bigger than Keen Ice beating American Pharoah in 2015’s unforgettable “Pharoahtoga” showdown.

• Post-position trends: Post 2 leads historically (23 wins), with Post 4 (21) and Post 3 (20) right behind.

🏇 Recent Travers Winners

• 2024 – Fierceness (Todd Pletcher / John Velazquez)
• 2023 – Arcangelo
• 2022 – Epicenter
• 2021 – Essential Quality
• 2020 – Tiz the Law (the spectator-less COVID Travers)

🎉 Travers Day Undercard

It’s not just the Travers — Saratoga packs four other Grade 1s into the card:

• Personal Ensign – headlined by Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (6-5 favorite).

• H. Allen Jerkens Memorial – Patch Adams vs. Verifire in a 7-furlong dash.

• Ballerina – Scylla leads the older filly/mares sprint.

• Forego – Book’em Danno is the one to beat.

First post: 11:10 AM. Travers goes off at 6:14 PM ET.

📝 Final Thoughts

The Travers is never just another race — it’s Saratoga’s crown jewel. Will Sovereignty add his name to history, or will the Graveyard of Favorites strike again?

Either way, it’s going to be a Travers to remember.