Travers Stakes 2026: Saratoga Preview and Betting Guide
Saratoga's marquee Saturday arrives on August 29, 2026, and the 157th running of the Travers Stakes will do something no Travers has done before. It brings the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, the Preakness winner and the Jim Dandy winner together in the same field for the first time. Golden Tempo carries the Derby and Belmont form, Napoleon Solo carries the Preakness, and Renegade carries the Jim Dandy plus a runner up finish in the Derby itself. Here's everything we're watching, plus how we'd bet it.
Travers Stakes 2026: Date, Post Time and Purse
The Grade 1 DraftKings Travers Stakes runs at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, August 29, 2026, for the 157th time. Post time is set for 6:35 PM ET, with live coverage across the FOX family of networks. The purse sits at $1.25 million, and the distance is the traditional mile and a quarter, the same test three year olds face in the Kentucky Derby, run this time over Saratoga's demanding main track three months later in the season. Gates open at 9:00 AM, the first race of an 11 race card goes off at 11:05 AM, and the final race of the day closes the card at 7:09 PM ET.
Travers Day at Saratoga: The Full Card
Travers Day is not a one race event. Saratoga cards nine stakes races in total on August 29, six of them graded, giving us a full day of quality racing before the Travers even loads into the gate. The full Travers Day card is below.
The Lake Placid (Grade 2, turf, older fillies and mares) carries a $400,000 purse. The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (Grade 1, seven furlongs, three year olds) and the Personal Ensign (Grade 1, mile and an eighth, older fillies and mares) both run for $500,000, as do the Forego (Grade 1, seven furlongs, older horses) and the Resorts World Casino Ballerina (Grade 1, seven furlongs, older fillies and mares). Six graded stakes worth $3.15 million combined, all on one card. Three of those, the Personal Ensign, the Forego and the Ballerina, are Breeders' Cup Challenge Win and You're In qualifiers, meaning their winners earn an automatic starting spot in this year's Breeders' Cup.
| Race | Grade | Conditions | Purse | Breeders' Cup Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Placid | Grade 2 | Turf, older fillies and mares | $400,000 | |
| H. Allen Jerkens Memorial | Grade 1 | 7 furlongs, three year olds | $500,000 | |
| Personal Ensign | Grade 1 | 1 1/8 miles, older fillies and mares | $500,000 | Win and You're In: Distaff |
| Forego | Grade 1 | 7 furlongs, older horses | $500,000 | Win and You're In: Dirt Mile |
| Resorts World Casino Ballerina | Grade 1 | 7 furlongs, older fillies and mares | $500,000 | Win and You're In: Filly and Mare Sprint |
| DraftKings Travers Stakes | Grade 1 | 1 1/4 miles, three year olds | $1,250,000 |
Travers Stakes 2026 Field and Odds
Ten three year olds go to post for the 2026 Travers. The full field and morning line odds are below. These are morning line prices and will move by post time, so check the live odds board on MyWinners before you bet.
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emerging Market | Chad Brown | Ricardo Santana Jr. | 15/1 |
| 2 | Leading Change | Brad Cox | Manuel Franco | 12/1 |
| 3 | Napoleon Solo | Chad Summers | John Velazquez | 8/1 |
| 4 | The Puma | Gustavo Delgado | Javier Castellano | 8/1 |
| 5 | Renegade | Todd Pletcher | Tyler Gaffalione | 3/1 |
| 6 | Ocelli | Whit Beckman | Edgard Zayas | 20/1 |
| 7 | Sea Strike | Chad Brown | Flavien Prat | 5/1 |
| 8 | Baby Vino | Lindsay Schultz | Paco Lopez | 10/1 |
| 9 | Golden Tempo | Cherie DeVaux | Jose Ortiz | 5/2 |
| 10 | Silent Tactic | Mark Casse | Luis Saez | 10/1 |
Top Contenders for the 2026 Travers Stakes
Golden Tempo heads the market at 5/2 off wins in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. Trainer Cherie DeVaux has had him spotted perfectly all season, and a Travers win puts three of the sport's biggest three year old prizes in one campaign. He is the horse to beat.
Renegade sits second in the market at 3/1. Todd Pletcher's colt was the Kentucky Derby runner up before taking the Jim Dandy right here at Saratoga last out, and that local form matters on a track he already knows how to handle.
Napoleon Solo is the only other classic winner in the field. He took the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, then chased home Baby Vino in the Haskell, and goes off at 8/1 for trainer Chad Summers, a price worth a look if the pace up front gets contested.
Baby Vino is the one that could turn this into a shootout. Lindsay Schultz's colt scored his first graded stakes win in the Haskell, and did it the hard way, upsetting that race at 28/1 and beating Napoleon Solo by half a length on a sloppy track for his third straight win. He is 10/1 here, and a repeat of that form puts him right in the finish.
Sea Strike is 5/1 for Chad Brown, who also saddles Emerging Market at 15/1, giving the barn two different looks at the gate. The Puma missed the Kentucky Derby entirely after leg swelling forced him out, then finished fourth behind Baby Vino in the Haskell, and goes off at 8/1 for Javier Castellano and trainer Gustavo Delgado.
Behind that group, Leading Change (12/1) gives Brad Cox a live longshot, Silent Tactic is 10/1, and Ocelli is the longest price in the field at 20/1.
How to Bet the Travers Stakes
Straight bets on the Travers are simple: win, place or show on any of the ten runners. If you want more from your ticket, the race supports exactas, trifectas and superfectas, and with a full ten horse field the exotics pools should run deep. Golden Tempo and Renegade at the top of the market make a straightforward exacta box, while a price like Napoleon Solo or Sea Strike underneath can turn a modest stake into a real return if the favorites don't fill out the whole board. Remember that every price listed above is a morning line number, not a final price, so check the live board once betting opens.
More Racing This Weekend: Del Mar Joins the Party
Saratoga is not the only track running for stakes money on August 29. Del Mar cards its own graded Saturday, headlined by the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at a mile and three eighths on turf for a $300,000 purse, alongside the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes at seven furlongs for $250,000. The weekend wraps up Sunday, August 30 with the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes at one mile for $150,000. Between Saratoga and Del Mar, there is graded stakes racing to bet from the first race Saturday morning through the last race Sunday.
| Date | Race | Grade | Conditions | Purse | Breeders' Cup Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Aug 29 | Del Mar Handicap | Grade 2 | 1 3/8 miles, turf | $300,000 | Win and You're In: Turf |
| Sat, Aug 29 | Pat O'Brien Stakes | Grade 2 | 7 furlongs | $250,000 | Win and You're In: Dirt Mile |
| Sun, Aug 30 | Torrey Pines Stakes | Grade 3 | 1 mile | $150,000 |
Our Travers Stakes 2026 Take
Golden Tempo is the horse to beat, but Renegade's local form from the Jim Dandy makes him the most credible threat, and Napoleon Solo and Baby Vino both offer prices worth including underneath given how tight that Haskell finish was. However you build your ticket, this is the first Travers to bring the Derby and Belmont winner, the Preakness winner and the Jim Dandy winner into the same field, it comes with five automatic Breeders' Cup berths on the line across Saratoga and Del Mar, and nine stakes races at Saratoga alone, which makes this one of the deepest betting weekends of the whole racing calendar.
Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.
Frequently Asked Questions
Post time for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes is 6:35 PM ET on Saturday, August 29, 2026 at Saratoga Race Course.
Golden Tempo, winner of both the 2026 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, is the 5/2 morning line favorite.
The 2026 Travers Stakes carries a purse of $1.25 million and is run at a mile and a quarter for three year olds. It is the 157th running of the race and the first time the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, the Preakness winner and the Jim Dandy winner have all met in the same Travers field.
Saratoga cards nine stakes races on Travers Day, six of them graded, including the Lake Placid, the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, the Personal Ensign, the Forego and the Resorts World Casino Ballerina. The Personal Ensign, the Forego and the Ballerina are Breeders' Cup Challenge Win and You're In qualifiers.
You can bet the Travers Stakes and every other race on the card at app.mywinners.com, through the MyWinners app on iOS and Android, or in person at a Winners venue in Connecticut.
