DraftKings Travers

155 Running on Saturday, August 24, 2024

The Travers Stakes is one of the oldest stakes races for 3-year-old horses in the United States and is the traditional centerpiece of the annual Saratoga summer meet. The Travers is considered to be one of the most important and consequential 3-year-old horse races of the calendar year. The race is named for William R. Travers, the first president of Saratoga, who won the inaugural running in 1864 with a horse named Kentucky.

The 2024 Travers Stakes was won by horse Fierceness, jockey John R. Velazquez, trainer Todd Pletcher, and owner Repole Stables.

RELATED READING: Fierceness Holds Off Filly Thorpedo Anna to Win the 2024 Travers Stakes

You can wager on the DraftKings Travers Stakes on NYRA Bets from the track or the comfort of your own home. Explore handicapping the race and check for any special Travers promotions or contests. Signing up is fast, easy, and secure. Plus, new members can earn up to a $250 Deposit Match Bonus. Please note: New self-service terminals (SSTs) have been installed for 2024. Be sure to watch this tutorial if you plan on betting via SSTs.

Looking to attend Travers Day at Saratoga Race Course in 2024? Find the perfect individual, reserved, or group ticket package for you.

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Wondering what you need to know before attending Travers Day 2024 at Saratoga Race Course? Ticket purchasers will receive email correspondence prior to Travers Day about what to expect around the grounds of Saratoga Race Course that Saturday, including parking, food & beverage, tastings & samplings, and more.

All admission gates open at 9:00am for all ticketed guests. There is no early morning access on Travers Day 2024.

The DraftKings Travers Stakes is at 6:10pm ET on Saturday, August 24, 2024. Travers Day racing gets underway with first post at 11:20am ET. Comprehensive live coverage will air on FOX and FOX Sports.

• Parking: Trackside parking lots open at Saratoga Race Course at 7:00am; Oklahoma parking lots open at 8:00am. View the parking map here.
• Backyard Picnic Tables: available free of charge to ticket holders on a first come, first served basis beginning at 9:00am. To claim a picnic table, guests must bring their own tablecloth.
• Bring Your Own: Coolers, food, alcohol, hand carts, pop-up tents, and folding chairs are all permitted inside Saratoga Race Course. Glass containers, weapons, and illegal substances are not permitted. Click here for a complete list of permitted and banned items.
• Cash(less): Cash can only be used for admissions and wagering. Cash is not accepted for food & beverage, parking, or program sales.
• Grounds Map: Click here for a map that will help you find your way around the grounds at Saratoga.
• Free Wi-Fi: Connect to Saratoga Race Course's complimentary NYRA-WIFI network!
• What to Eat and Drink: There is a wide variety of exciting food & beverage options available throughout the grounds at Saratoga. View all offerings here.

Information above about attending Travers Day 2024 is verified & official information from Saratoga Race Course. Be sure to plan your Travers Day outing accordingly.

How to have your tickets ready as you approach the gate at the track:

1. Sign in on a mobile device to your Ticketmaster account or NYRA AccountManager (depending on your method of purchase).
2. Check your ticket purchase confirmation email to learn where to find your tickets.
3. Transfer tickets to the rest of your group in advance to speed up the entry process for everyone.
4. Once tickets are displayed on your phone, it is recommended that you save them to your mobile wallet, as screenshots or PDFs will not be accepted as valid for entry.

The Travers Stakes race is named after William Travers, a lawyer, investor, and inaugural president of the Saratoga Race Course. When William Travers died in 1887, he was described as “the most popular man in New York" by one newspaper.

The first running of the Travers Stakes race was in 1864. That makes the Travers three years older than the Belmont Stakes and more than a decade older than the Kentucky Derby. It is still the oldest stakes race for 3-year-old horses in the country. William Travers' horse, Kentucky, won the inaugural Travers Stakes in 1864.

Of the first five Travers Stakes races run, three were won by fillies. The 1867 winner, Ruthless, the second filly to win in the Travers, also won the inaugural running of the Belmont Stakes earlier in the summer of 1867. Surprisingly, a filly hasn’t won the Travers Stakes in over a century. Lady Rotha in 1915 was the last filly to win the Travers.

One of the greatest horses of the 1800s, Hindoo, won the 1881 Travers Stakes during 18-race win streak from May to August. It was also the first of what would be four wins in the Travers for jockey James McLaughlin. The 1881 Travers victory was also jockey James McLaughlin's first of four wins at the Travers. Hindoo was trained by James Rowe, Sr., who won the Travers as a jockey in 1872. It was Rowe's first of three Travers wins as a trainer.

The Travers Stakes Race was not run in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1911, and 1912. It ran at distances between 1 1/8 miles and 1 ¾ miles before settling on its still-current distance of 1 ¼ miles over 100 years ago. The three disqualifications that have occurred in the Travers Stakes over the years are Trial By Jury in 1915 (finished first, disqualified and placed last), Run Dusty Run (finished first in 1977, disqualified and placed second), and Affirmed finished first in 1978 but was disqualified and placed second.

The 2012 Travers had two winners for the first time in the race's history. Golden Ticket and Alpha finished in a dead heat at the finish line. Following the 2012 race, two jockey statues were painted and placed in the Saratoga Paddock—with two canoes put in the pond.The Travers also ended in a dead heat in 1874, but Attila was declared the official winner after a runoff with Acrobat.

The colors of the Travers’ winner have been painted onto a canoe that sits in the infield pond for a full year. The canoes have been a fixture at the Saratoga Race Track since 1926.

• 1918 Travers Stakes: drew all three of the year’s individual Triple Crown winners
• 1920 Travers Stakes: Man o’ War won the 1920 Travers in 2:01⅘, a record time that stood until bested by Jaipur 42 years later. In doing so, he beat Upset, who had beat him in the 1919 Sanford Stakes. The Man o’ War Cup, which Man o’ War originally won by defeating 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton in a match race, is now presented each year to the winner of the Travers.
• 1962 Travers Stakes: arguably the greatest Travers in history, Jaipur won by a nose in track record time over Ridan after a long, head-to-head battle.
• 1967 Travers Stakes: Horse of the Year Damascus turned in arguably the most brilliant performance of his Hall of Fame career with a 22-length romp in the Travers.
• 1969 Travers Stakes: future Hall of Famer Arts and Letters easily won the 100th running of the Travers to give Paul Mellon’s Rokeby Stable its second of five Travers wins.
• 1978 Travers Stakes: Continuing one of the sport’s all-time greatest rivalries, Affirmed crossed the finish line ahead of Alydar in the 1978 Travers, but Affirmed is taken down for interference and Alydar is declared the winner.
• 1982 Travers Stakes: drew all three of the year’s individual Triple Crown winners
• 1992 Travers Stakes: Thunder Rumble followed up a victory in the Jim Dandy to become the first New York-bred to win the Travers since 1867.
• 2001 Travers Stakes: future Hall of Famer Point Given delivers a blistering performance to become the first horse to ever win four consecutive $1 million races with a victory in the Travers. He previously won the Preakness, Belmont, and Haskell.
• 2004 Travers Stakes: Hall of Famer trainer Nick Zito and Hall of Fame rider Edgar Prado team up with Marylou Whitney’s Birdstone to win a memorable running of the Travers as a powerful thunderstorm descends upon Saratoga and the race is contested in near darkness.
• 2016 Travers Stakes: In his first stakes appearance, Arrogate stops the clock in 1:59.36, winning by 13 1/2 lengths and setting a new track record.
• 2017 Travers Stakes: drew all three of the year’s individual Triple Crown winners
• 2023 Travers Stakes: drew all three of the year’s individual Triple Crown winners: Mage, National Treasure, and Arcangelo (who won the 2023 Travers).

American Pharoah, Whirlaway, and Gallant Fox are the only Triple Crown winners to race in the Travers. Of the group, Whirlaway became the only Triple Crown champion to win the Travers.

• 1919 Travers Stakes: Going to the starting line for the 1918 were all three of the year’s individual Triple Crown winners. And the unexpected champion: Sun Briar, who defeated Belmont Stakes’ winner Johren, Preakness winner War Cloud and Kentucky Derby winner Exterminator.
• 1930 Travers Stakes:  At 100-1, Jim Dandy defeated Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox on a muddy track in a result that still ranks among the biggest upsets in racing history.
• 1982 Travers Stakes:  Canadian-bred Runaway Groom won at 13-1 odds, beating Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Sol, Preakness winner Aloma’s Ruler, and Belmont Stakes’ winner Conquistador Cielo.
• 2015 Travers Stakes: Keen Ice, ridden by Javier Castellano, defeated Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. So great was the excitement surrounding the race that NYRA capped attendance at 50,000. It was Castellano’s fifth victory in the Travers, the all-time record for a rider. He has since extended the record, winning aboard Catholic Boy (2018) and Arcangelo (2023).

Watch past Travers Stakes races, historical and recent, on NYRA's YouTube channel.

See the full list of Travers Stakes winning horses, jockeys, owners, and trainers below.

$1,250,000.00 1 1/4 (Dirt) Grade:I