The 2024 Travers Stakes will be held on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course with the start scheduled for 6:10 pm ET. This year's “Midsummer Derby” will feature eight 2024 Travers Stakes runners. After winning two Grade 2 races on the road to the Kentucky Derby, Dornoch finished a disappointing fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes and 10th at Churchill Downs. However, he bounced back to win the Belmont Stakes, giving trainer Danny Gargan his first Triple Crown win, and then followed that up with a Grade 1 win in the Haskell Stakes. Dornoch is the 5-2 favorite in the 2024 Travers Stakes odds, but three other Grade 1 winners are close behind him in the 2024 Travers Stakes field.
Kentucky Oaks-winning mare Soaped Anna and Morning Line's Kentucky Derby favorite Fearlessness are both at 3-1, while Derby runner-up Sierra Leone is at 7-2. With a number of quality horses set to race on Saturday, you might want to hear from Santa Anita Park-based horse racing writer and analyst Michelle Yu before making any predictions for the 2024 Travers Stakes.
Few people in the horse racing world are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has dedicated her life to the sport. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquette, and is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has impressive handicapping skills, having made first-crossing Medina Spirit the 12-1 favorite to win the 2021 Kentucky Derby, which was a close contest. In Pool 5 of Kentucky Derby futures betting two years ago, he recommended betting on other 3-year-olds, which paid an astounding 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.
She comes into the Travers Stakes riding high. She correctly predicted National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup, Strong Hold to an upset win in the Santa Anita Derby for $219.50, and a commanding win over Extra in the Apple Blossom Handicap for $410. On the undercard to the Belmont Stakes, she predicted National Treasure to win the Met Mile ($235) and both the winner and the Extra in the Woody Stevens Stakes. Anyone who has followed her has been pretty high up the list.
Heading into the 2024 Travers Stakes, Yu has handicapped the field, made his predictions and put together his best bets — visit SportsLine now to see them all.
Top Predictions for the 2024 Travers Stakes
One surprise is that Yu has completely outpaced Fearlessness, even though Fearlessness is the 3-1 favorite. The sire of City of Light and dam of Stay Thirsty mare Nonna Bella, Fearlessness made his debut at Saratoga last August before finishing a disappointing seventh in the Champagne Stakes, but then won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. As a 3-year-old debutant, Fearlessness finished third in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes before bouncing back to win the Florida Derby.
The win made him the favorite on the morning line for the Kentucky Derby, but he finished 15th despite being in good third position with four furlongs to go. He continued his one-race-off, one-race-off trend with a win in the Jim Dandy Stakes in his next start late last month, but Yu expects another race off against tough opposition on Saturday. All of Yu's 2024 Travers Stakes bets can be seen here.
How to predict the 2024 Travers Stakes
Plus, Yu's top favorite horse is still the horse that many are against, but Yu isn't letting that stop her. She's including this horse in her 2024 Travers Stakes betting, and you should too. She's exclusively sharing with SportsLine which horses you should bet on in the 2024 Travers Stakes.
So who will win the 2024 Travers Stakes? And how has Yu constructed his bet? Visit SportsLine to find out the answer by seeing Yu's Travers Stakes 2024 predictions from the Santa Anita-based, all-year-old horse racing insider.
