HorseCenter: Early look at 5 Grade 1s on Travers day 2025

This week on HorseCenter, we look forward to a huge afternoon of racing at Saratoga. Led by the mid-summer derby, Travers Stakes day offers five Grade 1 races worth a total of $3.25 million. To no surprise many of the brightest stars in racing have Aug. 23 circled on the calendar.

Already a winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes as well as two other graded stakes this season, Sovereignty looks to keep things rolling in the $1.25 million Travers (G1). A win in this 1 1/4-mile test should send the powerful son of Into Mischief on to Del Mar as the Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite.

As an appetizer to the Travers, reigning horse of the year Thorpedo Anna faces many of the top older females in the nation in the $500,000 Personal Ensign (G1). Other highlights from the afternoon include Book’em Danno looking for a third straight win at the Spa in the Forego (G1), Patch Adams facing a tough test in the Jerkens Memorial (G1) and Ways and Means headlining the Ballerina (G1).

Brian: Is Sovereignty the best horse in America? He may well be. We will find out later this season at Del Mar, but for now the sweet striding colt will look to put a ribbon on his season against fellow 3-year-olds in the historic Travers. I’m not sure it matters who is in there to face him, the Bill Mott-trained star should rack up another important victory at a distance that suits him perfectly.

As for the competition, I am interested to learn more about Magnitude after his dominating wins in the Risen Star (G2) and Iowa Derby, but anything better than a second here would be a big surprise. Goal Oriented looks to be developing into a very nice horse for Baffert, but chasing Magnitude and then holding off Sovereignty seems like an impossible task. Journalism, Baeza or Gosger could spice things up, but I am honestly not counting on any of them to make the trip.

Matt: The lead-up to the Travers will be all about Sovereignty as well it should. He is a special horse that has done special things in the biggest races of the year for 3-year-olds. He continues to get my vote as the top Thoroughbred in the country, and I mean all divisions, not just the 3-year-olds.

Brian: Besides seeing Sovereignty again, another big reason I will be making the trip to upstate New York for Travers week will be Thorpedo Anna. I love seeing the fantastic filly run, and it will be a treat to see her at the Spa again. Her wins in the Acorn (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and near miss against the boys in the Travers were the highlight of summer racing last season, and I look forward to seeing what she can do back at Saratoga.

With Grade 1 winners Randomized, Raging Sea, Dorth Vader and Leslie’s Rose also likely for the Personal Ensign, it should be a good barometer to see where the champion stands just over two months out from the Breeders’ Cup.

Matt: So much to look forward to on Saturday, Aug. 23. No doubt that all of the attention on this year’s Triple Crown with Sovereignty and Journalism has taken the spotlight away from Thorpedo Anna. There are many handicappers that keep insisting that the reigning horse of the year has more to prove on the track. Her career record of 14: 11-2-0 with earnings of $5.1 million seems pretty darn good to me.

What does bother me is the on-air racing personalities who insist on mispronouncing her name which. At this point I must assume ot is done intentionally.

Brian: While it’s true that Thorpedo Anna is my favorite horse in years, I am also a big fan of Book’em Danno. The New Jersey-bred son of Bucchero has been an underrated star since his very first race two summers ago at Monmouth Park. With two graded-stakes wins already this season at Saratoga, Matt, there are many more fans joining us on the Danno bandwagon. That’s good. There is plenty of room and, as a gelding, plenty of time to appreciate this crack sprinter.

Matt: Book’em Danno is a hard-knocking horse from New Jersey who seems to love being at Saratoga as much as you and I do, Brian.

Brian: Year in and year out, the Jerkens Memorial has become a favorite betting race of mine. I did lose it last year when Book’em Danno found plenty of early traffic. But that’s OK. Time to get right back up in the saddle this year. Patch Adams looks like a deserving favorite after his big Woody Stephens win, but as a heavy favorite here, I may be looking for an upset.

Smoken Wicked, Chancer McPatrick and Verifire are all coming off solid stakes wins and should lead the opposition against the favorite. I am expecting a loaded field here going the tricky seven-furlong distance, and this will be a race I am very much looking forward to handicapping.

Matt:  It has been great seeing horses like Patch Adams, Smoken Wicked and Chancer McPatrick come up with big performances that fulfilled promise that they showed early in their careers. Patch Adams had that 10-length maiden victory and then looked great winning the Woody Stephens (G1) after stumbling on the Kentucky Derby trail. The Louisiana-bred Smoken Wicked looked great in Cajun country but then proved himself up north and won the Amsterdam (G2). Chancer McPatrick won the first three starts in his career including the Champagne (G1) and won the Curlin last month after four losses.

Brian: Last but not least, we have Ways and Means in the Ballerina (G1). A romping winner of her debut at Saratoga two summers ago, the fleet filly has been a handful ever since, especially at her favorite track. Her lone Grade 1 victory came last year at the Spa when she passed the Test, but her last race at Saratoga in winning the Bed O’ Roses (G2) may have been her most impressive race to date. She could be a single to use in the multi-race wagers as she preps for another shot at the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

Matt: Ways and Means is one fast filly who had a breath-taking stretch run at the Spa for Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables. Brian, you know that a Pick 5 player like me is looking forward to the chance to structure tickets around many of the stars that we mentioned in our Travers day preview.

Brian: Named for a champion of yesteryear who surprisingly never won a race on the grass in three career tries, the Sword Dancer (G1) has become the most important turf race of the year going a distance outside of the Breeders’ Cup Turf. This year’s edition has drawn a nice international match-up despite it being run on the same afternoon as the Arlington Million (G1) at Colonial Downs.

Last year Far Bridge was let go at odds of 8-1 when going gate to wire in this race. This year the odds for him will be significantly shorter as he looks for his fourth graded-stakes victory of the season. Trained by Miguel Clement since the untimely passing of his father Christophe, the 5-year-old star has continued to improve with maturity as so many offspring of English Channel tend to do. A second straight win in the Sword Dancer would come as no surprise.

Matt: Since taking over from his father, Miguel has been making all the right moves with wins at tracks all over the country. Halfway through the Saratoga meeting he sits in fourth place in the trainer standings with nine wins. Over the years the Clement barn won the Sword Dancer five times. Miguel won the Fourstardave (G1) last weekend with Deterministic, who was my top pick.

Far Bridge is just a neck away from wins in his last four starts going back to March at Gulfstream Park, where he took the Pan American (G3), and then moved to Aqueduct to victory in the Man o’ War. He had that narrow loss in the Manhattan (G1) at Saratoga in June and dominated the Bowling Green (G2) in July.

Brian: Trainer Charlie Appleby has been a little quiet on this side of the Atlantic so far this year, but that could all change on Saturday when he sends out a pair of Europe-bred Godolphin runners. Drawing the rail and to be ridden by Flavien Prat is the improving 4-year-old El Cordobes. The son of Frankel really is coming around this year and exits a nice Group 2 win over a short field last time at Newmarket.

While that one will be making his first start in the United States, Appleby’s other runner is far better known to American fans. In fact, Nations Pride has won a Grade 1 race in North America in each of the last three seasons. Overall the globetrotting 6-year-old has won four graded stakes on the continent in nine tries. Top rider William Buick will make the trip over to ride. Although El Cordobes appears to be getting good, Nations Pride is a proven commodity. Both are dangerous here.

Matt: Typically I am a big supporter of the Appleby runners but these two just do not have the usual appeal for me. On his best Nations Pride is a win contender but he did very little running in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) the last time he ran in America. I wonder why Appleby chose the Sword Dancer when Nations Pride won the Arlington Million last year.

Brian: After the big three, there should be a clear gap in the betting with several good turf runners adding strong depth to the field. It looks like Grand Sonata will run in the Million, leaving Todd Pletcher with the improving and dangerous El Rezeen as his lone entrant. Rebel Red, Vote No and Utah Beach all are recent stakes winners at the 1 1/2-mile trip. The quality of this secondary group in the Sword Dancer makes it clearly the stronger race overall than the Arlington Million.

Matt:  Rebel Red, El Rezeen and Utah Beach are the horses who I am most interested in the Sword Dancer beyond Far Bridge. They are in good form but looking at their complete record this Grade 1 will present a class challenge. Since I don’t like the Appleby runners, those three will come with odds that make them appealing.

Brian: With Far Bridge and the two Appleby runners in the field, every other horse will have very attractive odds. One of those horses is El Rezeen. The Todd Pletcher-trainee was getting very good this time last year and as a son of English Channel, he will only get better with age. He loves the Saratoga turf and now has had two solid races to begin his 4-year-old season. Also the bump up in distance to 12 furlongs on Saturday will be a plus. He should offer excellent value here, and I will use him both on top and underneath in the exotics. El Rezeen is my top pick in the Sword Dancer.

Matt: For me, Far Bridge is the horse to beat in the Sword Dancer and should be combined with Rebel Run, El Rezeen and Utah Beach in the exacta and the trifecta. In horizontal wagers I will single Far Bridge. Far Bridge is my top pick in the Sword Dancer for the Clement barn.