Travers draw: Field, jockeys, post positions, morning-line odds

All three classic winners were entered Tuesday afternoon, but it was Eclipse Award recipient Forte who was made the 7-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes covering 1 1/4 miles on the main track at Saratoga.

The Violence colt owned by Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola drew the rail post in the field of seven 3-year-olds. Trained by two-time Travers winner Todd Pletcher, Forte will be ridden as usual by Irad Ortiz Jr., who never has won the mid-summer derby.

Click here for Saratoga entries and results.

Forte comes into the race off a controversial victory last month in the Jim Dandy (G2), the traditional Saratoga prep for the Travers. Racing in blinkers for the first time, he was taken on an aggressive ride by Ortiz that resulted in a five-minute review by stewards before the win was allowed to stand.

Arcangelo (5-2), whose victory in the Belmont Stakes made Jena Antonucci the first woman to train the winner of a Triple Crown race, will end a 2 1/2-month break when he starts from post 2. Javier Castellano keeps the ride as he tries to add to his Travers-record six wins. A ridgling sired by Arrogate and owned by Jon Ebbert, Arcangelo is on a three-race winning streak that began with his maiden-breaking win March 18 at Gulfstream Park and includes his victory in the Peter Pan (G3) on May 13 at Belmont.

Kentucky Derby winner Mage (4-1) drew post 4 with jockey Luis Sáez being chosen by trainer Gustavo Delgado, who did not want to wait for Castellano to make his Travers decision. The son of Good Magic owned jointly by Delgado’s son Gustavo Jr., Ramiro Restrepo, John Herzberg and Commonwealth Sports finished third in the Preakness and a hard-charging second last month in the Haskell (G1).

Preakness winner National Treasure (8-1), trained by three-time Travers victor Bob Baffert, is a candidate to vie for the early lead from post 5 with jockey John Velázquez, who has won this race twice. Owned by a partnership led by Tom Ryan of SF Racing, the Quality Road colt has not raced since he finished a weakening sixth in the Belmont. Baffert is taking the blinkers off National Treasure for the first time since a fourth-place result in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 8.

This marks the first time since 2017 and the fourth time ever that three winners of Triple Crown races will line up in the same running of the Travers.

Disarm (8-1), who is getting blinkers for the first time, will make his second Grade 1 start after finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby. The Gun Runner colt who won the Matt Winn (G3) at Ellis Park and finished fourth last month in the Jim Dandy, both in the slop, drew post 6. His owner Ron Winchell, trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Joel Rosario collectively got their first Travers victory last year with Epicenter.

Tapit Trice (12-1) gets blinkers for the first time and races for Pletcher from post 3. With Sáez unavailable, José Ortiz landed the riding assignment in pursuit of his first win in the Travers. The Tapit colt owned by Mandy Pope and Antony Beck last won in the Blue Grass (G1) on April 8 at Keeneland. He finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby, a close third in the Belmont and fifth in the Haskell.

If not for a nose loss in his second start, lightly raced Scotland (12-1) would be undefeated coming into the Travers. His 4: 3-1-0 record was built entirely this year on maiden, allowance and restricted-stakes victories. The Good Magic gelding owned by the Roth family drew post 7. Perhaps most likely to lead the field through the first turn, Scotland is trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Júnior Alvarado, both of whom have yet to win the Travers.

The Travers is the 12th of 13 races Saturday and will start at 6:11 p.m. EDT at Saratoga, where the National Weather Service forecast a 30 percent chance of afternoon showers with a high near 73 degrees. The race will be televised by Fox Sports on its main, over-the-air channels. The day’s coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. on FS2, shifts at 1:30 p.m. to FS1 and then at 3 p.m. to Fox. Post time for Saturday’s opener is 11:40 a.m.