Travers includes Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners. The favorite is not one of them.
Epicenter came in second as the favorite in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes this year.
Those runner-up finishes did little to dampen the widespread belief that the Steve Asmussen-trained colt remains the class of the 3-year-old crop in 2022.
As evidence, Epicenter was installed Tuesday night as the 7-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in New York.
Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and ridden by Joel Rosario, Epicenter headlines a talented field of eight 3-year-olds in the 1 ¼-mile, Grade 1 event known as the Midsummer Derby.
Top challengers to Epicenter figure to be Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (10-1), Preakness Stakes champion Early Voting (8-1) and Haskell Stakes winner Cyberknife (7-2). Zandon, who finished third in Derby after winning the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, was assigned odds of 5-1 in the Travers.
Mo Donegal, who won the third leg of the 2022 Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, has been sidelined, at least temporarily, because of bone bruising in his lower legs.
The remainder of the field includes Artorius (9-2), Ain’t Life Grand (20-1) and Gilded Age (30-1).
After beginning his career last year with a sixth-place outing, Epicenter generated five first-place finishes and three seconds in his ensuing eight races. Most recently, Epicenter vanquished Zandon and Early Voting in winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes by 1 ½ lengths at Saratoga on July 30.
Epicenter will start Saturday from post-position No. 6.
Rich Strike stunned the racing world with a late rally to win the Kentucky Derby at odds of 80-1, skipped the Preakness, then fizzled to a sixth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes. The Eric Reed trainee should return to the track refreshed, having not run since the final leg of the Triple Crown on June 11.
Preakness winner Early Voting, trained by Chad Brown, led the Jim Dandy most of the way before fading in the stretch and finishing last in a field of four.
Brown, who has also entered Zandon and Artorius in an attempt to win the Travers for the first time, was arrested Aug. 17 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., after allegedly pushing a woman down a flight of stairs and attempting to choke her at his home. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was released on bail.
Cyberknife won the Arkansas Derby before a disappointing 18th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Since then, he’s been on fire, winning the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 12 and the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 23.
The lightly raced Artorius — two wins in three career starts — comes in off a victory in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga on July 29, a race in which he bested fellow Travers contestant Gilded Age by 4 ¾ lengths.
Ain’t Life Grand, an Iowa-bred who has spent the bulk of his career at Prairie Meadows, brings a two-race win streak to Saratoga, having won the Iowa Derby (July 9) and Iowa Stallion Stakes (July 23) at his home track in Altoona, Iowa.
The 153rd Travers Stakes is scheduled for a 5:45 p.m. post time Saturday and will be televised live nationally on Fox.
Saturday
153rd Travers Stakes
What: “Midsummer Derby” for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds
Where: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Post time: 5:45 p.m.
TV: Fox-56
Distance: 1 ¼ miles
Purse: $1.25 million (Grade 1)
Favorite: Epicenter (7-5)
Full field with odds:
1. Cyberknife (7-2)
2. Rich Strike (10-1)
3. Ain’t Life Grand (20-1)
4. Gilded Age (30-1)
5. Artorius (9-2)
6. Epicenter (7-5)
7. Early Voting (8-1)
8. Zandon (5-1)
