by
The Grade 1 Travers Stakes, often called the Midsummer Derby, is the flagship race of the summer at Saratoga Race Course. The 2025 edition happens Saturday, August 23. The $1.25 million, 1 ¼-mile race drew a field of just five, but it’ll be a thrilling showdown between the best horse in the three-year-old class and one of the few leading horses who has not yet had his attempt at the leader.
That divisional leader is, of course, Sovereignty, winner of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Jim Dandy (G2) in his last three outings. His most imposing foe is Magnitude: the enigma who aired in the Risen Star, was sidelined with an injury, and makes his second start since the return.
Keep reading to find out all about the 2025 Travers Stakes, as well as the best places for online horse racing betting during the Saratoga summer and beyond!
Where to Bet the Travers Stakes
Even before you start making your picks for the Travers Stakes, you have an important decision to make: choosing the best place for betting horse racing online. The decision can seem intimidating at first because there are so many online sportsbooks out there. However, our online betting experts have done the homework and they know the best options on the market.
Finding the best place for horse racing and sports betting online is easy with our reviews of top sportsbooks. Every site we recommend has the basics: trusted payouts, market-leading odds, and great online betting interfaces.
Each online sportsbook we recommend also offers great betting incentives. Those include sportsbook sign-up bonuses, deposit bonuses, referral benefits, and even rebates that pay you money or free bets for every single wager you make. Take a few minutes to find the bonuses that fit your preferred stakes and wagers best, and boost your bankroll by hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
Travers Stakes Horses and Odds
This is the official field for the 2025 Travers Stakes including draw numbers, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds:
- Magnitude (Steve Asmussen/Ben Curtis) – 2/1
- Bracket Buster (Victoria Oliver/Luis Saez) – 20/1
- Strategic Focus (Chad Brown/Flavien Prat) – 6/1
- Sovereignty (Bill Mott/Junior Alvarado) – 2/5
- McAfee (Rick Dutrow/John Velazquez) – 20/1
Keep in mind that the morning-line odds can be a good guide for which horses are expected to take money in the betting markets, but they are no guarantee of on-track odds. Odds can swing all the way until post time, since on-track odds are not final until the gates fling open.
Your best bet in the Travers Stakes is to bet the race at an online sportsbook. In the biggest races, you can lock in your odds on the races just by placing a bet! Then, you can watch the race with full confidence knowing you’ll get your overlay when the horse you bet wins the race, instead of sweating out late odds swings.
These are the odds on the horses at the top of the market for the Travers:
 |  |  |
|
| Sovereignty | -250 | -275 | -250 |
| Magnitude | +200 | +325 | +200 |
| Strategic Focus | +600 | +800 | +600 |
| McAfee | +2000 | +2500 | +2000 |
| Bracket Buster | +2000 | +2800 | +2000 |
Free Travers Stakes Picks
You’ve set up your betting account at the best online sportsbook for you. Now, it’s time to meet the field for the richest and most important three-year-old race of the summer!
Travers Stakes Top Contenders
The horse to beat in the Travers is Sovereignty. On class, he towers over the rest of the three-year-olds not only in the race but across the country: he won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont, and showed he held his form with a confident score in the Jim Dandy despite a wide trip.
On pace, given that this is just a field of five, it would be a concern if he were the horse we knew through the Kentucky Derby – a horse who found his best form when he became a deep closer. However, a funny thing happened in the Belmont and the Jim Dandy: a slow pace materialized, and he adapted by becoming a stalker. In short, he has not only the class but the adaptability to be hard to beat.
The foe most likely to give him a run for his money is Magnitude. He is the wild card of the division: he wired the Risen Star at 43-1 odds, but came out of the race injured so it was months before we learned if that was a fluke. He came back to win the Iowa Derby in similarly impressive fashion…the Risen Star was for real.
The biggest question for Magnitude is what happens if Bracket Buster or the newly blinkers-on Strategic Focus challenge him up front. In both his big wins he was able to get a strong lead and just keep running. This time, he may have company for the first time ever…or he may just find another gear, because he’s a better horse than he was earlier in his career.
Underneath Contenders in the Travers Stakes
It would be nice to be able to endorse a really long shot like Bracket Buster or McAfee, but neither of them appears to want any part of the Classic 1 ¼-mile distance of the Travers. Bracket Buster will probably try to run at Magnitude early, but judging from his outing in the Haskell, even 1 ⅛ miles was too much against classier horses. McAfee, despite being half to last year’s Travers runner-up Thorpedo Anna, also starts to lose some steam late at 1 ⅛ miles.
Strategic Focus still has some upside. Trained by Chad Brown, he is by Gun Runner out of a Curlin mare. He was impressive second out in a 1 ⅛-mile allowance despite being disqualified for some greenness. And, in the Curlin last out, he just got caught late but it was still a strong effort for such a lightly-raced horse, after such a big race that he could have regressed.
Now, it’s onward and upward in just his fourth career start. And, being by Gun Runner out of a Curlin mare, the classic bloodlines are strong. He has also been young and green, so hopefully the blinkers are able to strengthen his focus and make him run more maturity.
Travers Stakes Free Picks
You have your betting account and you’ve gotten to know the field. Now all that’s left is the best part of all: betting the race! These are your expert best bets for Saturday’s 2025 Travers Stakes:
- $20 to win – #4 Sovereignty
- $1 exacta – #4 Sovereignty over #1 Magnitude
- $0.50 trifecta key – #4 Sovereignty over #1 Magnitude, #3 Strategic Focus
Sports Betting Sites 