The Travers Stakes gives Saratoga the matchup it wanted all summer: Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo against Jim Dandy winner Renegade. Haskell winner Baby Vino, Preakness winner Napoleon Solo, and Curlin Stakes winner Sea Strike add real depth behind the two established stars. The question is whether Renegade can turn the tables …
Two inches can change how a horse looks on paper. At a sale, a 16-hand colt and a 15.2-hand colt may bring different expectations before they ever walk into the ring. In pony competition, even a small measurement difference can determine eligibility. Knowing how to measure a horse correctly is not just a technical detail …
Booked dominated the Sanford by 6 lengths. Three weeks later, Twinkle Town beat him wire to wire in the Saratoga Special. Two early Derby storylines, already colliding, before most fans are even thinking about next spring. From an ownership perspective, though, August isn’t about picking a Derby favorite – it’s about figuring out which of …
Sovereignty answered the only question that mattered at Saratoga: was the champion we saw last summer still in there? After two disappointing starts to open his 4-year-old season, the reigning Horse of the Year returned to his old form with a last-to-first run through the 2026 Whitney Stakes field. Sovereignty won the 2026 Whitney Stakes …
The Whitney has long been one of the summer’s defining horse races. It is more than a Grade 1 trophy — it is one of the few August races that can reshape the Breeders’ Cup Classic picture before the championship season arrives. The 2026 version puts the older-horse division front and center with a field …
Renegade won the 2026 Jim Dandy Stakes, rallying from as far back as 11 1/2 lengths under a patient Irad Ortiz Jr. to run down favored Commandment by a half-length in 1:49.08 for the 1 1/8 miles. The win gave Todd Pletcher a record-extending ninth Jim Dandy victory and capped a five-win day for Todd …
Five horses entered the 2026 Jim Dandy, but one is a maiden without the form to be a serious factor — this is really a four-horse race for the final major Travers prep. The winner heads into Travers week with one of the biggest momentum boosts of the summer. Golden Tempo is skipping the Jim …
Every summer, Saratoga’s meet builds toward the Travers — but the road there runs straight through the Jim Dandy first. If you’re trying to figure out which three-year-olds have a real shot at the Travers a month later, the Jim Dandy is where you start looking. The Jim Dandy Stakes is a Grade II thoroughbred …
The Whitney Stakes is a Grade 1 race for horses age four and older, run each August at Saratoga Race Course. First run in 1928 and named for the Whitney family, it’s one of the few truly elite races reserved for older horses rather than the sport’s usual focus on 3-year-olds. Unlike the Triple Crown …
In late August, Saratoga has a way of showing which three-year-olds are still improving and which ones have already given their best. The race that puts that question in front of the division is the Travers. The Travers Stakes is a Grade 1 race for three-year-olds run every August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga …
