Travers

Saratoga season admission passes for the 2026 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course are now available for purchase at more than 175 Stewart's Shops throughout the greater Capital Region, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Thursday. On-sale through Sunday, July 19, Saratoga season passes provide fans with general admission access to all 46 days of Thoroughbred racing this summer, including the Opening Weekend July 4th Racing Festival, Whitney Day, and DraftKings Travers Day. Season passes are available in hard copy or digitally for $94 at Stewart's Shops,...

Ticket and hospitality on-sale dates for the 2026 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which will open on Friday, July 3, and continue through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7, were announced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) Wednesday. Season tickets will go on sale on Thursday, Mar. 12, for the 46-day summer meet and include reserved seating in the Clubhouse, Grandstand and Michelob Ultra Stretch. A season pass, which provides general admission for all 46 days, is available as a mobile ticket for $94 or a traditional physical...

The stakes schedule for the 2026 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which will open Friday, July 3, and continue through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7, was released by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) Thursday. Highlighted by the 157th renewal of the $1.25-million DraftKings GI Travers Aug. 29 and the 99th edition of the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 8, the 46-day summer meet will offer 20 Grade I races among 73 stakes worth over $23,575,000 in total purses. The summer meet will begin with a special July 4th...

Godolphin homebred 3-year-old Sovereignty (Into Mischief) has been named the 2025 Horse of the Year. In the final award of the evening, the Champion 3-Year-Old Colt added the ultimate prize to a 2025 campaign which saw him win five of six starts including three Grade I's. Beginning the year with a win in the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream, he was defeated just once when second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby. He would go undefeated from there, piling up wins in the GI Kentucky Derby, the...

Dr. Kapur (c, 2, McKinzie--Ava's Kitten, by Kitten's Joy), a game second, beaten just a neck, after setting a fast pace in the coveted Travers Day maiden at Saratoga Aug. 23, ran to the money as the 4-5 favorite with a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' performance at Keeneland Thursday. The Ken Ramsey homebred was hustled to the front, but was immediately hounded to his inside through an opening quarter in :22.47. He began to get some breathing room on the far turn, kicked for home as the one...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Leading Horse of the Year candidate Sovereignty (Into Mischief) continued his preparations for the upcoming GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a strong gallop on a brisk Saturday morning at Saratoga. "He'll breeze tomorrow, then hopefully one more time before he leaves," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said back by his barn during the break. "We've been on schedule. We mapped out a little, potential schedule for him and it's gone pretty well so far. He's been doing great." With the rising sun, morning mist and...

Go ahead and crown him. Dual Classic winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) showed no mercy on his four overmatched rivals, romping by 10 lengths in Saturday's GI DraftKings Travers S. at Saratoga. Bracket Buster (Vekoma) and Magnitude (Not This Time) rounded out the top three. "Our horse just proved how good he was when he pulled away in the last eighth of a mile," winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "He's pretty special." The 1-4 favorite jumped well from post four and trailed the bunched-up field as expected pacesetter...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--As the hours shrink to minutes and the 156th running of the GI, $1.25 million Travers Stakes gets upon us, those closest to Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the 2-5 morning-line favorite, handle the agonizing moments until post time in different ways. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott admitted he'll "probably" be nervous. "It's like being on the freeway," he said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track as Sovereignty munched on some grass a few feet away. "Defensive driving all the time. So far, everything has been good....

There really isn't a whole lot that trainer Bill Mott has left to accomplish in the Thoroughbred business. Since recording his first graded stakes victory with Heatherten--who also gave him his first Grade I success--for owner John Franks some 41 years ago, the 72-year-old has saddled the winners of over 150 top-level contests with superstars of either sex, such as Taylor's Special, Theatrical (Ire), Paradise Creek, Fraise, legendary dual Horse of the Year Cigar, Ajina, Escena, Wekiva Springs, Favorite Trick, Dream Supreme and her son Majestic Warrior, Drosselmeyer, To Honor...

Three new auction items, with all proceeds benefitting the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund, and Belmont Child Care Association, will become available for bidding beginning Aug. 14-20. Items include: a complete set of artist Greg Montgomery's signed Travers Stakes poster series from 1986 through 2025 in one-of-a-kind presentation packaging; the Museum's box seats at Saratoga Race Course for this year's Travers Stakes day; and Twice the Heart, a limited-edition casting designed by artist Jocelyn Russell based on the monument completed in 2023 depicting...

'TDN Rising Star' and MGISW Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie), winless in three prior runs this season, got back on track with a hard-fought win in Thursday's Curlin S. at Saratoga. The rail-drawn, 4-1 chance raced in an inside fourth through an opening quarter in :24.27. He was under a ride on the far turn, began to fire in the stretch and fought on gamely while bumping between rivals to outbattle longshot So Sandy (Omaha Beach) by a head. It was another half-length back to his favored Chad Brown-trained stablemate and 'Rising Star'...

Aron Wellman, who heads the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners syndicate which is a co-owner of GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin), said his colt will run next in the July 19 GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. "If all goes well this coming weekend and he works to (trainer) Michael McCarthy's satisfaction and comes out of his work with good energy, the Haskell is Option A," Wellman said. "What are options B and C? I haven't thought beyond that. The Haskell is our target. If we find any reason for him...