Every 2026 Classic Winner Collides in Saturday's Travers
Derby and Belmont hero Golden Tempo, Preakness winner Napoleon Solo and Derby runner-up Renegade headline a 10-horse Midsummer Derby at Saratoga.
The Triple Crown split three ways this spring, and Saturday at Saratoga the argument gets settled on the track. The 157th Travers Stakes — the Midsummer Derby — has drawn a 10-horse field that includes the winner of every 2026 classic: a $1.25 million, 1¼-mile Grade 1 that America's Best Racing calls the defining race for 3-year-old male champion honors at January's Eclipse Awards.
The favorite
Golden Tempo is the 5-2 morning-line favorite from post 9 for jockey José Ortiz and trainer Cherie DeVaux, who made history this spring as the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. The Curlin colt rallied from last to win the Derby at 23-1 by a neck, skipped the Preakness, then took the Belmont by 1¼ lengths. Saturday he meets the rival he ran down in the final strides at Churchill Downs.
The challengers
Renegade, the Derby runner-up, is the 3-1 second choice from post 5 for Todd Pletcher and Tyler Gaffalione, arriving off a win in Saratoga's Jim Dandy — the Travers' traditional local prep. Napoleon Solo (8-1, John Velazquez up for Chad Summers) won the Preakness in its first running at Laurel Park. Chad Brown saddles two, headed by Sea Strike at 5-1 with Flavien Prat riding, per the field published by Off Track Betting.
The stage
First run in 1864, the Travers is older than both the Derby and the Belmont, and the winner claims the Man o' War Cup, the solid-gold Tiffany trophy dating to 1920, according to NYRA. This year the famous infield canoe wears the colors of 2025 winner Sovereignty's owner, by Saratoga tradition. Post time is set for roughly 6:35 p.m. ET, with FOX carrying the broadcast.
A Derby-Belmont winner, a Preakness winner and a Derby runner-up in the same starting gate is exactly what August racing is supposed to deliver. Saturday, somebody's championship case becomes a championship.