Travers Stakes Odds & Betting Preview: Tiz The Law & Uncle Chuck Top Favorites
- Saratoga’s Travers Stakes is this year’s premier Kentucky Derby prep race
- Run for the Roses favorite Tiz The Law is a significant chalk in The Travers
- Does one of Tiz The Law’s rivals provide betting value on Saturday at The Spa?
For years Saratoga’s Travers Stakes has been known as the Mid-Summer Derby. After the Triple Crown season ends in June often the next time we see the top three-year-olds is at The Spa. The best of them frequently contest The Travers. This year is different.
With the Kentucky Derby shifted from May until September because of COVID-19, The Travers is the final prep race for several top Derby contenders. For current Derby favorite Tiz The Law, while qualifying points to reach Churchill Downs are not needed, this is the home track for his ownership group, and a race their veteran trainer has always wanted to win.
Other contenders like Uncle Chuck, who is considered among the top choices to win in Louisville, need to run well in The Travers to guarantee they will get in the Kentucky Derby.
Unlike several prep races we have seen this summer, The Travers has a deep field beyond the favorites, and that means betting value if you can choose the winner. Let’s look at the field and consider our options.
2020 Travers Stakes Odds
| Horse | Odds at Bet365 |
|---|---|
| Tiz The Law | -125 |
| Uncle Chuck | +300 |
| Country Grammer | +1000 |
| Max Player | +1200 |
| Caracaro | +1200 |
| Shivaree | +1800 |
| South Bend | +3300 |
| First Line | +3300 |
Odds taken August 4
The Travers is run at the same distance as the Kentucky Derby, one-mile-and-a-quarter. The feature race on a terrific Saratoga card Saturday will be run during the second half of Fox’s television coverage which airs between 5-6:30 pm EST. The purse is $1 million.
The Favorite
A group of old friends from Saratoga Springs pooled their money years ago, a relatively modest amount for each of them, and decided to buy a horse or two. They struck gold when New York-bred gelding Funny Cide, a $75,000 purchase, won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2003.
Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg may have hit a second home run this year. Tiz The Law has been the Kentucky Derby favorite for months, and all he does is keep winning. The first jewel of this year’s reworked Triple Crown was his latest impressive performance.
Tiz The Law is five for six in his career and he could easily just coast into the Kentucky Derby. However, his home town connections want to win Saratoga’s biggest race. It may hurt him a month from now in Louisville, or two months away in The Preakness, or come the first weekend in November at the Breeders Cup, but there is little reason to believe anything but an A effort is coming again.
Top Contender
While baring injury Tiz The Law will be in the starting gate next month in Louisville, lightly raced Uncle Chuck needs to run well Saturday to secure his invitation. Trained by Bob Baffert, who conditioned the two recent Triple Crown winners, Uncle Chuck is coming off a strong victory in California in just his second career race.
It would be easy to question how tough Uncle Chuck’s competition has been since he beat four horses in his debut, and only a trio in the stakes victory, but last time out he got by Thousand Words. Last weekend Thousand Words returned to the track and beat highly regarded Cezanne, and one of the Derby favorites Honor A.P.
Uncle Chuck is a bit of a wildcard, unproven but with incredible potential.
Longshots
What makes The Travers stand out from most other preps this year is the depth. Tiz The Law is a legit favorite, and Uncle Chuck a strong challenger. However, there are things to like about Caracaro and Country Grammer too.
The two longshots ran against each other on opening day at Saratoga in the Peter Pan Stakes.
The Peter Pan was loaded with at least five Kentucky Derby hopefuls, and Caracaro and Country Grammer were clearly the best of the group.
This will be the fourth career outing for Caracaro, who has finished second twice and won a maiden race in January. The Travers will be his second race off a long layoff and improvement is to be expected.
Country Grammer has two wins in five starts. Prior to his victory in the Peter Pan, he finished third behind well regarded Tap it to Win and Mystic Guide in an allowance race at Belmont where he was forced to race wide.
The Bet
Tiz The Law is the most likely winner, and Uncle Chuck is a very reasonable second choice. Neither’s odds are ridiculous, but they aren’t exactly juicy. Country Grammer was terrific last time out on this same Saratoga track. He is owned by Paul Pompa who has a stable of high-end horses, trained by Chad Brown, one the nation’s top conditioners, and the price is right.
Pick: Country Grammer (+1000)
Dave Friedman has covered professional and college sports for two decades. From ESPN to the Associated Press, Regional Sports Networks, Metro Networks, and many local outlets, he has written about and broadcast major and minor events throughout the country.
