Code of Honor & Tacitus 5-2 Favorites to Win 2019 Travers Stakes

• The 139th edition of the Travers Stakes will be run Saturday at Saratoga Race Course
• Code of Honor and Tacitus are co-favorites in futures betting
• Where can we find betting value in this year’s event?

They call Saratoga’s Travers Stakes the Mid-Summer Derby. Run since 1864, the mile-and-a-quarter contest for three-year-olds is really the culmination of the summer racing season. This year’s event on Saturday will feature several of the horses who made noise in the Triple Crown.

Maximum Security, the disqualified winner of the Kentucky Derby opted not to run, and Preakness winner War of Will is out too. That makes Tacitus, who hit the board in two Triple Crown races, and Derby runner-up Code of Honor the early favorites.

Let’s take a peek at the current odds for all of the runners and consider where value is present.

Odds to Win 2019 Travers Stakes

Odds taken 08/19/19.

Though the field is not officially set, the list of candidates is strong and that means whether you want to back a favorite or take a flier, the odds ought to be fair.

The Favorite: Tacitus

Do you make your own luck? If so, Tacitus is a lot faster than he is smart. He has finished in the money in six of seven career races but recently keeps running wide, getting bumped, or failing to find racing room.

Tacitus was awarded third in the Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security got DQ’ed. He returned to finish runner up in the Belmont Stakes. He also was second at Saratoga’s Jim Dandy Stakes on July 27. Tacitus is very talented and brings his best every race. Is this the one he gets a clear path and shows his best?

Top Contender: Mucho Gusto

Trainer Bob Baffert did not have success in this year’s Triple Crown despite having several well-regarded horses. Mucho Gusto did not race in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, or Belmont, but still has put together an impressive resume.

Maximum Security finished first in the Kentucky Derby but got disqualified. Many feel that Maximum Security is the top three-year-old this year. Mucho Gusto finished just behind Maximum Security in last month’s Haskell Invitational after back-to-back wins in graded stakes races at Santa Anita.

Sure, Mucho Gusto was only good, not great prior to the Triple Crown. However, recently, he has very much looked the part.

Longshot: Looking at Bikinis

It is not crazy to think that this year’s Kentucky Derby crop wasn’t great. Several favorites have not run well since the Run for the Roses, and after a Triple Crown winner last year, a down season is possible.

Looking at Bikinis ran in one race as a two-year-old, won, and then was sidelined for nine months. He returned to win an optional claiming race at Belmont Park in late June and then tired in a third-place performance over a muddy track at the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga last month.

Looking at Bikinis will need to run his best career race to beat this strong field, but inexperienced horses do tend to improve a lot as they race more, and he clearly has a lot of talent. If the track is dry, could he win on the lead? If he challenges Maximum Security on the front end, could they tire each other out and set up Tacitus?