The Travers 2026: Post Positions, Odds And Golden Tempo Vs. Renegade

Golden Tempo, pictured top making Triple Crown history for himself and again for his trainer Saratoga-born trainer Cherie DeVaux by winning the June 6 Belmont at Saratoga, has drawn the outside post position No. 9 for the August 29 running of the $1.25-million Travers Stakes. Surprisingly for the Kentucky Derby and Belmont champion, ridden by his usual Ortiz brother, Jose, in the irons, he’s been cast as the rather narrow morning line favorite, with odds of 5-2, just a half-point lower than the Todd Pletcher-trained second favorite, Renegade, now at 3-1 and coming off a decisive ultra-late close victory in the Jim Dandy.

Expressed in implied probability, the Saratoga oddmakers are telling us that Golden Tempo—again, the decisive Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner, just the 13th horse to win those two legs of the Triple Crown—has just a 28.57% chance of winning the Travers. And they are saying that Golden Tempo’s nearest competitor in this Travers field, Renegade, who did not win a Triple Crown leg, nevertheless maintains a 25% chance of beating him. How’s that again?

As ever in tight races, the answer to that question is: The tight rating is your problem to figure out, buster. But before we get into what these two monster closers have to do to get by each other, or what they have to do, or not do, to fail at that, here’s this morning’s refresher on the draw and the Saratoga morning line.

Post Position, Trainer, Jockey, Morning Line Odds

1) Emerging Market, Chad Brown, Ricardo Santana, Jr., 15-1

2) Leading Change, Brad Cox, Manuel Franco, 12-1

3) Napoleon Solo, Chad Summers, John Velasquez, 8-1

4) The Puma, Gustavo Delgado, Javier Castellano, 8-1

5) Renegade, Todd Pletcher, Tyler Gaffalione, 3-1

6) Ocelli, Whit Beckman, Edgard Zayas, 20-1

7) Sea Strike, Chad Brown, Flavien Prat, 5-1

8) Baby Vino, Lindsay Schultz, Paco Lopez, 10-1

9) Golden Tempo, Cherie DeVaux, Jose Ortiz, 5-2

10) Silent Tactic, Mark Casse, Luis Saez, 10-1

(Source: New York Racing Association, 8/24/2026)

Ten horses is a relatively big field for the Travers, and this 157th field offers some setups that could prevent any stretch duels. Somewhat likelier is the fact that Ortiz aboard Golden Tempo and Tyler Gaffalione replacing Irad Ortiz Jr. atop Renegade will each find (or make) space for themselves to bring a run. Whether that happens simultaneously, and in a way that sets up a duel between the favorites, is a question that we’ll have to work to “believe” as race week rolls on, in the sense that we sidle up to the betting window, real or virtual, and lay some hard ducats down on that.

Golden Tempo’s history-making Belmont-winning trainer Cherie DeVaux had this, at least, to offer about how her athlete has been doing since his win at Saratoga in the Belmont: “He seems fit. He seems really happy. He’s had a couple of really nice works, solid, and he’s not overly exerted, so I think he’s in a really good place.”

Jockey Jose Ortiz has been more effusive and more technical about his partner in the race, saying: "I feel like we have a good post, and we’ll go from there. My horse is doing great. He started to change a lot when we put the blinkers on him. I think that was the switch. When he gets the blinkers on, he changes, and he’s proven that he gets better and better.”

In this way, we can approach what (we can hope) might be a thrilling stretch duel between the top two favorites. It’s clear from the fine run Renegade brought to take the Grade 2 Jim Dandy that just about every single thing Todd Pletcher is doing with Renegade is working. For the Travers, Pletcher will not have his usual rider, Irad Ortiz Jr. up—Ortiz having injured his foot in a crush a few races back, and that painful injury continues to flare up—but the winning Tyler Gaffalione is in the irons in his stead and brings every tactical gift to help Renegade find the opportunity to run that he needs.

So, what is that run? While it’s easy enough to say “room to move” or even “find a hole coming out of the turn," bringing a run that will beat Golden Tempo is a harder chore than that. It’s about Renegade setting that up by manufacturing a scenario (with Gaffalione) in which he’s far closer to the front than he might ordinarily like, so that his break from the peloton, when he makes it, gets him well out of Golden Tempo’s reach at the line.

As a true deep closer, Golden Tempo doesn’t mind—and can even be said to “like”—coming from 10 or a dozen lengths off the pace. Renegade can do that, too, but he’s growing into an athlete that may be just a shade less of a deep closer than his Saturday rival. He and Gaffalione need to exploit that slight tactical advantage to be further away from Golden Tempo coming out of the turn.