Winning Ponies

DRF’s Dan Illman will join us for Travers Day coverage. A popular Winningponies guest, Dan is one of the most widely watched handicappers on the internet through his drf.com platform. Almost daily, he matches wits with Mike Beer for interesting angles and observations of the Race of the Day. There is no doubt what the race of the day will be on Saturday as Saratoga presents the 153rd running of the Travers Stakes. Trainer Eric Reed joined us last week and wasn’t surprised that Rich Strike will be a longshot once again. The Kentucky Derby winner at odds of 80-1, Rich Strike drew post 2 and was made the 10-1 sixth choice in the field of eight entered Tuesday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers at Saratoga, a race where Epicenter, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up, was made the 7-5 favorite on David Aragona’s morning-line. “That’s fair,” Eric said of his odds. “His running style makes him hard to pick no matter what. He’s got all the speed in the world, but for whatever reason he