If no opinion is better than a bad opinion this space should have been left blank last week. While last week’s opinions were garbage, they’re also by now just another bunch of sentences heaped onto the digital trash pile. It’s Travers Saturday. Time for more opinions. Travers Watching workout videos for the third-most important 1 1/4-mile dirt race in North America has been an enjoyable exercise. We’ve got some good workers in the Travers. Even National Treasure, a horse I don’t fancy though a key pace element, has been breezing with aplomb. A month ago, Disarm would have been the Travers play, a late developer on the rise with stamina for 1 1/4 miles and talent to reach the head of his class. A Jim Dandy loss wasn’t unexpected, but I wanted to see more. Now blinkers go on for the big test, and the barn over the last five years is 9-0-1-0 with first-time blinkered starters in graded dirt-route stakes. The price is right, but Disarm no longer feels like the right horse. Arcangelo, as before his Belmont win, has been breezing lights-out. The faster this horse runs, the better he looks, and Arcangelo in his works just keeps going and going, monster gallop-outs every time. All that wind in his lungs – perfect for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. There, Arcangelo was an eminently playable 8-1. Here, cutting back to 10 furlongs after an 11-week break, he’s 5-2 on the morning line. Arcangelo has become a horse with a following. He’s negative Travers value. :: DRF's 2023 Saratoga headquarters: Previews, past performances, picks, recaps, news, and more. Forte, a champion, remains an enigma. Does he have a race in him that’s substantially better than his already excellent form? It can’t be ruled out. Forte might be just doing enough to get by while winning. His final few strides in the Jim Dandy, as well as in the Florida Derby, hinted there’s more to the colt than he’s yet revealed. The same thing appears at the end of Forte’s excellent recent gallop-outs – a quick flash of truly elite ability. It’ll be no surprise to me if Forte does something special, but Mage looks like all the value, and he’s the play. Mage’s Fountain of Youth was very good, considering his bad start and lack of experience, and the Florida Derby already has been deeply dissected – it’s fair saying runner-up Mage ran a better race than victorious Forte. And yes, the Derby set up for Mage, but Mage looked like a winner six furlongs from the finish – he was travelling beautifully, and that horse at the peak of his powers is the one I expect to see Saturday. Mage simply bounced in the Preakness. He came to the Haskell with the look of a horse returning from a layoff not quite steeled for his best, and that’s exactly how Mage ran. The Haskell was the perfect Travers prep, making Mage work while not working too hard. His Saratoga works have been increasingly impressive, and Mage stands to get a better trip than Forte at a much more appealing price. H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Dove into the Jerkens expecting to come out liking Verifying to run them down cutting back to seven furlongs but came out of it wondering if New York Thunder isn’t something extra special. The race holds appeal even with a short field if, like me, you’re against Arabian Lion. The speed figure from the Woody Stephens overrates this horse, and his recent workouts have looked moderate. Fort Bragg, the other Bob Baffert charge, holds more appeal. :: Visit the Saratoga Handicapping Store for Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Picks, Betting Strategies, and more. Still, New York Thunder just has more speed than his rivals, and he also possesses the rare ability to set an extremely fast tempo down the backstretch, take a breather around the turn, and then finish his races with energy. He was drawing clear in the Amsterdam even before belatedly switching leads, after which he strolled under the wire. Love the slow interim works, and New York Thunder, still fresh this year, doesn’t have to regress at all. Sapling Crazy Mason made the weekly Breakout Beyers feature in Daily Racing Form and a close look at his Saratoga sprint win offers clues that this horse absolutely will get a two-turn mile. Even eased up at the wire in his maiden score, he hit the line strongly and galloped out well with his ears pricked, looking for more ground. Crazy Mason stalks a strong pace here, and the 5-1 morning-line price would be crazy good value. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.