Overview
- Leading Change produced a powerful late run to overtake front-running Napoleon Solo and win the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday under Manny Franco in just the colt’s third career start.
- Golden Tempo, the morning-line favorite and winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, finished third after a long layoff and an illness-disrupted summer training schedule that cost him a planned prep.
- Napoleon Solo set the early pace and held deep into the stretch before being caught, a race shape that trainers said contributed to Golden Tempo’s inability to close fully.
- The upset elevates Leading Change into Breeders' Cup and year-end honor conversations and has owners, trainers and handicappers rethinking fall targets and entry plans for the top 3-year-olds.
- The Travers outcome reinforces the race’s role as a midseason barometer for three-year-olds and leaves human storylines in play, including Jose Ortiz’s Saratoga-season milestones and how connections manage recovery and placement for key fall races.