TRAVERS STAKES Airs Saturday on NBC

American Pharoah, Thoroughbred racing's 12th Triple Crown winner, is set to return to the track this Saturday, August 29, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in the $1.6 million Travers Stakes for 3-year-olds at 4 p.m. ET on NBC. The 146th running of the Travers is the highlight of an outstanding two-hour program of live racing, which will also include the $1 million Sword Dancer and the $700,000 Forego Handicap as a part of the "Summer at Saratoga, Breeders' Cup Challenge Series- Presented by Lane's End Farm" broadcast.

The Travers is the fifth of 10 telecasts under the "Breeders' Cup Challenge Series - Presented by Lane's End" banner of automatic qualifying races leading into the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Oct. 30-Oct. 31, which will be televised live on NBCSN and NBC from Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

Laffit Pincay III hosts live coverage from Saratoga, joined by analysts Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey, five-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner and three-time Travers Stakes winner, reporter Donna Brothers, analysts/handicappers Eddie Olczyk and Bob Neumeier, and race caller Larry Collmus. Daily Racing Form's Matt Bernier will also serve as handicapper.

"I can't wait to see American Pharoah deliver another breathtaking performance in the Travers at Saratoga this Saturday. I may never see another one like him in my lifetime," said Bailey in anticipation of Saturday's showdown.

This Saturday's telecast will include an interview with American Pharoah's trainer Bob Baffert, a feature on the history of past champions running at Saratoga, and Jerry Bailey's look at what makes American Pharoah perhaps the greatest horse of all time.

American Pharoah, owned by Zayat Stables and trained by Baffert, will be an overwhelming favorite on Saturday when he is expected to face nine rivals in his first start since winning the William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on August 2. Since losing his debut race last summer, American Pharoah has won eight consecutive times, and in the process became the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Triple Crown. American Pharoah will go to stud at the end of this season, and the connections have indicated that the son of Pioneerof THE NILE will have make the Breeders' Cup Classic his final career start in his quest to become the first horse ever to capture Thoroughbred racing's Grand Slam of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Classic.

American Pharoah arrived in Saratoga on Wednesday afternoon from his summertime base at Del Mar in California. Breaking from the No. 2 post position at odds of 1-5 under jockey Victor Espinoza, American Pharoah will likely be challenged in the Travers by the first two finishers from the 1 1/8 mile Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on August 1, Texas Red and Frosted. Trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden his brother, Kent, Texas Red, the 8-1 third choice, won last year's Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Park, but was forced off the Triple Crown trail due to injury this winter. He returned in July with a second place finish in the Dwyer at Belmont Park, and followed that performance with a half-length victory over Frosted in the Jim Dandy.

Frosted, trained by Kieran McLaughlin and ridden by Joel Rosario, is the second choice in the wagering at 6-1. Frosted finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and then second to Belmont Stakes prior to his second-place finish in the Jim Dandy earlier this month. The 12-1 Keen Ice, trained by Dale Romans, finished to American Pharoah by 2 ½ lengths in the Haskell.

Saturday's show will also include the live presentation of the 1 ½ mile Sword Dancer, a Breeders' Cup Challenge race for an automatic berth into the $3 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, and the seven furlong Forego Handicap, which will award the winner a free berth into the $1.5 million TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint.

International star Flintshire, from England, leads the Sword Dancer. The 5-year-old, trained by Andre Fabre, was second in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf and then won the Longines Hong Kong Vase in December at Sha Tin. Flintshire comes into the Sword Dancer off a second-place finish to two-time Arc de Triomphe winner Treve in June in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

A third-place finisher in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, Private Zone, trained by Jorge Navarro and ridden by Martin Pedroza, Private Zone has won both the Churchill Downs Stakes and the Belmont Sprint Championship this year.

As an added element to the racing action, fans can also get into the excitement of the Travers, which offers them the chance to correctly select the exact order of finish of the race and win a trip the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The game is free to enter and play, and fans can register and submit their picks for each race online at: http://www.milliondollarfinish.com/. The fantasy player with the highest score for each designated race will win a once-in-a-lifetime VIP trip for two to the sold-out 2015 Breeders' Cup. Along with the 10 chances to win during the Challenge Series, fans can enter for a shot at the ultimate prize of $1 million during the Breeders' Cup World Championships by predicting the correct order for the top 10 finishers in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, which will air on Saturday, October 31 on NBC.

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