First run during the final full year of the Civil War, the Travers Stakes has been held annually at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, and the event has produced many of the top horses in the nation’s history. Outside of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, the Travers Stakes is the largest event that is not part of the Triple Crown, and only one horse has ever won the so called superfecta by taking the Travers Stakes, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes in the same year, a feat the legendary Whirlaway accomplished in 1941. Also known as the Midsummer Derby, the Travers Stakes is the nation’s oldest stakes race for thoroughbreds and earned early notoriety by focusing exclusively on the most exceptional three year old thoroughbreds in the country. The race is named after William R. Travers, whose horse, Kentucky, won the inaugural running in 1864. August Belmont is another famed stable owner whose horses won some of the early runnings.