text: Birdstone reigns during storm at the Travers SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Birdstone did it once, winning the Belmont Stakes, but he had to do it again to prove his class, and he accomplished the mission by capturing the 135th running of the \$1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga yesterday. Now, the retired Smarty Jones, defeated by Birdstone in the Belmont, has company atop the 3-year-old division.