I commented after my trip to Saratoga this meet that there are less wagering opportunities than ever. I wondered if my comments were the product of me becoming a grumpy old man LOL. After yesterday's Travers Day, I was convinced that the numbers would bear this out a bit. So I did a little bit of work focusing on the biggest day only of Saratoga's meet since 2000. Make of it what you want. No warranties as I did this quickly and didn't "double" check my work but it is very close to accurate at worst. 21 winning favorites in 38 races the past 3 Travers Days (55%).
Travers Day, 2021. Nine favorites won yesterday. Two 2nd choices won yesterday. 13 races. Field Size, 7.77. Two consecutive years that average field size on Travers Day is under 8.
Format didn't come out perfectly but if interested I think you can parse through it.
Year Attndnc, #Races, #WinningFavs, Avg Field Size
2000 54,116 10 4 10.50
2001 60,486 11 5 9.73
2002 43,153 11 6 7.91
2003 66,122 12 3 10.42
2004 48,894 11* 4 9.18
2005 42,841 12 2 8.75
2006 40,785 12 5 8.33
2007 38,909 12 6 10.25
2008 40,723 12 1 10.58
2009 34,221 13 5 7.92
2010 45,764 13 3 9.92
2011 43,050 13 3 9.77
2012 46,528 13 6 10.46
2013 47,597 14 5 10.43
2014 46,557 14 5 8.86
2015 50,000 13 6 9.15
2016 48,000 13 6 9.54
2017 47,725 13 4 8.31
2018 49,418 13 5 8.77
2019 48,213 13 6 9.00
2020* 0, n/a 12 6 7.25
2021 44,507 13 9 7.77
