Tag: Travers Stakes

Race of the Day: 2024 Travers Stakes Analysis

After dedicating so much time in my full-card analysis discussing the fanfare and history surrounding the Travers Stakes, it should be clear to anyone who wasn’t already painfully aware that I tend to be sentimental about sports. This isn’t really a matter of debate.

If you can believe it, this occasionally gets me into trouble with other sports fans. I get a lot of ‘rose-colored glasses’ accusations, or sometimes even an outright dismissal on the grounds that I’m being unrealistic or contrarian. I don’t even disagree with people who make those claims. I like radical decisions and big risks and I’m accepting of failure when they don’t work. I want to see something incredible every time I watch a sporting event, and I don’t see the harm in rooting for such things. read more

A Look Back: Reviewing Guest Picks for the 2023 Travers Stakes

On the morning of the Travers Stakes two weeks ago, I was in the midst of the most difficult writing I had ever had to complete. With the deadline for my Columbia masters project fast approaching, I was frantically arranging thousands of words in the hopes of making a coherent narrative. Then my phone went off.

In the span of a half hour that Saturday morning, I received five texts about the upcoming Travers Stakes. Specifically, people were asking me why they hadn’t been asked to contribute for the race on Paddy’s Picks. Proud and racked by guilt all at once, I hesitantly put aside my own writing and rounded up as many guests as I could. Their picks and my reviews are below. read more

Race of the Day: 2023 Travers Stakes Analysis

Because I’ve been working for a week straight to complete my thesis project for Columbia, I originally had no plans to provide Paddy’s Picks coverage for the Travers Stakes. But this morning, five of my usual guests texted me to complain that they hadn’t been asked for a pick. 

I was so proud of them for knowing about the race and guilty for trying to skirt my duties that I’ve decided to reverse course and provide some analysis myself for the Midsummer Derby, one of my favorite racing events and one I would have enjoyed as a fan regardless of my schedule. A review of guest picks will come sometime next week, as I apparently have readers and cannot afford to lose them to other casual Long Island-based pony blogs. Let’s get into it. read more

A Look Back: Reviewing Guest Picks for the 2022 Travers

An apology and explanation are in order. The Travers Stakes occurred on Saturday, Aug. 27, and since that day, I’ve worked tirelessly to complete this guest analysis article and appease my tens and tens of voracious readers. Unfortunately, between schoolwork at Columbia, a part-time job and a number of social engagements, I haven’t had my usual amount of time to dedicate to crafting an 8,000-word document for hard-hitting racing analysis.

Though it took longer to complete than it normally would, I can assure readers that my effort and the efforts of my thoroughly entertaining guests are not lacking in any way as autumn closes in on the racing season. Life just gets in the way sometimes. read more

Saturday Spotlight: 2022 Travers Stakes Analysis

The Travers Stakes always comes up at an awkward point in the Paddy’s Picks calendar. With a full slate of work due at Fordham in recent years and now at Columbia, publishing consistent analysis in late August is always a difficult task. There are few races in the United States that would necessitate dropping everything for a Saturday, but Saratoga provides.

This year’s running of the Midsummer Derby is wide open, with at least six of the eight runners qualifying as legitimate contenders. The top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby, as well as the Preakness and Haskell winners, are all making an appearance in a race that typically concludes the three-year-old season with the Breeders’ Cup looming. read more