Summer at the Spa

Now that the Triple Crown races are behind us, the racing world’s attention turns to the summer meets at Saratoga, NY and Del Mar, CA. Both of these “boutique” meets run for around six weeks. Thus, the moniker. Both also have wonderful histories and unusual origin stories, and attending these iconic places at least once should be on every handicapper’s bucket list.

Saratoga Race Course is located in Saratoga Springs, a town in upstate New York about an hour’s drive north of Albany. The town had been a destination for many of the rich and powerful from New York City even before 1900, drawn there by its cooler summer temperatures and its famous natural springs and mineral baths. Gambling, legal then (albeit stopped briefly by state law in 1911 & 1912) was also a big part of the town’s history. In 1863, some of the town’s more famous visitors organized the first horse racing meet, a four-day affair. Over 5,000 patrons showed up. The following year, the group organized and expanded and the wooden Saratoga grandstand was built. That grandstand still stands, and Saratoga remains the oldest continually operated major sporting venue in the United States.

The track at Saratoga is colloquially known as “The Spa,” in honor of the nearby mineral springs, and it has become one of the finest racing meets in the country, attracting large crowds and some of the world’s finest horses. It is the starting point for many two-year-olds on their road to the next year’s Kentucky Derby.

Since racing has been conducted there for so many years, the great horses and notable races that the track has seen are too numerous to list, but there are a couple I’d particularly like to point out. Man o’ War, who many still refer to as the greatest racehorse of all time, raced at The Spa in the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes and lost by a neck to a horse named Upset, the only defeat in his legendary 21-race career.  (On a side note, I should point out that, though a lot of people think this race is where the term “upset” is derived from as it relates to an unexpected defeat, it’s been in use in horse racing since at least 1877.)  1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox also ran at Saratoga and lost, to a horse named Jim Dandy, who went off at odds of 100-1. The immortal Secretariat was also defeated at The Spa in the 1973 Whitney Stakes just weeks after his record-setting run in the Belmont.  And in 2015, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah raced there, in the Travers Stakes, not long after securing his Crown.  He, too was defeated, proving once again that there’s a reason one of Saratoga’s other nicknames is the “Graveyard of Champions.”

Stories like these are endless, and endlessly enticing. So it was that, in 1996, our little band of Ohio handicappers thought it was time we visited maybe the most iconic racetrack in America.

We had no idea about a Spa trip, like where to stay, where to park, how to get there, and what to expect on arrival. Fortunately, our friend Ken, who had taken us to Belmont Park in New York a year earlier, had been a Spa regular and was able to provide us with the ins and outs of the place. We soon discovered that, much like the Derby, the room rates during this period of time were astronomical in both the city and in the surrounding area as well. The population of Saratoga Springs, a quaint little town, almost triples during the racing season, and, since some of racing’s elite attend the meet, many of Saratoga’s homeowners rent out their houses and leave town for those six weeks. We ultimately opted to stay in Latham, a town about a 40-minute drive to the track. Our days of sleeping in the van were over, but inexpensive (i.e., cheap) was still a part of our vernacular.

Given our various professional commitments, we decided we had to go early in the meet, and, since we could afford only a few days at the track and were looking at a nine hour car ride each way, our budget would be really stretched, especially if our betting skills were not up to par. So off we went, as instructed: east on I-90, north on I-87, left on Union Avenue, and back a hundred years.

Saratoga is one of the friendliest places on earth: quaint, historical, beautiful, and justifiably proud of its customer service. The track’s summer help staff must take a training course in customer service and friendliness before they can be approved to work there.  The track’s motif is like an old-time country fair, with the classic red-and-white striped tents and vendors selling art, food and racing souvenirs. And get this: you can bring coolers into the picnic area behind the grandstand!

There are television monitors attached to huge trees so you can see the races, and both betting machines and live tellers are available for wagering. Picnic tables are free and located right next to the paddock, so you can view these majestic animals as they are saddled and walked about. There is a walkway that goes right through the picnic area which takes the horses and jockeys to the paddock. Then, after every race, the jockeys walk right through the crowd behind the grandstand to return to their dressing room, and people are free to walk along with them, get autographs, and take photos. What other major sporting event gives you that kind of access?

We arrived at the track at around 8:00 am, walked through the gate (there’s no charge at that time of day), set our stuff on a shaded picnic table under a huge tree, and began the short walk to the grandstand for our first glimpse of this place we’d heard so much about.

The only way to describe it is breathtaking.  We found ourselves looking over two beautiful lush green turf courses and a large dirt course, all set in the middle of a forest of trees. Planter boxes filled with the red and white flowers that dot Saratoga’s landscape hung on the front of the grandstand.

We soon discovered that the track offers free tours of the backside and a free tram ride to get you there. There are trackside dining facilities, and the announcer adds to the enjoyment of sitting and watching the horses gallop over the racing surface. And you can sit in anywhere in the grandstand to watch in the morning. We always chose to sit in a box owned by one of the famous racing families; the names were attached to each box near the finish line, so we could tell which family owned which box. People can come in the morning with their children and see the horses up close along the rail, and you can see trainers in the grandstand, timing their horses as they work.

I know this might all sound like a travel promotion from the Saratoga Visitors Bureau, but I promise you, this is exactly how it was. And we experienced all of these things the first morning, before we ever saw a race.

“When do we pay for admission?” we asked one of the workers – friendly, of course, like they all were – at one point. He told us to wait for the announcement, then go back out to the front gate and get in line. Sure enough, soon after training ended, we heard an announcement asking us to “please exit the park,” and smiling people began walking out through the gates. Some got in line at the box offices to pay for entry to the races. Others, it looked like, left to go home or elsewhere, having had either a wonderful breakfast trackside, or just a nice, relaxing morning watching horses in an idyllic, almost Edenic setting.

I wish I could tell you that we made a fortune that first weekend, but truth be told, we hardly cashed any tickets. But boy, what a wonderful place.  Our accommodations were adequate, and the drive to and from the track went quickly; trading stories about the day.

Usually every other Sunday, Saratoga has a free giveaway with paid admission.  This can include anything from baseball hats to tee shirts, to coolers, to umbrellas, and my personal favorite, bobbleheads of famous racing figures or horses. We missed the freebies on that trip, since we had to leave early on Sunday so everyone could make their obligations the next day. But we swore that, if we ever returned, the next time we’d stay through Sunday for the free stuff – and hopefully find a place to stay a bit closer to the track. We had drunk mineral water from the famous Big Red Spring by the paddock, we saw several famous owners and jockeys, and we experienced the thrill of being at the mecca of summer racing in the east. Most of all, I and my racing buddies had had another fantastic trip, and we vowed that it wouldn’t be the only time we’d visit The Spa.

As it turned out, it wasn’t.

To be continued ……