What a good idea to have the Spinaway and the Hopeful on closing weekend; as we resist acknowledging that our days at the Spa are coming to end, we are given something to look forward to, the promise of two-year-olds of whom we hope we will see much more in the coming months.
In week 6, so much to celebrate, so much to remember…
The winners:
Mani Bhavan in the Spinaway, Alan Garcia up. Another day, another Grade I for Garcia.
Vineyard Haven, winner of the 2008 Hopeful. Who’s that guy in the saddle? Oh, yeah…
…Alan Garcia, the Spa’s leading jockey.
A little blurry, the McLaughlin family celebrates Kiaran’s first Saratoga training title.
Monday’s third race, in memory of Bob Lee, long-time owner of the Wishing Well restaurant, who died six years ago this week. Lee was also a board member of New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, Inc, and anyone who’s visited his restaurant can see his love of racing in the photos and paintings of horses that adorn the walls. This year’s Bob Lee was won by Premium Gold, John Kimmel’s seventh consecutive winner. I missed Kimmel’s left hand in this photo, but you gotta think he’s holding up two fingers, yes?
The Lee family celebrating the win, no doubt before heading back to the Well to get ready for the dinner crowd…
Monday’s fourth race, called by Marshall Cassidy…
On the back porch of the clubhouse, overheard, a man saying to a departing female friend, “It’s a beautiful day, and you get to say that you went to Saratoga.”
6:45 a.m., a disgruntled patron with an owner’s badge, when told by a security guard that that badge does not, in fact, grant him early access to the backyard picnic area in order to a secure a table: “This is what we pay for, isn’t it?” Really? Not to own a horse, but to get a picnic table?
Preparing to get away…
And the empty stalls of one who’s already left…
Creative interior decorating on the backstretch of the Oklahoma…
Monday afternoon, Route 9:
The paddock, after the horses have departed for the track for Monday’s eleventh race…
See you next year…
Brooklyn Backstretch 
You just might…
One of these years…..
Last pic saddens me.Mrs. Holden says hi and wants to know where her brother is.
For the Bob Lee race we bet on Premium Gold, not due to our great handicapping, but because Bob used to have shots of gold for his arthritis….and we thought that he deserved the best – premium !-Drip
Winston and Linda: Saratoga reunion next summer. Save the dates.Who is Mrs. Holden’s brother? Drip: I had the exacta in the Bob Lee. How the hell do you bet against Kimmel when he’s on that streak and at 11 – 1? Nice closing day score.
exactly what i said after not betting Premium Gold/Kimmel in the Bob Lee: “How could I have not bet on Kimmel” Lesson learned.
Oh I wish.Hey come on down for the harness meet at Colonial Downs! The sale of the track has been put on hold! Woo hoo!