On September 13, less than two weeks after the end of this year’s Thoroughbred meeting at Saratoga Race Course, the racing world was stunned to learn that five priceless, historic trophies had been stolen from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In a year that saw the town celebrate the sesquicentennial of…
It was easy, by the time closing day rolled around, to be weary of the ubiquitous yellow and red logo, easy to be fatigued by endless ceremonies and presentations and proclamations, easy to be ready for the celebrations to come to an end. Every once in a while, though, during a meeting that despite its…
The time to arrive at the race track in Saratoga, N.Y., is 7 a.m. Actual racing won’t commence until 1 in the afternoon, but at 7 you can enjoy a blueberry muffin, strawberries, and coffee beside the track as long-time commentator Mary Ryan describes the passing show…which is horses. After breakfast in the cool of…
Fifty years ago, as the centennial Saratoga racing season came to a close, this paper’s editorial board began, after a summer looking back at Saratoga’s history, to look forward. More reliant then than now on the summer season for economic prosperity, Saratoga was anticipating the opening of a new hotel, one expected to attract more…
As Allen Jerkens made his way out of the winner’s circle on Monday afternoon, he was unable to go more than a few steps without being stopped by fans who wanted their picture taken with him. His eyes still red from the tears he couldn’t hold back as he was applauded by Saratoga’s crowd, standing…
In this historic summer at Saratoga Race Course, as the town of Saratoga Springs celebrates the sesquicentennial of Thoroughbred racing, the Travers Stakes—run for the 144th time this year—is living up to its billing as the Mid-Summer Derby. Though tomorrow’s $1 million race will not, as anticipated earlier this summer, feature a match-up of the…
Arising early last Saturday morning, I thought about August 3, 1863. I thought about what might have been going through John Morrissey’s mind on that summer morning 150 years ago, about how the guests in the downtown hotels might have prepared for the races, about the horse and carriage traffic jam that might have taken…
“A large concourse of people, including a host of the fashionables in carriages, turned out on Monday to enjoy the sport and excitement of the Races on the Saratoga Course.” Those words appeared in The Daily Saratogian on Aug. 4, 1863, the day after the first day of the first Saratoga meeting, the anniversary of…
Last Saturday at Saratoga, trainer Tom Morley watched his 3-year-old filly Scribbling Sarah load into the gate for the fourth race. A bit of a temperamental filly, he had worked hard with her in the mornings to get her comfortable in the starting gate, and the efforts were, he thought, finally paying off. “I thought…
“A fitting tribute to one of the stoutest supporters of the sport New York State has ever known.” So wrote the Daily Racing Form about the inaugural Sanford Stakes, named to honor a family from nearby Amsterdam, New York, that began racing its homebred horses at Saratoga in the 1880s. Beginning with General Stephen Sanford and continuing…
