It was a wise decision by NYRA to cancel Sunday’s racing. The heavy rains and winds didn’t relent until 4:00 pm and, even then, being in Saratoga would have felt like being at Aqueduct in April.  This morning brought clear skies and sun and the forecast that the next several days will seem like summer again.  Those who stick out the meet after Travers Day know, nonetheless, there will be more talk of next year than this year.

Caption: Hurricane Irene rains halted racing on Sunday
Photo: Vic Zast

Fire On Ice, a son of Unbridled’s Song out of the unraced Storm Cat mare Lost in the Storm (how’s that for synchronicity?), delivered the same kind of dominating performance that Uncle Mo gave as a juvenile on last season’s Travers Day card.  Owned in part by his trainer John Kimmel, Fire On Ice now commands his ultimate price and it would come as no surprise to see at least Kimmel’s share sold.  Saratoga’s horse sales may have ended officially weeks ago, but the give and take between folks with a runner and folks with a dream of the first Saturday in May has just initiated.

Although Lael Stable’s Penn’s Grant finished almost a dozen lengths behind Fire On ice and was 25-1 in the wagering, in him Barclay Tagg may be training, at Mike Matz’s loss, the three-year-old star that everyone’s looking for.  A slow start, by the way, kept the muscular son of Empire Maker from finishing higher than third.  But he did finish strongly.  The simple truth is that two-year-old colts that don’t win at Saratoga, but race here to learn, often turn out to be spring’s most accomplished runners.

Monday’s card is heavy on claiming and dirt races.  The three meant for the turf will be switched to the main track, unless the person in charge of making such calls went west for the weekend.  NYRA’s eager approach to pulling some grass races at the slightest suggestion of give in the ground is one of the season’s confounding realities.  What has happened to “yielding?”  Fans believe that there have been more than the typical number of questionable stewards’ inquiry decisions and have been frustrated by numerous gate scratches. 

In the upcoming week, SPAC will feature Stevie Nicks, Incubus, Journey and Sir Elton John.  NYRA conducted a sweepstakes which permits one lucky winner and a friend to see the rock legend in concert.  The winner will receive money to spend on souvenirs at the track.  It will be tendered, of course, in the form of a voucher. 

On Saturday, September 3, a day earlier, the gr. 1 Woodward Stakes will decide if Havre de Grace can beat the boys.  That stellar card will likewise offer the gr. 1 Forego and now, thanks to Hurricane Irene, the gr. 1 Personal Ensign.
  
Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”  He’s attended the races at Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

The racing on Monday felt strange in several ways. First off, the main track was fast – this after Irene had toppled oaks on Broadway, flooded the Hudson and caused power outages the day before.  Then, of course, the isolation of a single day of action between two dark days left visitors in limbo.  It was hell on Sunday, heaven on Monday and a return to the real life on Tuesday.

John Velazquez maintained his one-victory lead in the jockey’s race over Javier Castellano.  Velazquez is only two behind his agent Angel Cordero, Jr. in lifetime victories at the Spa.  During the last couple years of the 20th century and the first few years of this millennium, Jerry Bailey was so successful that he overtook Cordero, relegating the “King of Saratoga” to “King of Saratoga Emeritus” status.

Velazquez put on a good display of Cordero tactics in the seventh race, the $75,000 Saratoga Dew Stakes.  Aboard the leader Banker’s Buy, he seized the rail from David Cohen, who was trying to squeeze Mineralogist through on the inside, by moving left with his mount and eliminating the gap.  Nevertheless, Cohen realized quickly what was happening to him, drew Mineralogist out through a narrow seam and passed Banker’s Buy under the wire.

Mineralogist, owned by Chester and Mary Broman, Sr., hadn’t visited the winner’s circle since October 2009.  The fine New York-bred filly by Mineshaft disappeared from the track throughout 2010.  She had four starts this year before winning on Monday, none noteworthy.  But trainer John Kimmel continued to place her in tough races and this wasn’t lost on astute horseplayers.

The fifth race, a maiden $35,000 claiming six-furlong sprint won by For Her Eyes Only, was scheduled to run at 3:14 pm but went off instead at 3:21.  Three outriders chased Burnin’ Ash around the entire perimeter of the racetrack after she dumped her rider before the start.  The runaway filly hit her quickest stride in front of the grandstand when the second outrider approached her. Flavor Girl unseated her rider, too, prompting the horse in the gate next to her to be scratched.  It was a mess.

Eleven races including two stakes and an interesting two-year-old maiden race are on tap for Wednesday afternoon.  Children are being encouraged by Hannaford Supermarkets to celebrate Halloween early by dressing in costume for the races.  Hunch players old enough to remember when tricks were played on people who didn’t treat will bet Hooligan’s Delight in the sixth.

Despite the cancelled Sunday and fewer than 8000 fans on Monday, NYRA has reported that business is marginally up for the meet.  No plans to replace the lost day are forthcoming.  People who purchased reserved seats for 40 days of horse racing want to know how they will be reimbursed for the day they didn’t get.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”  He’s attended the races at Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

Life returned to the racecourse on a day NYRA hung a skeleton in the grandstand and parked a hearse out in front.  The Abby Todd Dancers of Albany, NY performed “Thriller” between races.  Their dance began with a pile of humans pretending they were dead.  Children wore costumes as if it was Halloween.  It was pretend Halloween.  Aren’t they all?

Five days of racing remain for the Spa course this summer.  Wednesday began a good run.  Multiple stakes races are pegged for each card from here on.  Two went into the record books today.  They were minor, unless you won them.

Caption: NYRA stewards (or Halloween costume placing judges) at work.
Photo: Vic Zast

Only five horses ran in the $75,000 Lady Tak Stakes.  Trainer Chad Brown – that man again – saddled Kid Kate to victory.  Eddie Castro was aboard for his first of three winners.  Castro rode Count Catamount, the winner of the sixth race, and Alaura Michele, the winner of the eighth.  The eighth was the $75,000 P.G. Johnson Stakes, meaning Castro was aboard two stakes winners Wednesday.

By the way, don’t think that the jockey race is between John Velazquez and Javier Castellano only.  By taking the day’s final race aboard Howie and the Cat, Castellano is now tied with Velazquez at 46 winners apiece.  But Ramon Dominguez is only seven winners back.  

Dominguez urged Hammock to better Scorper by a neck in the first race. The two horses ran dead even for the last half of the one-mile grass event.  Dominguez then sat aboard Risky Rachel as she overwhelmed her competition by over 10 lengths in the ninth.  Velazquez finished second three times.

Velazquez seemed to have his best opportunity to win in the seventh race.  He was aboard the 2-5 favorite Mr. Style.  Officer Prado ridden by Corey Nakatani engaged Mr. Style early and outlasted him to the wire.  Losing in his lone start to J P’s Gusto - a record-breaking colt that’s going to be the gr. 1 Hopeful Stakes favorite - convinced the public that Velazquez’s mount was destined to win.  He didn’t.

An officer not named Prado arrested Kent Desormeaux for trying to hit a NYRA security guard with his car.  The Hall of Fame jockey is to appear in City Court to face a misdemeanor charge Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon’s main charge is the gr. 2, $150,000, 1-1/16 miles With Anticipation Stakes on the Mellon turf course.

Three lucky patrons will have their names drawn in a sweepstakes and be given a $1000 win wager.   Veterans of our Armed Forces will be admitted free.  Havre de Grace is in the house.

Pat Hammond of Ocala, FL, heading home today, used Tuesday to visit Old Friends at Cabin Creek.  She saw Crusader Sword, 27, the last living son of Damascus, and said, “He looks ready to be put back in training.”

 
Caption: Two dozen Michael Jacksons perform Thriller.
Photo: Vic Zast

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”  He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

The focus of attention at Saratoga was not on the racetrack but in a room at the City Center. CEO Charlie Hayward and Turnberry Consulting’s Paul Roberts, who was hired in 2008 to help NYRA envision the future, laid out several ideas before the public about how capital improvement money could be spent once it’s generated from Aqueduct casino proceeds.

From Roberts’ lips to God’s ears; he is an engaging chap who knows of what he speaks.  More importantly, what he spoke about seemed just what the track needs.  Nevertheless, while his presentation dwelt on major themes and big ideas, the audience seemed interested in more immediate concerns. 

By this time next year, Hayward expects to present to the NYRA Board a plan that may include a permanent air-conditioned hospitality structure to replace the At the Rail tent, a backyard expansion that involves moving the Lincoln Avenue entrance and a three-tiered building at the top of the stretch where fans can buy meals for $15.  The most exciting ideas, however, are renovations.

One calls for a paddock redesign that places the racing offices and jockeys quarters at the rear of the walking ring and provides for stadium viewing opportunities at the north end.  The other would redefine the historic saddling shed, now partly devoted to offices, into two long bays of betting windows divided by a champagne bar. 

Among the complaints heard were that the new tote boards blocked the view of the backstretch, that the paddock and saddling enclosures didn’t allow fans to see the horses and that the television monitors and public address system were inadequate.  There were requests, which were quickly dismissed, that the infield be opened.

Short fields are beginning to plague the waning days of racing. Dark Thunder, a four-year-old gelding that’s come to hand for trainer Todd Pletcher with four consecutive victories, beat only three other horses in the $75,000 Island Whirl Stakes.  Harbor Mist emerged the winner among five betting interests in the $75,000 Anne M. Clare Stakes.  

By winning on Sweet Cat in the eleventh and final race, John Velazquez moved ahead of Angel Cordero, Jr. into second place among jockeys with victories at Saratoga.  A trainer who was also the jockey rode his horse to victory in the steeplechase.  The seventh race illustrated the extent to which commercialism has its influence. It was named the River 99.5 FM Valvoline Instant Oil Change.

Angel Cordero, Jr. and John Velazquez - NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photo

Two veterans of clubhouse service, Dave Smith and Fred Quackenbush, wear caps that honor veterans of military service.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

The long summer polo season, which began July 8, headed into the final two days with The Celebrate Saratoga Cup in direct competition with the racecourse.  A 2:30 pm late post time caused the 5:30 pm polo match to begin as the horses entered the track for the seventh race, a 5-1/2 furlong $42,000 sprint on the turf for New York State-breds.  The 3-1 favorite Petey Cramer ran a corker as the first chukker started, but he couldn’t out-finish the winner.

Trainer Joseph Aquilino must not have heard the complaints about Dick Dutrow sending a horse four times to the post in 11 days.  He saddled Isn’tlovejustgrand for the fifth time this meet and Isn’tlovejustgrand won.  In making his 16th start of 2011, the three-year-old New York-bred colt now has crossed the wire first on three occasions and hit the board 50 percent of the time. 

Incidentally, the much-maligned Dutrow trains the horse that won the race that was run immediately preceding Isn’tlovejustgrand’s victory.  The last time Dutrow ran River Fancy was on July 30, so there shouldn’t be criticism.  With turf specialist Julien Leparoux in the saddle, the five-year-old Congaree mare took a 1-1/16 miles $20,000 claiming race on the Mellon Course.

The day’s racing began with stakes as two of the first three races.  A good-looking two-year-old colt named Zow made the $75,000 Gold and Roses Stakes memorable.  By beating a small field of five other runners, Zow enabled Todd Pletcher to record his 37th win of the meet.  The number betters by one his record triumphs of last summer.  Only five lengths separated Zow from the last horse, but you knew he would win when the bell rung.  Back-up track announcer John Imbriale did his best to squeeze the pow out of Zow’s call, but he’s no Tom Durkin.

Race 3 was the $75,000 Distorted Humor Stakes, a six furlong race that engaged only five contestants.  Steve Asmussen trained two of the five.  He won with Wine Police.  Third to Caleb’s Posse - the horse that beat Uncle Mo in the King’s Bishop - the last time he ran, Wine Police triumphed this time.  In fact, he patterned his win after Caleb’s Posse’s win, rushing from last to first like Silky Sullivan.

Speightscity won the most unusual race.  Saratoga’s unable to hold one mile and 1-1/16 miles races on the main track.  Consequently, PJ Campo wrote a 1-1/8 miles race for two-year-olds.  It was this race, by the way, that convinced everyone finally that the horses on the backstretch appear bigger when viewed by the naked eye than when viewed on the video display boards.

The tenth and last race was over at 7:17 pm, when the daylight was dimmer than midnight on an Inuvik golf course.  Downtown is abuzz with Skidmore College students returning for fall semester.  The Final Stretch Festival will probably result in some 4:00 am collars for disorderly conduct on Caroline Street.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”  He’s attended the races at Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

Maggie Wolfendale, the NYRA broadcast analyst, doesn’t actually see the horses at the same time she describes them.  She prefers a remote area in the paddock to present her observations, one away from distractions.  The other day, in describing a horse, she uttered the awkward remark, “He looks bigger, upwards-wise.”  On Saturday, she could have said about Havre de Grace, “She looks better, downwards-wise.”

Caption: Before each NYRA race, Maggie Wolfendale expands the public's knowledge of the horses' appearance, conformation and fitness.
Photo: Vic Zast

You can throw that “Year of the Girl” slogan that Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta instigated a couple years ago out the window.  The slogan implies female exceptionalism.  For almost a decade now, the male Handicap Division ranks have been depleted of talent by injury and early retirement to the point that the better older fillies and mares are inherently superior to older colts.  The gr. 1 Woodward was a drop-down for Havre de Grace.

Wearing his trademark cowboy hat, trainer Larry Jones guided Havre de Grace out of the saddling enclosure like a master with a pet.  If you were lucky enough to be in the one-third of the stands which can hear Wolfendale’s announcements, you might have heard her say that Jones’s horse was “on the muscle” or “on her toes.”  But Havre de Grace settled down in the post parade, loaded into the gate and went about her business professionally.  “Believe me, we’re considering both,” Jones remarked later, when asked if he’ll run Havre de Grace in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic or Classic.

 
Caption: Last out of the saddling enclosure, Havre de Grace entered the parade ring under Larry Jones's command.
Photo: Vic Zast

“You can write in your column that there’s no roar like Saratoga,” advised Paul, the spry red-headed white cap in Section J of the clubhouse.  Paul was right; it was loud.  But not as loud as when Rachel Alexandra beat Macho Again in the same Woodward Stakes of 2009.  Dutifully and appropriately, the crowd did applaud when Tom Durkin presented Havre de Grace as the winner over the p.a. system and, again, when she strolled back to the barn, nodding her white-haltered head repeatedly as section after section stood up to acknowledge her.

Saratoga will have racing Sunday and Monday, but Saturday’s card was the best of the season. Several two-year-olds with names that suggest greatness (specifically Da Vinci in the second and Invocation, Julius Caesar and Hierro in the seventh) ran in the maiden events.  In winning the seven furlong seventh race, Darley Stable’s Alpha, the best named of all, stood out.

Ask the Moon won the watered down gr. 1 Personal Ensign Stakes. Remember that the Personal Ensign was to have been run on Hurricane Irene Sunday and that, way back in the time machine, had been viewed to be another confrontation between Havre de Grace and Blind Luck, the filly that’s beat her four times.  Jackson Bend, a little hickory horse that trainer Nick Zito has always been fond of, came to the fore in the gr. 1 Forego.

Rain is expected on the Lord’s Day and Labor Day, keeping the crowds down and dampening spirits.  Sunday’s long-sleeve tee-shirt giveaway will cause the numbers to swell, but it’ll be an illusion.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”  He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

A woman from New Jersey, who’ll remain nameless, waited until the fourth race to redeem her coupons for free long-sleeved tee-shirts.  At 11:30 am, the lines wound from the top of the stretch to the finish line and back again to one redemption outpost and from Big Red Spring to the far eastern grandstand entrance gate and back again to the second.  Then, by 2:30 pm, the wait lasted only 20 minutes.

Caption: People facing right in the same tee-shirt line as people facing left.
Photo: Vic Zast

"I don’t know why I’m waiting on line like this,” the woman from New Jersey complained.  “They’re so ugly,” she said, right before turning over a dozen coupons to a woman dispensing the giveaway and scampering off with her arms draped with the complimentary schmatte.  “I may have waited an hour and a half,” said Jim Egan of Ballston Spa, “But I got the sizes I wanted.  They’re beautiful.”  To Egan’s point, the track ran out of the small and large sizes entirely.

Regarding the giveaways, someone at NYRA has his ear to the ground.  They are fashionable, gift-worthy and collectible.  NYRA used to chintz, leaving off information like the year - a desirable element on wearable items - and sourced useless gadgets to give away like a horse head coffee mug.  Then a light bulb went on. Ball caps, umbrellas and beer coolers are far more popular.

The tee-shirts were black with a white and red logo and date on the front and a white running horse on the back.  Saratoga’s announced attendance was 58,006 and about 25,000 people stayed to enjoy the sport.  A carnival for kids in the backyard, with inflatable slides, climbing walls and jumping gyms, plus clowns and pony rides, gave parents someplace to take children while the old man was betting.

NYRA scheduled 12 races but held only 11.  Officials tried to squeeze them all in before the thunderstorms hit by shortening the time between races but couldn’t.  Miraculously, the 120th running of the gr. 1 Spinaway Stakes, Race 10, was contested only minutes before a downpour and the 104th gr.3 Saranac, Race 9, was run on the turf, as planned.  Brilliant Speed, a son of Dynaformer and, thus, born for the turf, won the Saranac. Grace Hall, the 1A of an entry, won the Spinaway.

There was a photo so close to call in Race 6 that fans held their breaths like kids in a car passing a cemetery.  Heart of Destiny, ridden by Edgar Prado, just nipped a fast charging Pianist, tuned to an almost perfect pitch by trainer James Baker.  Tom Durkin said, “They’re in the gate,” even though Salsa Mambo was being a wallflower behind it.

Three of the first four finishers in the first race wore white hoods.  The one that won didn’t.  Former jockey, turned trainer, about to turn jockey again Robbie Davis gave the leg up to his daughter Jackie on Sandyinthesun in the eighth.  Her horse beat one horse.

Elton John played through a typhoon at SPAC.

Caption: Jockey Jackie Davis at Saratoga, here from Suffolk Downs to ride for her father.
Photo: Jeff Rosen

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.
 

If in 1863 John Morrissey didn’t believe that change was necessary, Saratoga horse racing fans would be watching harness races and looking into the north at horses running instead of the south.  The sun set in the west on another year of splendid Saratoga thoroughbred sport, the third season of 40 long days in its history and perhaps the second last remaining meet before the old plant gets a facelift.  It’s about time.

Average daily attendance dropped in most of the last 10 years and was up only marginally this year.  This is something to consider when planning expansion.  Renovation, however, is another issue.  A good place to start would be to peel off the layers of paint that have caked on to the building and sandblast the splatters of white that some lazy worker let fall on the historic iron steps.  How much would it cost to upgrade TVs or to make closed circuit messages audible?

If NYRA spent only a few million dollars on basic spiffying up, most patrons would notice the improvement.  Does an overall brush-up need to await Board approval?  The franchise’s operatives, while single-minded and serious, are nonetheless conscientious.  Now that money’s available, it’s time to get on with it.

Regardless, even on its dreariest day, the nostalgic Spa racecourse recalls a bygone romantic era.  The gr. 1 Hopeful, even after 107 presentations, is about as good a name for a stakes for promising two-year-olds as possible.  And Currency Swap, a perfect two-for-two colt trained by Terri Pompay and ridden by Rajiv Maragh, won as if hope was for his opposition not him.

In the gr. 3 Glens Falls, which came next, Emerald Beech won for the fourth consecutive time for trainer Jonathan Sheppard.  Goldzar won at 31-1 for jockey Jaime Rodriguez, his first triumph of the meet, in the Ecclesiastic, a stakes that preceded the Hopeful.  Eddie Castro, Julien Leparoux and Maragh each rode two winners.  Steve Asmussen and Kiaran McLaughlin each saddled a pair.  It may have been the 39th and final day, yet trainers Josie Carroll, Ramon Hernandez, Leah Germati and Randy Granger made the winning trainers list.

In the past several years, watching the last few races from the grandstand was like watching TVG in your living room as the repo man takes away some of the furniture.  Food stands began closing up shop by the fifth or sixth race.  The hanging plants in The Carousel disappeared one by one even earlier.  This year, you could feast at all food stations but Exacta Tacos to the bittersweet end and there were no ferns to steal – a proper shutdown.

In the days and weeks that will follow there will be plenty of dreams realized.  But Belmont Park or, for that matter, the new Aqueduct won’t match up to what just happened.  Quite frankly, there is no comparison.

By the way, how does clubhouse box server Liz Hill of Saratoga Springs, NY balance those drinks on her head?   You’ll have to wait until next summer to ask her.

Caption: Clubhouse box server Liz Hill delivering a cocktail her own special way.
Photo: Vic Zast

Vic Zast has ended his 48^th season of racing at Saratoga.

A reassuring indication that Saratoga is still a place that’s set in its ways was embodied in the deliciously ironic delivery of two pre-meet announcements.
 
The first was that Shirley’s Restaurant, a newly-established food service provider in the dark, lower Carousel – where few hungry gentlemen have strayed before – will try to draw life to the recesses with poutine, a traditional Montreal dish of French fries with gravy and cheese curds.

The second was that anyone who dares eat the heart-stopping culinary creation will no longer benefit physically from the exercise of walking to a betting window. Thanks to the track’s installation of a free Wi-Fi network, nobody, not even an athlete at rest in a lawn chair, has to get up off his posterior.  He can just stay put and enter his bet via an iPhone.

North America’s oldest racetrack juxtaposes the old with the new in a manner that’s uniquely appealing and, occasionally, confusing.  Make too much of a change and it seems like you’ve overturned history. Make no change at all and lose customers.  Who wants the job of deciding what move to make?

Nonetheless, morale is surprisingly high among New York Racing Association staffers despite a recent insult from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a failure to get the takeout rate right.  That’s a credit to Ellen McClain, who, if rumors are to be believed, is working her last 40 days as COO.

NYRA executives, including McClain, are avoiding public occasions at which answers are required.  No representative showed up at the Racing Museum’s Preview Night, a panel at which deposed CEO Charlie Hayward and VP Racing Secretary P.J. Campo used to participate in.  In their absence, a lot of questions about the sport’s future were thrown at Michael Veitch, a columnist with The Saratogian newspaper.

This was supposed to be the summer in which Hayward was to present to the Board of Trustees a plan to subject Saratoga to a significant overhaul.  The Board’s vote on remodeling won’t take place until a new Board is appointed by political cronies. The cover of doom is inescapable. Regardless, the racing on tap will be noteworthy.

On today’s opening day card, 2-year-old maiden fillies will sprint 5 1/2 furlongs in restricted fields of eight for $80,000 in the third and the fifth.  Caixa Eletronica and Jackson Bend meet in the first of the co-featured stakes races – the grade III James Marvin.  In the grade III Schuylerville Stakes, Sweet Shirley Mae, owing to the name of the restaurant that’ll be serving poutine, is a hunch bet.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Stephanie Ho-Tran of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a server at Shirley's Restaurant, serves up a tasty dish of poutine.
Photo by Vic Zast

 
Saratoga's re-energized Carousel will serve poutine, the traditional Montreal plate of French fries, gravy and cheese curds, at its new the Shirley's Restaurant outpost.
Photo by Vic Zast

Some intern in the Governor’s office must have forgotten to remind officials of the New York Racing Association that Saratoga Racecourse was to open.  Glitches occur on the first day of racing every summer.  But this summer, NYRA’s operators neglected to turn the running water on in the toilets and the sound system on in half the clubhouse and throughout the entire grandstand. Even the new Wi-Fi system conked out.

Saratoga was like Keeneland on the Hudson, before Keeneland put in a public address system to accommodate simulcasting. It was Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day, when about 100,000 fans came to see Big Brown attempt the Triple Crown and the ladies rooms went dry. Thank goodness the action was a distraction.

A purse of $150,000 is a lot of money for non-winners of two races to run for. But that’s Saratoga offers these days. Five of the six 2-year-old fillies that went to the post in the grade III Schuylerville Stakes had only raced once. Can’t Explain, a New Jersey-bred filly that raced twice and won once before, finished second. The winner, Maggi Moss’s So Many Ways, ridden by red-hot Javier Castellano, was bred in Pennsylvania and broke her maiden at Parx.

The projected duel between Jackson Bend and Caixa Eletronica never developed in the grade III James Marvin Stakes, ruining beaucoup Pick 6s. Pacific Ocean, a 5-year-old horse by Ghostzapper, gave jockey Joel Rosario, here from California, coincidentally, his second winner.  Castellano, Ramon Dominguez and Rosie Napravnik rode two winners, too.  Rosie’s more impressive winner was a $490,000 Stonestreet Stables acquisition named Kauai Katie by Malibu Moon, in the fifth.

It’s been only a day, but it appears as if NYRA VP and Director of Hospitality Stephen Travers was right, after all, to move Hattie’s from the Clubhouse backyard to the Carousel. Lines were long for the fried chicken sandwiches. Some customers complained that Hattie’s had jumped up in prices a buck or two. At Siro’s on Restaurant Row, hummus on pita bread is $8 and a crab salad roll is $14.  Inflation is affecting waistlines in more ways than one.  Perhaps NYRA has upped its rent.

A long line forms for fried chicken sandwiches at Hattie's new location in the Carousel. - Photo by Vic Zast

It was fun to find the morning newspaper in the driveway wrapped in pink.  Nick Kling, still portrayed by his Bar Mitzvah photo, is back with a detailed handicap. Four other guys pick their knowses, further maddening matters. You can disregard the lot, except for Bill Taylor.  Year after year, Taylor selects more winners than anyone else in the Saratogian.  He had only two on the opener. It was a dysfunctional afternoon, all around.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.”  He has attended the races in Saratoga for 47 straight years.

It’s darn near impossible to keep up with all that’s going on in this town. Once the horses arrived, Saratoga Springs sprung to life like hydrangeas in season.  

The Hat’s Off to Saratoga Festival has begun.  The track’s hat contest is Sunday.

Women in search of a hat for the Hat's Off to Saratoga weekend find Joyce Locks' Hat Sational tent a convenient shopping destination.
Photo by Vic Zast

Joyce Locks, the racecourse milliner across from the trinkets and trash tent on the midway, is conducting a booming business. Broadway was packed to the curbside as troubadours played on the sidewalks. Putnam Market featured wines from an Umbrian village with a name that means “horseshoe.” The Horseshoe Inn, near the Nelson Avenue gate to the backstretch, rocked to the beat of the band Gravity.

The Thoroughbreds love the cool mornings. So, too, do the humans.  Runners (and walkers) emerged shortly before 8 a.m. to run in the Silks & Satins 5K for Special Olympics.  Held for the 16th time, the event brought out about 1,200 people to participate. Those who didn’t─the slugs who were still in pajamas─lined the streets to applaud the activity.  Mack Lloyd of Voorheesville, N.Y. won.

Runners pour past the homes on 5th Avenue on their way down the homestretch of the Silks and Satins 5K.
Photo by Vic Zast

The New York Racing Association tweeted before breakfast ended that the opening day problems were solved.  Unfortunately, by lunch time, the second day settled into a do-over of the first, as patrons in half the clubhouse and the grandstand watched the races in silence.

There’s no truth to the rumor that NYRA executives have never turned left as they face the grandstand upon leaving their office. But some were shocked to learn that the folks in the cheap seats were often unaware, because the public address system didn’t work in their sections, that horses had entered the track, loaded the gate or were running.  

A portion of the 21,948 paid attendance stayed to see a British-born Godolphin bay filly name Questing defeat Zo Impressive and In Lingerie in the grade I Coaching Club America Oaks Stakes. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and ridden by 19-year-old Irad Ortiz, Jr., Questing raced in second for six furlongs and then inched to the front until the race ended.  At the end, she had more track to her left than her right. But the finish was conclusive.

The next most impressive performance was turned in by Spurious Precision, a High Cotton 2-year-old colt trained by Rick Violette. In winning the second race in pretty fast time of 1:03.49 for 5 ½ furlongs, the horse broke his maiden at first asking and gave indication that the Hopeful Stakes (gr. II) may come next.  “He doesn’t do anything flashy, just does everything right,” said Violette, after watching the replay with fans outside the Jim Dandy bar.

Numbers 13, 12 and 11 came in first, second, and third, respectively, in the fifth race. Edgar Prado wrapped up his workday with three winners, with win payoffs of $31.00, $29.60, and $8.50.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races in Saratoga for 47 straight years.

Day three of the meet is too early to begin worrying about empty seats.  But if the attendance was 18,425 as reported July 22, they counted obese people twice.
Despite beautiful weather and a card suited to betting, Saratoga remains the “August Place to Be.”

Old-timers and locals, who remember when Saratoga went 24 days─Mondays through Saturdays for four weeks─pine for a shorter meet. About 30 days of racing sounds right. That won’t happen as long as the powers to be continue to think of immediate profits instead of long term health for the sport.

The 98th running of the grade II Sanford Stakes headlined the program. Jack Wolf, the major domo of Starlight Stables, predicted victory for his morning line favorite, Rose Junction. At a party on Saturday evening, he said, “I don’t usually say that we’ll win. But I think this time we will.” Bashirt did him in.  Rosie Napravnik, who rode Bern Identity, would not be denied. She and the wonderfully-named, bay son of Bernstein came home ahead of the pack comfortably.

Ramon Dominguez outdid Napravnik by guiding six horses to victory on the day. He swept the early Daily Double and won three more races before capping the finale with Wet One, an Irish-bred 5-year-old mare that followed the pace for most of the trip before splitting horses in deep stretch to triumph. Back after rehab, Kent Desormeaux, aboard a 10-1 longshot named Sheerflakesofgold, finished second.  Desormeaux is listed on one horse on Monday.

Hardrocker, ridden by Jose Lezcano, defeated Dominguez aboard the even-money Current Design in the fifth or else he might have had seven.  But the applause that Hardrocker received for finishing first was nothing in comparison to the ovation the horse that ran last got. At 96-1, Richard Metivier’s Uragano finished several furlongs behind the rest and heard whoops and hollers that should have woke the first-time starter up from his stupor. They did not.

Julie Potter of Duanesburg, N.Y. won the Hat’s Off to Saratoga hat competition. There were 78 contestants.

Except for the playing of the National Anthem, the sound system worked. People sat when they should have stood.

In the backyard, Emily Vanston and Nathan Bugh, two swing dancers from Brooklyn, N.Y., fronted a bucket for tips, as Reggie’s Red Hot Feetwarmers provided the tunes.

Swing dancers performing for tips in the Saratoga backyard.
Photo by Vic Zast

First of 78 hat contest contestants line up to show off their fashion sense.
Photo by Vic Zast

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has been to the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

It feels inadequate to refer to Tom Durkin as a race caller. He is a person of many interests--a philanthropist, a lover of language and the arts, an owner and breeder of world class trotting horses, and a raconteur par excellence--the kind of Monday night speaker you enjoy listening to before taking the day off from horse racing.

Turf writer Mike Kane, serving as moderator, did all that he could to keep Durkin on a biographical track during his 1 ½ hour presentation at the Saratoga Springs library the evening of July 23. But it was evident that the 200 people who came to the library wanted to learn more about why the game’s most eloquent announcer was so good at his primary job than what’s on his resume.

Dressed in a summer-appropriate, cream-colored sport coat with lime green dress shirt, tie and pocket handkerchief and sporting a straw hat like a modern-day Mark Twain, Durkin drew applause even before his introduction. Once he began answering audience questions, he explained that he keeps an 1800-word reference book to help him avoid becoming stale with his race calls. He described the tedious days of preparation that he puts in before a big race and the roadblocks he often faces, such as inclement weather, tricky names to pronounce and the refusal of racecourse officials to help him with minor adjustments in the color of caps worn by jockeys on various horses in a multiple-horse entry.

NYRA race caller Tom Durkin kept a crowd of about 200 people in stitches with stories about how he goes about his job.

Durkin should have little difficulty calling today’s $200,000 grade II Lake George Stakes.The field numbers eight. But if you are to believe what the experts predict, the winner will emerge from a couple of horses, specifically the British-raced Samitar, trained by Michael Channon, and Stephanie’s Kitten, ridden by John R. Velazquez, the second of two mounts that will mark the popular rider’s return to competition after a collarbone injury.

In another return to racing after a similar brief sabbatical, Ruler On Ice, the 2011 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner, will run in the eighth race, an allowance/ $75,000 optional claiming race for $85,000. He needs to beat Cease, the 5-2 second choice.  

A memorial service for Dick Hamilton, a racecourse official and public relations practitioner who served the horse racing world well for as long as people remember, will be held in the evening at the Racing Museum. Contrast that to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Jockeys vs. Horsemen Basketball Game at the Saratoga Recreation Center for the New York Chaplaincy. They’re all happening tonight.

A headline in Tuesday’s Pink Sheet must have made editors blush. It read, “Rachel Alexandra’s foil to be named.”  Barbara Banke, an owner of Stonestreet, will announce the foal’s--not foil's--name following the $100,000 Curlin Stakes on Friday.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races in Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Rain entered the picture early. By 7 a.m. Thursday, it was teeming. Then it stopped and stayed dry for the rest of the day, although a few miles away there were downpours. The weekend forecast is spotty, calling for thunderstorms daily. One person, at least─Biz Zast of New York City, who’s being married on Saturday evening─would prefer that night starlit. Hers is an outdoors wedding. The ceremony will take place at the Fasig- Tipton auction grounds.

In recent years, Fasig-Tipton has invested millions to upgrade its grounds and the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion. The company was purchased by the Dubai-based company Synergy Investments Ltd. in 2008. Since then, Fasig-Tipton Saratoga has blossomed into a venue that old-timers can hardly recognize, nevertheless they still venerate. 

Fasig-Tipton auction grounds, recently provided with a facelift, still creating memories.

Those with gray hair can recall the quaint Spuyten Duyvil, an August-only watering hole owned by a Harlem chorus line girl. The bar is gone but once sat in a corner of the barn area off George Street, where horsemen would gather for a few days each summer to swap lies, swat mosquitoes and drink bourbon. You can still buy a drink. But it’s more likely you’ll leave with a Thoroughbred.

A colt by Seeking the Gold that was bought at the two-day 2010 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale for $75,000 named Manly was morning-line favorite in the $100,000 Quick Call. He finished sixth. This means that if a son or a daughter of his sire is led into the ring on Aug. 6 or 7, the auctioneer won’t reference the race.  Artest, by Hard Spun, won the stakes and, therefore, Hard Spun’s sons and daughters will benefit promotionally from the race.

Rosie Napravnik, who was carried off the track after falling from a mount on the Wednesday race card, seemed okay as she placed with St. John’s River in the second. But she went zero for three with her horses. On the other hand, John R. Velazquez rode Artest and was one for one. Three of the nine trainers to saddle Quick Call runners were women and horses trained by two of the women finished first and second. Michelle Nihei was last seen at the Saratoga Springs library as a guest of area businessman Elliott Masie for the Tom Durkin program on Monday, and then there she was in the winner’s circle as the winning trainer for Dennis Narlinger .

The jumpers returned in the first race. Demonstrative, at 15-1, led a field home in the $75,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes. Mrs. George L. Ohrstrom, Jr.’s 5-year-old gelding teamed with Sea Island at 15-1 to account for a $378.50 Daily Double and, for whatever it’s worth, set a track record of 3:42.65 for “about” 2 1/16 miles. How does combining the words “about” and “track record” in the same sentence make sense?

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Even on College Day, the backyard of Saratoga should not be confused with the infield of Churchill Downs on Derby Day.   Except for the signs that welcomed students, the few tee-shirts that read, “My favorite course: Saratoga Racecourse,” and the $1000 scholarships awarded nine lucky people, it was difficult to tell that Friday’s activities were intended primarily for students.  Kids find their way to the racecourse on Union Avenue in pretty good numbers, ordinarily, and they partake in the experience without getting arrested for disorderly conduct or mud sliding.

Backyard regulars, by the way, can kiss goodbye to the grass beneath picnic tables. The overnight rains left the area soaked, so the few blades of green disappeared as soon as the squatters arrived. There was another okay crowd at the Spa course─about $18,000. Nevertheless, cars were backed up on South Broadway from downtown to PJ’s Barbecue by noon.  The 2:30 p.m. late post confused people. 

Turf racing was cancelled and the main track was sealed sloppy. There were plenty of scratches, but most races had sizable fields. One number 16, named Treacherous, made the cut from the also-eligible list, when mass defections occurred from the ninth race, and triumphed. A number 13, Elusive Jozi, won the second.

Dick Downey, who prepares thedowneyprofile.com, which tracks the activities of horses on the Kentucky Derby road, was impressed by the fourth race victory of Park City, a son of Harlan’s Holiday.  One of Park City’s owners, Donnie Lucarelli of Starlight Racing, said after the promising colt won at first asking that he wasn’t shocked. “The colt’s been working great in the mornings. But you can never tell until you put them into a race,” he said later in the evening at a private party in The Swamp at Hattie’s on Phila St.

Downey wisely noted that the winning connections of Street Life wisely opted out of today’s Jim Dandy (gr. II) for the Friday feature, the $100,000 Curlin. “It was smart on their part to find this slightly easier spot, same goes for Five Sixteen,” he remarked, about the horse that finished second at 17-1. Both horses ran up the track in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).  Street Life is now poised for the Travers (gr. I).

Barbara Banke, the owner of Stonestreet Stables that raced Curlin and Rachel Alexandra, announced after the Curlin that the first foal of the popular mare would be called Jess’s Dream. The name was chosen by the popular acclaim of close to 7,000 online fans of the sport. Don’t name your child this way.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

The American Graded Stakes Committee may wake up to the reality that the graded stakes of summer and fall for 3-year-old horses fail to meet the criteria of grade I competition. But it’s likely the committee won’t.

The grade II Jim Dandy was recently moved up in class and the horses assembled probably suit the description. But the same grade II horses will return for the Travers (gr. I) and suddenly, they’ll assume loftier status.

Only one Jim Dandy runner─Arnold Zetcher’s Liaison, a bay colt by Indian Charlie that finished third─had won a grade I stakes. The best any of the others accomplished in a Triple Crown race was the third in the grade I Belmont Stakes that Atigun ran. Alpha, the winner of the Jim Dandy, finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I)

Nevertheless, Alpha is a perfect two-for-two at Saratoga and has won half of his eight races. The meet’s leading jockey, Ramon Dominguez, working for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin on behalf of Godolphin, kept the son of Bernardini a length ahead of the pack throughout all but the last yards of the 1 1/8 miles and then added another length to his lead at the wire. Now, it’s on to that shot at a grade I.

In capturing the co-featured $600,000, Diana (gr. IT), Winter Memories, a pink daughter of El Prado, won her third race at Saratoga, her fourth graded stakes and her eighth race overall. She’s been amazingly reliable for trainer Jimmy Toner, coming back from the occasional set back in a fashion that’s fan-pleasing.

Despite less than ideal weather, there were several other performances worth noting on the Saturday, July 28 card. Juddmonte had gotten what it wanted from the well-bred Raison d’Etat only once in eight previous starts, but on Saturday the 4-year-old A.P. Indy colt delivered. He looked like the French foreign policy, moving right, moving left and moving right again in the stretch, but those who stood to prosper from him did.

In the second race, Ken and Sarah Ramsey were blessed by Charming Kitten in her very first start. In the third race, the red hot Starlight Stables produced another 2-year-old winner in Lawn Man. Both horses were trained by Todd Pletcher.

Lots of people who come to Saratoga for the races leave well before the feature race. Sitting in a lawn chair with dust between toes is okay for awhile, but at about the time the rains typically come, which is late afternoon, patience becomes challenging, especially if you can watch the action on television.

Last summer, NBC Sports televised feature races from Saratoga throughout the meet. But, this summer, there are the London Olympic Games and horse racing fans know all too well what has priority. That probably explains why so many stayed for both stakes. The crowd numbered 24,548, considerably fewer than the same day last year. 

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

A young man named Matty D thought it would be great fun to buy his friend Micah a gag wedding gift. Micah was married the night before and invited about 100 wedding guests to join him and his bride Biz on the rooftop of the Taqueria near the Post for the races the day after.

Matty D’s gift to Micah was a $3 exacta box ticket on the numbers 8 and 6 in the fifth race.  He bought a $2 exacta box ticket on the same combination for himself, before leaving the track for the short drive back to New York City where they live. Number 8 went off at 70-1. Number 6 was 44-1. The horses sported the longest odds on the board.

Matty D presents winning wedding gift ticket to Micah on rooftop of Taqueria.
Photo by Vic Zast

Matty D wins with longshots routinely. Still, nobody expected anything to come out of his wagers. That said, at the same party, a woman named Kathie from Buffalo, N.Y. picked up a cool $784 by betting on two longshots and a couple named Jacob and Corey, who were visiting from Shanghai, China, won over $1,200 on another bet.  Many of Micah’s guests were at the track for the first time and they simply thought form didn’t matter as much as value when wagering.

Well, you know the end of the story. Matty D’s horses ran one-two and he went to visit the IRS man while Micah ordered up the bubbly. His ticket was worth $2,152 and the one he bought Micah paid $3,328. The horses, by name, were Lady Utopia and Thirty Minutes. The race was a $20,000 maiden claiming race, an increasingly popular race for a track that’s supposed to feature the country’s best horses. It was a day for high prices and Micah and Biz’s wedding guests bet them all.  “It only takes one race to get healthy in this game,” said the veteran handicapper Dick Downey.

The tip-off for what was to happen in the fifth should have been obvious to horseplayers in the fourth. Although the favorite Riolama won, South Shore at 14-1 finished second and Opalite at 12-1 finished third. A 9-1 horse won the sixth race. Apprentice jockey Wilmer Garcia, who won his first race at Saratoga last Thursday, won his second race aboard Majestic Raffy, 17-1, in the seventh. The trifecta paid $5,527. Then the Earth returned to its usual turn.

Currency Swap, last year’s grade II Hopeful Stakes winner trained by Saratoga Springs native Terri Pompay, won the grade II Amsterdam. It was the son of High Cotton’s fourth victory in five sprint tries and his third win at Saratoga. “He loves it here,” Pompay said, afterward. But, then, on the other hand, why shouldn’t he?
So do Matty D and Micah.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has been to the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Frankel would have been the best horse to run at Saratoga today if NYRA had renewed its simulcasts of British racing.  Officials are not to blame.  Only a dozen or so fans used to show up to watch and wager on the morning telecasts at the Post. Even bubble and squeak couldn’t entice them.

The undefeated Juddmonte star will have run in the Qipco Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood before most people read this Diary.  One day, he’ll lose – it’s inevitable.  But, boy, it’s been fun to follow him.

In contrast, the Wednesday afternoon card of live racing at Union and East is again below grade.  Below grade may be a harsh assessment.  It’s the grade that’s not what it should be.

For a small stretch of history, Saratoga produced competition of extremely high quality. If there was the rare claiming race, it was for $80,000 claimers. Practicality today requires several races daily for horses worth $20,000.  Nevertheless, NYRA officials contend business is good.  Handle and attendance figures are moving along at a clip that’s ahead of last year.

Monday’s crowd was about 1700 people shy of expectations.  Given Sunday’s weak on-track betting from an announced crowd of 50,727 – mostly fans who were there for the baseball cap giveaway – there may be a trend line that’s not very encouraging emerging.  Entries will be drawn for Saturday’s Whitney Handicap this morning at 11:00 am and the news coming out of that paddock event should restore faith that the Spa is not Finger Lakes.

Grace Kaseman of Lincoln, NE was one of many who came to Saratoga Racecourse for a ball cap.
Photo by Vic Zast

Tuesday passed without anything exceptional occurring.  The dark day was unlike a previous day, when a prominent horseman, visiting the backstretch on bicycle, noticed his tires were running low. He spotted an air hose and began filling the tires with air, until a NYRA security guard stopped him. “You can’t use that air,” a security guard warned. “That’s NYRA air,” he explained. 

It was a splendid day, sunny and warm, with less humidity than last week. Campion Leczinsky, a self-taught artist, participated in the Crafts Fair at the Carousel in Congress Park.  There is nothing correct about his affordable, primitive art paintings of jockeys and baseball players – not the perspective, nor the scale, nor the brush strokes.  But they sure make you smile.

Campion Leczinsky displays one of his primitive art paintings.
Photo by Vic Zast

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Legs and Ironwood, William Kennedy, will speak about the Prohibition Era in Saratoga Springs at the Canfield Casino tonight. His topic is criminal life.

Saratoga’s number one fan, Charlie Zast, turns 4 today.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers.  He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Are you among the one in a million people who believe that going to school would be something you’d like to do on your day off from work when you’re supposed to be having fun or relaxing?

NYRA, in conjunction with America’s Best Racing – an initiative of The Jockey Club, announced it will be hosting classes at Saratoga Racecourse to help newcomers through the maze of the sport on six days this meet, beginning Saturday, the day of the Grade I, $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap.

Shug McGaughey, trainer of Stuart S. Janney, III's Hymn Book in Saturday's Whitney Handicap, answers questions at the draw.
Photo by Vic Zast

Sometimes marketing is counter-intuitive. The racetracks would benefit more by stressing that people could win without knowing a thing and that a day at the races would still reward them with an exciting, enjoyable and affordable experience if they didn’t.

“We recognize that thoroughbred racing is a complex sport and can be intimidating to the casual fan and first-time patron,” said NYRA President and COO Ellen McClain defensively, in a press release.  McClain, by the way, heretofore a bit of a phantom, showed up at the post position draw for the Whitney that was held in the paddock before racing began.  Nevertheless, no matter how hard the sport tries, it’s tough to make assigning positions in a starting gate interesting.

Speaking of making things interesting, few horses that finish last in a $20,000 claiming race receive as big a hand as Stay Composed in the seventh.  The filly dumped jockey Wilmer Garcia at the break, continued running without him, and was caught by an outrider who entered the race in a meaningless dash through the stretch.  

A new Saratoga Grandstand Craft Beer Garden has opened to the side of The Carousel.  You can buy a 12 fl.oz. beer – a tasty one you’ve never heard of before - for $5.  “They’re getting to learn that we’re here,” said a barmaid.

If you really love the suds, follow the crowd to Druthers on Broadway, the beer garden and brewery that held its grand opening Wednesday.  Beers here cost a little more, but they’re made right under your noses, and you get 20 fl. oz. for $6.  “They sent us the wrong glasses,” shrugged Brian Martell, one of the owners as he went with the flow.

Another new hot spot opens on Broadway. Druthers brews its own beer.
Photo by Vic Zast

Druthers wasn’t the only place open for evening fun.  Saratoga Hospital held its annual fund-raising party in a tent behind Siro’s Trattoria.  The Philadelphia Orchestra, a day after emerging from bankruptcy, opened its three-week SPAC season.  Attired in the full Cleveland, author William Kennedy drew close to 1000 people at the Canfield Casino for an hour of unsatisfying rambling.  

The Pulitzer Prize winner began with stories about John “Old Smoke” Morrissey, a disreputable man after whom the day’s feature race was named.  A 6-year-old gelding named Saginaw, making his twenty-ninth start, won the $100,000 stakes.

William Kennedy unknowingly chose to talk about John Morrisssey, after whom the day's feature race was named, in his presentation at the Canfield Casino.
Photo by Vic Zast

Homeowners on 5th Avenue can tell that the yearlings have arrived at the Fasig-Tipton barns. Their neighing at dawn is an alarm clock.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.