How old is saratoga race track

From a five-day meeting in , the racing season has grown to six weeks, running from July through Labor Day weekend. Saratoga Races. Saratoga Race Course has been in use almost every year since , with only a handful of exceptions.

The course was closed in due to increasing competition among thoroughbred tracks, making the meet at Saratoga not viable that season. During those years, the stakes races usually held at Saratoga Race Course were instead contested at Belmont Park. The late s were a period of decline for the Race Course.

Finally it was purchased in by a group of investors led by William Collins Whitney , who made major improvements and restored its reputation. In the s, the grandstand was extended, doubling the track's seating capacity. Source: Wikipedia. The Travers Stakes, named after famous Wall Street lawyer and Saratoga Race Course co-founder William Riggin Travers, is the oldest race with Grade 1 status run at the track and was first held in Fast forward to and the great Whirlaway dodged the Travers curse that befell Gallant Fox to become the only horse in history to win both that and the Triple Crown.

Not all stakes races run at Saratoga are conditions contests, and the Whitney Handicap of saw record-breaker Secretariat humbled. Big Red was beaten by Onion in an upset which reduced his legions of loyal followers he won after scintillating victories in the Triple Crown events to tears.

That was one of only two career losses for the horse who was crowned the winner of the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred Racing. The course is now home to an inner turf track where steeplechases including the New York Turf Writers Cup are run. Formed in , besides moving some of their organized jumps races to the course, the Woodward Stakes also switched here in There are almost 20 Grade 1 events held at Saratoga Race Course in any given year now, and leading online bookmakers offer horse racing betting markets on them all.

Over the years, while Saratoga Race Course has morphed, it has never compromised its sense of history and original purpose. One of the most unique aspects of the race course is that horses walk right through the crowd, on a white-fenced path, to get to the paddock for their races.

It's such a thrill, to get to stand so close to actual greatness - to see the sun glimmering off the horses' beautifully-maintained coats. To experience their eyes, their musculature, that close and personal is special. In addition, one of the race track's main features is the Big Red Spring in the backyard picnic area. The Travers Canoe, floating serenely on the infield pond, reminds fans of the previous year's winner.

The hand-rung bell, which sounds exactly 17 minutes before each post, reminds the horses and riders that it's time to go. It's another gentle reminder of the days before jumbotrons and audio systems, when the metal note of a bell rang out through the pristine, wooded race course.

In , the Saratoga Committee planned several months of events to delight virtually every heart.