Saratoga Breakfast Protocol
 

My brother (ltjmcnamara), mainly a lurker around here. Will be joining the festivities opening weekend with us. Any way, he suggested we take the kids Saturday AM for breakfast at the track to watch the horses work and secure some spots for the day. Our guys are small and they would probably enjoy that better than the crowd and heat of the day...

I have not been to breakfast there since I was a kid.

Any experts care to give the low down on breakfast at the track? What time, where exactly, open daily?

Hopefully this will also be appliccable for those of us going to watch Sumwon work.

Thanks

I forget what time but you can definitely go get breakfast there. There is a buffet breakfast or you can just bring your own breakfast in and eat it in one of the boxes. You can pay to park in the closest parking lot and as long as you leave by a certain time (like 10:30) you can get your money back, just save the little coupon they give you.

I'd suggest bringing your own donuts/pastries and beverages...go upstairs and sit in the box seat area in the clubhouse...

All the info you should need is at the bottom of this link:

http://www.nyra.com/Saratoga/General...ids/Kids.shtml

Do you mean the breakfast buffet on the porch in the Clubhouse?

They have a decent amount of food options. I'd make reservations and go early so more horses are on the track. Hopefully your server will be competent...

After breakfast you'd get your best view of all of the works if you go up to the owner's boxes. (which you can also bring bagels & coffee up from home and skip out on the buffet)

Thanks for all the info.

Given the age of our kids and cousins, bringing our own chow and hanging in the seats sounds like a good plan...

You get a much better view. I'd recommend that.

Please make sure you head to the backstretch one morning with the kids!

It is an unbelievable experience for the kids (and adults) to be 30-50 feet away hanging on the outside rail as the horses are working out. On the backstretch is where all the horses enter and exit the main track for works and breezes as well as be there in person for the schooling and gate drills. There is no better AM rush than to see 50 feet away, the speed of horses breaking from the gate!

There is a facility there that serves coffee, juice, pastries, sandwiches, snacks and that is where you'll see most owners, trainers and jockeys each morning up close. Bring a camera. The barns are located right there and you' and the kids can watch the horses being cooled down and washed post workouts. If you see a blacksmith near a barn, try to watch the horses being re-shoed, from a safe distance. The blacksmiths there are great guys and they'll almost always give the kids the discarded or used shoes as a memento! They have very clean restrooms for the kids and it's very safe! It's a very relaxed atmosphere, but a very special one!

If your interested, let me know when your going to be there and I wouldn't mind giving you and your family a tour of my barns where I've got horses.

Thanks for the offer. I will surely let you know when we take the kids. That would be great.

The racing museum also has some fun interactive exibits for the kids if you have time to squeeze that in.

Pmac,

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but dinner at Leon's & $50 pichers of Margaritas is just as vital.

That better be a BIG pitcher.

Yeah...

I do beleive last year's Labor Day Trip took a year or two off my life...

Irish Eggs Benedict followed by a cooler of PBR, followed by some Rob Roy's, followed by Leon's Margaritas, followed by Parting Glass followed by what ever hole in the wall we ended up at...

Can't wait to do it again!!!

You do need to have credentials or be a guest of someone that has credentials in order to visit the backstretch. Anyone used to be able to enter the backstretch or the Oklahoma training track until they changed the security policy a few years ago. Just a heads up.

Mark.

Or served from under the table....:D

or take the tram from the clubhouse area to the backstretch tour by NYRA if your plans don't coincide with mine or other NYRA owners from DT board.

My biggest breakfast concern is how heavy the cooler of beer is gonna get carrying it from Ganders place.:o

tell him to rent a wagon from some neighbor's kid for the time you're there. Then if you ever get real wrecked, gander can pull you home in it.

Freaking brilliant Steve...I love it.

P.S. put the blinks on him if you're in a hurry. LOL