Saratoga Memories and Nostalgia

[Flatterer]

You have cashed your fair share of tickets at Saratoga if you remember when runners saddled under the trees and walked through the crowd to the walking ring…same day grandstand seat sales for the 4 sections at the end of the grandstand…the only place to watch previous day film race replays was the next morning on the 2nd floor of the Hall of Fame Museum…no racing Sunday so you took a bus to Green Mountain Vermont to watch live racing…the old saddling shed had stalls for saddling in the rain before betting windows and offices were installed and Harvey Pack would host his daily seminar at the far end of the shed…the $3 trifecta was featured as the only trifecta bet of the day on the last race…a crowd of over 50000 parked their cars in the ditches on both sides of Union Avenue to watch Alydar and Affirmed in the Travers…New York Lawton tip sheet cost $1 more but came in a secrecy envelope.


You’ve heard the live call to post more times than you care to remember friend, if you heard the live broadcast of the bell ringing 17 minutes before post time…race changes were on a wooden stand in the infield…spectators watched races from the infield…the last turn on the inner turf did not have a rail, just the hedge and every year a horse would keep turning left into the infield after the hedge…mail a postcard next to the jockeys quarters compliments of NYRA…Mary Ryan narrated the morning workouts on the main track…main track muddy and sloppy conditions could stop a freight train because of the high clay content…the one post in the 7 furlong chute was so deep it was thought to be quicksand…Harry M. Stevens was the only on site purveyor…the only bathroom in the backyard was next to the jockeys quarters…steeplechase races were 3 turns contested at 1 ⅝ and 1 ⅞ miles…steeplechase races jumped the last jump at the top of the stretch…the red faced Saratoga police officer directing traffic at Union and East…and finally the race meet was only 24 days in August.

[southerndutch]

Great summary of those memories. I remember lining up at the main entrance to even buy seats on Travers day.

[TheSpyder]

.....and Carolina BBQ!