- Spa Life Crafting a Personal Decalogue
Saratoga is here, and there are few times of the year more enjoyable to those of us that find thoroughbred racing to be the best past time available. The magic of the venue, nearly a century and a half old, is difficult to convey to anyone that has yet to visit, but its' charms intoxicate virtually all that pass through. At 48, I myself am immersed in a fifth decade of Saratoga sojourns.
I cannot recall the first time I came to the Spa City, but I imagine it was in the 60's on a day trip with my parents as a child, perhaps during a Lake George holiday weekend we spent when I was 7 or 8 or maybe as an adjunct to a Tanglewood evening performance. Even as a tot, the majesty and mystique of the place was obvious.
Regular trips to Saratoga started for me in the late 70's, when as a college student I traveled from Colgate to Skidmore in vain attempts to woo one Vicki Vogel. (Those plays went a long way to establishing Saratoga as my spot for longshots.) Runs to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center were part of that era as well, with lawn seat starry evenings enjoying the Newport Jazz Festival, Emmylou Harris and the Allman Brothers among others.
My friend Phil Melnik and I began coming here as horseplayers on a regular basis in the late 80's, and we stayed at that most venerable of fleabags, the Rip Van Dam. There was something particularly alluring about flopping in one of the town's famous stationary cruiseships, in rooms that at one time housed contemporaries of Jim Brady and Tod Sloan.
Many weekends were financially successful and many were not, but there are none that I can recall as being uneventful or less than insanely fun. It was those weekends that confirmed my interest in racing as a hobby or possible vocation, as I can vividly recall longing to be part of the scenes we witnessed in the Clubhouse, at Siro's or Sperry's.
During the 90's, while spending the decade living in Montreal, Saratoga was especially reachable, and I made the most of opportunities to visit. When Phil and I started to stay in Cambridge in 1997, it provided me with exposure to Washington County that resulted in my relocation to Greenwich in 1999. That move was to change both of our lives.
Phil met his eventual wife Kit at Siro's the evening of our first Saratoga Opening Day, and my involvement in the game started through introduction to Bill Mayberry and Barry Frey of the Carolina Barbecue Co. Nearly another decade has now passed since that 1999 Opening Day. Like Phil, I likely have found a wife of my own through the magic of the Race Course, and reflecting on what has transpired in my "Saratoga life" through the 00's continues to be difficult for me to comprehend.
For the second year in a row Chuck Simon and I anticipate starting a Dee Tee Stables' runner in a race at Saratoga after last year's exilherating, and harrowing, experience with two races for Sumwonlovesyou. I gleefully feed hungry racegoers at the Barbecue Cafe, one of the most unique and convivial spots at Saratoga, and host a national daily radio thoroughbred racing talk show from there live Monday-Friday. Trainers, owners, media members and fans will visit and mingle for these six weeks, brought together by our mutual passion for the sport and this remarkable spot.
Frankly, I'm not entirely sure what I did to deserve to be in the position I find myself. It's a rare privilege to have the small role that I do at Saratoga, but it's a situation I treasure and a responsibility I take seriously. Feeling like you are part of something as special as this particular place is the essence of the Saratoga experience, and everyone that participates in any way is part of it. From trainer to owner to jockey. From 'red cap' to tout sheet vendor to backstretcher. From $100 player to $2 bettor to backyard picnic-goer.
We are all Saratoga. And we're timeless.