The New York Racing Association is hoping less will be more when the Saratoga race meeting opens on Friday for the 146th time.
Coming off a season where total handle and attendance were down, NYRA intends to run fewer races this season compared to the record 420 races run in 2013, including nine steeplechase races.
Many horsemen and fans were burnt out after the meeting ended last year, which saw an average of 10.5 races a day, six days a week for the 40-day meeting.
The Saratoga meet used to be run just in August, for four weeks but, since 1990, has steadily expanded to the current 40-day schedule.
“No, we’ll try to run less races,” said Martin Panza, the senior vice-president of racing operations for NYRA. “We’ve changed the program around to go for quality in a little different type of program and by doing that we’re going to run less races. Also the foal crop nationally is dropping. We probably may not have a choice in years to come but we’ll just run a little different program, try to run some less races, get the people out into the community earlier. I think that’s part of Saratoga, coming to the races, going out to dinner and the bars in town and enjoying what Saratoga has to offer.”
The Saratoga race meet sure has plenty to offer, featuring a record $17.45 million in stakes purses, topped by the Grade 1 $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 23 and the Grade 1 $1.5 million Whitney on Aug. 2.
Both the Travers and the Whitney have received significant purse increases thanks to the added revenue being generated at the casino at Aqueduct, having been previously worth $1 million and $750,000, respectively.
“The Travers has always been such a strong race up there, the Mid-Summer Derby” said Panza, who was hired by NYRA last October and will be working his first Saratoga. “With California Chrome getting a rest right now we’re going to have to work and see who we can get into that race. Obviously, we’ve made a pretty strong financial commitment to the Whitney, so we’ll have to work on it and see if we can get some horses from California to come or the West Coast. At least try to get the best horses in training at the time to come up to that race. Probably those two races are the strong points of the meet.”
Travers Day will also feature three other stake races the Grade 1 $500,000 King’s Bishop, the Grade 1 $500,000 Ballerina and the Grade 2 $250,000 Ballston Spa Stakes, while Whitney Day will offer four more stakes races including the Grade 1 $500,000 Test, the Grade 1 $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, the $100,000 Lure Stakes and the $100,000 De La Rose.
Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist is scheduled to start twice at Saratoga, in the July 26 Jim Dandy Stakes and the Travers, while Palace Malice, perhaps the top older horse in training having won all four starts this year, including the Grade 1 Met Mile, is scheduled to start in the Whitney. The 4-year-old, who won last year’s Belmont Stakes, could possible start again at the meeting in the $600,000 Woodward Stakes on August 30.
“Excited might be the right word,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Palace Malice, and will be seeking his 11th trainer’s title at the meeting. “It was a little different atmosphere when it was four weeks, a little more anticipation from the start because you knew it was not going to last very long. Now it goes from July 18 to Sept. 1. It has a little different feel, but Saratoga is always special. I think that part of it you appreciate, the town and how the community supports it, everything focuses on it.”
Wise Dan, the two-time reigning Horse of the Year, could try to win the Grade 2 $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga for the third straight year on Aug. 9.
The 7-year-old gelding won both of his starts this year before undergoing emergency colic surgery on May 16 and is scheduled to return to the races at the Spa.
“This exciting stakes menu will ensure that Saratoga Race Course again hosts the finest race meeting in North America, and our enhanced Whitney Day reflects our desire to make it one of the most significant days on the national racing calendar,” said Chris Kay, CEO and President of The New York Racing Association, Inc. “Our new racing personnel, led by Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Martin Panza and Racing Secretary Frank Gabriel Jr., are working every day to improve the quality of racing — as reflected in this powerful collection of outstanding races.”
In 2013, Saratoga drew more than 867,000 fans through the turnstiles for the 40-day meeting, that’s more fans than the Knicks or the Rangers draw during each of their 41 home games in a year.
In total, Saratoga Race Course will host 33 graded flat races, including 15 Grade 1 events with the Grade 1 action starting this weekend with the running of the $500,000 Diana Stakes on Saturday and the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks on Sunday.
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SARATOGA 2014
Friday, July 18 -Sept. 1
(Dark Tuesdays)
– Post time is 1 p.m. daily except Travers Day, Aug. 23, when the first post is 11:35 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays (excluding except Aug. 13).
– Grandstand admission is $5; Clubhouse admission is $8 daily except Travers Day ($10 grandstand; $15 clubhouse.
– Season passes, sold at upstate Stewart’s Shops, are available for $30 and $50 for grandstand and admission. Season passes are on sale through August 1.
– Trackside parking is $12 ($15 on Travers Day). Preferred Parking is $7 ($10 on Travers Day), while general is free.
– For dining reservations call (888) 516-NYRA.
Giveaway days
July 20: Baseball cap
July 27: Pilsner glass
Aug. 10: Tote bag
Aug. 31: T-shirt
