All Over Albany

About those fancy hats...

The Saratoga Race Course draws people in all sorts of headwear.

"Let me ask you a question."

Two beers were sweating through their glass bottles last summer on a cold, metal, patio table when a man I barely knew put me on the spot. The style of his delivery fell somewhere between Dennis Miller and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, so I knew it was trouble. All I could think was, "Here we go."

Instead, what I said was: "Go ahead!"

*beat*

"It's... about the hats..."

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Season admission passes for the Saratoga Race Course now on sale

Admission passes for this summer's season at the Saratoga Race Course are now on sale. Grandstand season passes for the 40-day season are $35 each, and clubhouse season passes are $55. (Daily admission for the grandstand is $5 and $8 for the clubhouse.)

The season passes also include discounts at a group of Saratoga Springs businesses, as well as some regional attractions. Also: guaranteed admission giveaway items. Blurbage:

One of the most prominent offers included in the newly expanded Saratoga Season Perks program is the guarantee of a premium Saratoga giveaway item on the day of the giveaway, so long as the season pass or season ticket plan holder is in attendance at Saratoga Race Course and redeems the giveaway item by 3 p.m. Redemptions will begin when gates open to the general public.

The reservation process for restaurants at The Track also opened this morning via phone.

Record breaking numbers for Saratoga Race Course 2015 season

At some point large numbers just become... numbers. You know, how often do we ever encounter a million of anything? So, it's easy to see some large figure quoted in a news story and just be like... yeah, sure, whatever.

We were thinking about that today while looking over the numbers for the Saratoga Race Course season that ended Monday. Because it involved some very big numbers.

NYRA reported that the "handle" for this year's season -- that is, the amount of money bet on races -- was $648,272,805, a record. (The previous record was $590,187,876, set in 2012.)

Think about that for a second. That's more than half a billion of dollars that people, both here and elsewhere, put down on horse races over the season's 40 days in Saratoga Springs. When you take a second to think about the total, it's kind of astounding. (By the way: NYRA says almost $50 million was bet on Travers Day races this year.)

Paid attendance for this year's meet was also high: 1,065,625. That's a new seasonal record total, though it comes with an asterisk. The old record -- 1,049,309 -- was set in 2003, the season for which only had 36 days.

Here are a few quick tables and charts with some more recent context for this year's Track numbers...

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The view from atop American Pharoah

What's it like to a ride along with one of the horses as it cruises around the track at the Saratoga Race Course?

The closes most of us will ever to get to finding out is a video like the one above -- the exercise rider for American Pharoah wore a Go Pro camera Friday morning during the Triple Crown winner's workout gallop around the track. (NYRA posted the video on YouTube.)

One of the things we were thinking about while watching the video wasn't about how things appeared, but about how they sound -- the thunderous hoof strikes and rushing wind, and the tide of crowd noise as the distance between the horse and the grandstand expands and contracts.

Earlier on AOA: American Pharoah? Really? Please explain.

American Pharoah? Really? Please explain.

American Pharoah met the #Saratoga main track for the first time this morning as he prepares for the #Travers! pic.twitter.com/lDerz3WWpk

— NYRA (@TheNYRA) August 27, 2015

I have to admit that I'm not a Track person.

It makes sense to me how it could be fun for some people -- the time spent relaxing at a beautiful venue, the thrill of placing a successful bet, the majestic animals, the hats. I'm just not one of those people.

Probably as a result of not being a Track person, the recent non-stop hype about the arrival of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah for the (sold-out) Travers this weekend is a little odd to me. It's a horse. I mean, obviously, a special, accomplished horse. But, still... a horse.

So, to get a better sense of the the American Pharoah hype train as it passes through our area (Do I wave? Is that how it works?), I got in touch with my friend Robert Lee -- local sportscaster, voice of Siena Saints basketball, and avid horse racing fan.

American Pharoah. Please explain.

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Another close finish

The pic above is the photo finish image from the Travers on Saturday, won by VE Day in a late surge past Wicked Strong.

It's the third straight year the Travers, the biggest race of the season at the Saratoga Race Course, was won -- or tied -- by just a few inches.

We always love these photo finish pics. NYRA posts them online sorted by day and race.

image: NYRA

Five winning food options at the Saratoga Race Course

The Sloppy Track shake is reason enough to visit the track.

Some people go to The Track (that would be Saratoga Race Course) for the horses. Some go for the thrill of gambling. Yet others go for the chance to hob-nob with celebrities and big spenders.

Me? I go for the food.

I really do love the sport of horse racing and taking in the crowds who anxiously wait to see if their chosen thoroughbred will prove victorious. But there are few places in the Capital Region where you can get such a wide array of tasty delights all within walking distance from each other.

This year more than ever, those food choices have proven more copius and harder to choose from.

To ensure you don't miss placing that two-dollar trifecta or watching your horse leave the starting gate at the bell, it's good to go in with an eating game plan. Here are five picks for food at the track...

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Saratoga Hat Day 2014

Entrants in the "Fashionable Saratoga" category.

Once again the ever-stylish Kaitlin Resler was AOA's representative on the judges' panel for the Saratoga Race Course's hat contest, which was this past Sunday. Here's her recap -- with photos -- of the annual Saratoga event.

I've just started to get those pangs of worry that summer is moving fast, that it's going to be over any minute, and then I realized that track season in Saratoga just started, and there's plenty of time! That's really just the summer activity touchstone that marks the height of summer, mid-July and all.

This past Sunday I got to judge the hat contest again, with a little more insight into what to expect (last year was my first time at the contest, and my first time to the track since I was a little kid!), and yet was still blown away by all the contestants!

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As Tom Durkin arrives at the top of the stretch, five of his greatest calls

"A dramatic stretch drive awaits ... Calvin Borel imploring his filly for more!" -- From Durkin's call of the 2009 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, won by superstar horse Rachel Alexandra, the first filly to win the race.

Anyone who has watched horse racing, avidly or casually, over the last 30 years associates one voice with the sport more than any other: Tom Durkin. He announced this past wekeend that he will retire after 43 years calling races, the last 24 of those years as the primary announcer for the New York Racing Association. His last race at the Saratoga Race Course will be August 31.

In my opinion, Durkin is the greatest racecaller of my lifetime and there's really no one even close. He is fundamentally sound, giving the fan accurate descriptions of the horses and their positions while showing his great ability to know which horses are ready to move forward while others are "stopping badly," to borrow a favorite Durkin phrase.

Most importantly, Durkin shows a true flair for the dramatic, raising his game when the stakes are highest.

Here are clips from five of his greatest calls from his time as the voice of NYRA, as well as horse racing's Breeders' Cup...

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Wandering Dago's request for injunction against the state denied

A federal judge has denied the Wandering Dago food truck's request for a preliminary injunction against the state Office of General Services and NYRA over being kept from the food vendor program at the Empire State Plaza and Saratoga Race Course this past summer.

The decision from US District Court judge Mae A. D'Agostino is after the jump. The judge's decision largely boiled down to a determination that WD waited too long to file for the injunction after originally being denied a spot at the ESP (there was a gap of about three months). JCE has more on the decision over at Capitol Confidential.

The vending season at the Track has ended for the year (of course), as has the season at the ESP.

The request for an injunction was just one part of original WD's complaint in the case. The food truck is also seeking damages and a judgement that the state's actions -- specifically, keeping the truck out of vendor programs because of the name -- is unconstitutional.

The owners of the Wandering Dago -- Andrea Loguidice and Brandon Snooks -- started the food truck last year in Schenectady. The term "dago" has been used as a slur against people of Italian descent, and sometimes people from Spain and Portugal as well. But Loguidice and Snooks have said they picked the name as a nod to their Italian heritage and an effort to reclaim the word.

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Wandering Dago food truck sues over not being allowed to vend at the ESP and Saratoga Race Course

Wandering Dago at the food truck festival in Troy earlier this summer.

The Wandering Dago food truck has filed a lawsuit in federal court over the truck being denied the opportunity to vend at the Empire State Plaza and Saratoga Race Course this summer. In the suit, it contends the truck was bounced because of its name, an action it argues violated the owners' 1st Amendment rights.

The complaint is embedded after the jump. It lays out Wandering Dago's arguments and its view of the events that led up to its denial to vend at the ESP and Saratoga Race Course.

Here's the situation, as depicted in the lawsuit, in short:

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Whoosh... by a nose

We're always a sucker for the photo finish pics from the Track. The photos make the horses look like they're traveling in warp or something. Like, whoosh! (Here's a bit about how they're taken.)

The photo above is from the finish of the Travers this past Saturday. Will Take Charge just nosed out Moreno for the win.

Numbers
Speaking of things that make our heads warp a little bit: wrapping our them around the amount of money bet on the races. NYRA reported that the "all sources handle" -- the total amount bet, wherever people were placing bets -- was $41,363,760 for the Travers Day races at the Saratoga Race Course. That was up 13 percent over last year's total. The on-track handle -- the amount bet by the 47,597 people actually at the Track: $9,672,249.

Yep, the Saratoga Race Course advertises on AOA.

photo: NYRA

Diary of a pari-mutuel clerk

Over at The Millions, Elizabeth Minkel is writing a diary of her time as a pari-mutuel clerk this summer at the Saratoga Race Course. A clip:

We take bets. It's the simplest explanation for a job that's more nuanced than I'd ever have guessed, before any of this, before the track was something more than a disruptive abstraction on the east side of town. I learned the basic logic of horse gambling ten years ago, hovering over a keyboard as seasoned tellers called out sample bets, struggling to understand the terminology and the different combinations, exactas and doubles, keys and partial wheels, ten-ten on the eight horse, Seabiscuit in the fifth. I've learned a lot in the intervening decade, like how to harness the patience to explain the fundamentals to a novice, or how to decipher the ramblings of a drunk. I work hard to be effortlessly adept when professional gamblers come to the windows, printed stacks of racing stats clipped together, the carefully-calculated permutations of a morning spent handicapping printed at the top in neat pencil. Each series of bets, each exchange is a single moment encapsulated: beneath the numbers, horses and dollar amounts, it's flirtation or anger or joking banter or the drudgery of playing a game only the very lucky can seem to crack.

We enjoyed reading this first part of the diary, the way Minkel reflects on the Track's presence in her hometown and her focus on some of the tiny moments there.

We're looking forward to more.

(Thanks, Darren.)

photo: Elizabeth Minkel / The Millions

"The leisure seems to have departed, but the passion for horses is as strong as ever..."

Check out this 1930s newsreel segment about Saratoga Springs and the Track. It includes some great old footage, and the ever-entertaining newsreel voiceover and music.

Also: Nostalgia is apparently a renewable resource.

[via @sdeckerphoto]

A collection of moments from Saratoga

Over at the Elario Photography blog they've posted a beautiful photoset of shots from the Saratoga Race Course by "Big Joe" Elario, taken over the last three years. The set includes a lot of good moments.

Browsing through the photos is like a 3-minute trip to the Track.

Photos from Hat Day 2013 at Saratoga

The winner in the "Uniquely Saratoga" category.

Special fashion correspondent Katilin Resler was AOA's representative on the judge's panel for this year's Hat Contest at the Saratoga Race Course on Sunday. She reports back, with photos:

The whole thing was super fun! I judged with Jenny from Mamatoga and Shanna from 99.5 The River. This year contestants were encouraged to involve the 150th anniversary into their hats (although it wasn't required), so a lot of the hats and outfits did just that.

One woman wore a black antique dress from the 1800s! Another wore a yellow flower hat made by a friend (who made several of the hats worn today), and over all there was quite a good mixture of hats made by their wearers and not. One of the winners from the Uniquely Saratoga category's hat featured a horse head wearing its own hat, which she let us know was standing in as the first horse to win at Saratoga.

Here's the list of winners.

A handful of Kaitlin's photos are after the jump. The horse head hat is pretty great.

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Wandering Dago food truck bounced from The Track because of name

The Wandering Dago food truck at the Food Truck Festival of NY in Troy earlier this summer.

The owners of the Wandering Dago food truck -- Andrea Loguidice and Brandon Snooks -- said Saturday in a statement that the truck was bounced from the Saratoga Race Course after an "unidentified state official" complained that the truck's name is offensive. (full press release post jump)

NYRA spokesman Eric Wing told the TU it had received "several complaints" on Friday. And to the Daily Gazette: "This should have been handled before Friday, but once we received complaints, we took immediate action on behalf of our customers." And to the Saratogian: "Saratoga's a very welcoming family place. If patrons are telling us they are offended, that's important to us." [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Saratogian]

The term "dago" has been used as a slur against people of Italian descent, and sometimes people from Spain and Portugal as well. But as Snooks explained to AOA last year, the couple says they had embraced an alternative definition of the word in an effort to reclaim it:

Brandon, who's Italian, explains that he knew the term as a word used for Italian immigrant workers back in the day who wanted to "be paid as the day goes." "Day-goes" became "dago." And in parts of Italian culture, he says the word has been reclaimed as a term of endearment.

Brandon and Andrea say they chose Wandering Dago "because we wander as the day goes."

It appears others aren't ready to get on board with reclaiming the word, though. Snooks and Loguidice also say in the press release that they were "banned by the Empire State Plaza Vendor Program" this year because of the truck's name. Update: From Heather Groll, a spokeswoman for the Office of General Services, which oversees the ESP:

The food vendor in question was not banned from selling food at the Empire State Plaza. OGS has the authority and latitude to determine whether it is appropriate for any particular vendor to be issued a permit. This food truck applied for a vendor permit for the 2013 season and was not issued one. Among other reasons, it was determined that their application was not appropriate because the name of the business was found to be an offensive ethnic slur by any standard.

The food truck open last year, working primarily in Schenectady. It's since expanded its coverage area to also include other parts of the Capital Region (such as Rockin' on the River in Troy, and the Riverview Center in Menands). Snooks and Loguidice moved to the area from Colorado to open the truck.

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The Giddy Up

Traci Cornwell comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. Her grandparents opened Cornwell Appliance on Central Ave in Colonie over sixty years ago. And her great-grandfather owned a shuttle business in Coxsackie. So her current path probably shouldn't be a surprise.

Traci was a finalist in last year's startup grant contest with what was then called The Bridge Runner Express, a plan to transport people between Albany and Saratoga. She didn't win the grant, but the judges were big fans of her, and they liked the idea -- they just thought it needed some more development.

A little more than a year later, her idea is up and running as The Giddy Up, offering $10 rides between Albany, Clifton Park, and Saratoga for Track season -- with plans for more.

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"America's Grandest Race Course"

WMHT is premiering a new documentary about the Saratoga Race Course this coming Monday night at 9 pm. From the blurbage for The Track at Saratoga: America's Grandest Race Course:

This hour-long historical documentary will transport viewers through 150 years of owners, trainers, jockeys and horses. We'll experience the track beginning with four thrilling days in August 1863 and continue through the pageantry of today.

There's a short promo clip at that link above. It looks like the doc includes a bunch of old photos, which could be fun to see.

Rediscovering the Light: WMHT is re-airing its recently-premiered doc about the restoration of the state Capitol building -- Rediscovering the Light: Restoring New York's Capitol -- July 19 at 10:30 pm. And it will play again July 28, August 19, and August 23.

A few bits about the upcoming Track season

Opening day at the Saratoga Race Course is still about a month away -- it's July 19 -- but here are a bunch of bits about the upcoming season:

+ NYRA announced the ever-popular giveaway days today: July 28 - Saratoga t-shirt day; August 11 - Fourstardave Bobblehead; August 18 - Saratoga Race Course replica model; September 1 - Saratoga beer stein. One free with each admission, while supplies last. (And, of course, some people "spin" to get many of these because... well, you'd have to ask them that.)

+ For the first time since 2000, there will be walking tours of the Track's "front side." Blurbage: "The approximately 45 minute walking tours will provide a historical overview of the facility and showcase a number of the property's highlights, including the unique architecture, landscape and traditions that encompass the Spa." Tours will be offered on the days the Track is open -- they're $3 per person, or $10 for a group of four.

+ New this year: the "Uniquely Saratoga Marketplace" on Sundays from 10:30 am-5 pm. It will include 13 vendors of "products made exclusively in New York State." You'll recognize some of them from local farmers' markets.

+ The Travers -- the biggest race of the season -- is August 24.

image: NYRA

Shake up for horse racing in New York

Two important recent developments about horse racing in New York:

State takeover of NYRA
The Cuomo admin announced today (Monday) that Andrew Cuomo has signed the legislation that creates the "NYRA Reorganization Board" -- basically the committee that will carry out the three-year state takeover of NYRA, a plan that was announced this past spring. This is important because NYRA is the org that runs the Saratoga Race Course, Belmont, and Aqueduct. From the press release:

"New York State's racing industry is a major economic driver in the state, supporting thousands of jobs and attracting tourists from around the world," Governor Cuomo said. "New York taxpayers and the betting public deserve a racing industry that is managed competently and does not neglect the health and safety of the horses. The NYRA Reorganization Board will restore public trust, accountability, and transparency to the racing industry in our state, so New York can continue to offer one of the most exciting, enjoyable, safe horse racing experiences in the nation."

The reorganization board will have 17 members -- Cuomo gets to pick seven of them, the Senate and Assembly two each, and the current NYRA board five, with a chairperson nominated by Cuomo.

NYRA has been a scandal-plagued trainwreck for years, so it will be interesting to see if the state takeover smooths things out.

Horse safety
On Friday the Cuomo admin announced a series of reforms aimed at promoting the safety of horses racing on tracks in New York.

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Saratoga Race Course 2012 season, in numbers

A few numbers from this year's season at The Track, which ended Monday:

+ Total attendance this year: 901,033.

+ Average daily attendance this year: 22,526 -- up .8 percent compared to last year. (The 2011 season was 39 days instead of 40 because racing was canceled one day because of Irene.)

+ The total season "all-sources handle" (the amount bet on races at Saratoga, from everywhere): $588.4 million -- the daily all sources handle average was up 9 percent compared to last year.

+ The total "on-track handle" (the amount bet at the race track itself) for the season: $128.3 million.

+ The average daily on-track handle: $3,207,356 -- up 3.3 percent compared to last year.

+ The total season on-track handle per attendee: $142.39 -- that's up 2.5 percent from last year.

All numbers via NYRA -- except for the last one, which we calculated ourselves. Some numbers have been rounded. The attendance count includes people who entered multiple times on giveaway days.

The Saratoga Race Course advertised on AOA this year.

They both won the Travers

We love the "whoosh" of the photo finish camera -- here's a bit on how they're created. / image: American Teletimer

If you didn't catch it this past weekend: this year's Travers Stakes ended... in a tie. The horses Alpha and Golden Ticket both crossed the line at the same time. That's the photo finish camera image up top.

Video of the race is embedded post jump, as is another photo showing how close it was.

It's the first "dead heat" in the race since 1874.

As a 2-1 favorite, Alpha's spot sharing the winner's circle wasn't unexpected (except the sharing part). But Golden Ticket was a 33-1 longshot. A $2 bet on Golden Ticket returned $26.80 -- the seventh-highest payoff in Travers History, according to NYRA.

We wonder what they're going to do with the canoe now. Update: NYRA's Twitter feed said Saturday they'd have a second canoe. (Thanks, BMC!)

NYRA says attendance for the Travers was 46,528, up a little more than 8 percent from last year. The amount bet at the Track that day -- the "handle" -- was $8.74 million, up 7 percent from last year.

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Hat Day 2012 at the Saratoga Race Course

Winners of the fashionable hat contest yesterday at Saratoga

Hat Day at the Saratoga Race Course is always fun.

People enjoy watching them pass by, and the folks who enter the contest have a great time putting their look together and showing off their creations.

On Sunday AOA teamed up with Kristi Gustafson Barlette, Matt Baumgartner, and morning show hosts Randi and Kevin from The River to judge more than 150 fabulous hats. After the jump, a look at the winners and some of the other impressive entries for the day.

Thanks to the people at the Saratoga Race Course for inviting us to judge again this year.

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A great (inexpensive) day at the track: Crystal Capritta

A fun (and affordable) day at the track with Crystal and Mike.

AOA is taking a little R & R this week. While we're enjoying a little summer, we've rounded up a few experts to share their tips for making summer fun simpler. Enjoy!

Mention Saratoga Race Track and many people think fancy clothes and spending a lot of money. But you can have a lot of fun at the track without spending a ton of cash.

My husband has gone to the track every summer of his life, and I've been right along with him since the first summer we met. Over the years I've won a few of the bets I've placed, and my husband has been known to hit a rare trifecta.

Here are some of our insider tips to having a good time at the track on the cheap.

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