Unique Saratoga – The racecourse has profound local and national significance
Horse racing comes to New York in abundance when the Saratoga meet typically starts from late July and goes on till early September. All these races are run at the 350 acre racetrack in the Saratoga Springs called the Saratoga Racecourse.
It was inaugurated on 3 August, 1863 and this venue is now considered to be the oldest sporting venue in the U.S.A.
Saratoga by the numbers, hold an attendance capacity of 50,000 and the total seating capacity outside the attendance capacity can go up to 18,000.
The races at the main course of the Saratoga racecourse can be run at a distance of 1 1/8 miles, and the actual Turf course holds races that can be run up till 1 mile, subsequently the Inner turf course goes up to 7/8 miles.
The Saratoga racecourse was a joint venture of an American lawyer who made a fortune on Wall Street, William Travers, with another investor John Hunter, who later went on to become the chairman of the Jockey Club.
The most prestigious racecourse in the United States has the honours of hosting the oldest horse race, the Grade 1 Travers Stakes in the whole of the United States.
In the early days, the Saratoga meet consisted of only four races, but gradually the races started filling up the New York meeting and for many years, the meet lasts up to four weeks.
The structure of the racing schedule kept being altered and the addition of races demanded a longer meet, and in 1990s the meet went up to 5 weeks per year, but today the Saratoga meet is extended up to six weeks and it ends on Labor Day.
Saratoga racecourse has been closed several times, but it got sealed for the lengthiest period in the World War II, when it got closed for three entire seasons. Back in 1911 and 1912, the racetrack did not open for racing because it wasn’t economically sound
to keep the races going and the betting going simultaneously.
During the 2006 season, the racetrack closed down for a day, on 2 August, due to a blazing heat wave which made racing impossible on that day
The most popular stakes races run at the Saratoga racecourse aside for the Travers Stakes, are the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap, Grade 1 Alabama Stakes and the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes for older horses.
It’s a racecourse rich with tradition, and a breathtaking property expanded over 350 acres is responsible for many dead heat races and gigantic encounters over the years that have left people in love with the sport and made a special place in their hearts
for the oldest horse racing venue in the whole of the United States.
Tags: