Fun in Saratoga

NBC Sports has dropped "Summer at Saratoga" tag and will skip many Saratoga races, including this weekend's Jim Dandy stakes

I haven't posted since May, but now I have something to say.

Am I the only one who noticed that this year's NBC Sports coverage of Saratoga racing is much less than previous years?  NBC is showing perhaps as little as 40-something percent of previous years' Saratoga coverage.  They are only here three days this year, and unlike past years will not show this weekend's Jim Dandy stakes!   Last year, NBC was here 7 days total, and in 2012 they were here 5 days, and in 2011 they were for eight days.  In fact, in 2011 NBC was here every weekend of the track.  The only national networks carrying this year's Jim Dandy coverage seem to be TVG & HRTV.  Incidentally, for some time now TVG has been available on Time Warner as part of a sports package that will set you back $8 or so a month. 

It's not just the number of days that NBC is here that has dwindled, but the number of races covered on most of those days has declined precipitously as well.  For instance, in previous years Travers Day's TV coverage featured four stakes races, but starting last year it was reduced to just two races. 

Wheras I was happy to see Fox Sports 1 step into Saratoga coverage, Fox is still in its infancy in televising horseracing.  I saw some of their coverage at Belmont last month and it was really just the NYRA announcers using Fox microphones - it was an honest effort but still pretty rudimentary without the experienced professionalism and star power of NBC.  Maybe they'll hit their stride at some point - it just won't be this year.

It doesn't even seem that NBC is using the tag "Summer at Saratoga" anymore.  To show you how things have changed in just one year, below I will put NBC Sports' 2014 Saratoga coverage and below that I will put its 2013 coverage.  This is just something that I noticed that I don't think anyone else has written about, so I am sharing my thoughts.  Have a great weekend!

NBC Coverage of Saratoga 2014

Saturday,  8/2; 5-6 PM     NBC     Test Stakes and Whitney Stakes     
Saturday, 8/23; 4:30-6 PM  NBC     Ballerina  and Travers
Saturday, 8/30; 6-7 PM     NBCSN   Forego and Woodward

NBC Summer at Saratoga 2013 schedule

Saturday, July 27:  Grade 1, $600,000 Diana and Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy (5-6pm on NBC Sports Network)

Saturday, August 3: Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap (5-6pm on NBC)

Saturday, August 10: Grade 2, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap (5-6pm on NBC)

Sunday, August 11: Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack and Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special (5-6pm on NBC Sports Network)

Saturday, August 17: Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama and Grade 1, $600,000 Sword Dancer Invitational (5-6pm on NBC Sports Network)

Saturday, August 24: Grade 1, $500,000 Foxwoods King’s Bishop and Grade 1, $1 million Travers (4:30-6pm on NBC)

Saturday, August 31:  Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap, G1 $500,000 Forego and Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward (4-6pm on NBC Sports Network)

Oklahoma Training Track will open on Tuesday April 15th

I talked to some people in the know this weekend and found out that the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course will open for the season on Tuesday April 15, 2014.  That is good news and yet another sign that summer and track season are not too far off.

 

NYRA's Saratoga reserved seating price increases; by the numbers

I took a look at Saratoga Race Course's 2014 reserved seating prices and compared them to its 2013 prices.  Here is the numbers breakdown on the price increases per seat.

Grandstand Monday, Wednesday, Thursday     2013 price: $7         2014 price:  $9  = 28.6% increase

Clubhouse Monday, Wednesday, Thursday       2013 price: $11         2014 price:  $13 = 18% increase

Grandstand Friday, Saturday, Sunday                 2013 price: $9          2014 price:  $11 = 22% increase

Clubhouse Friday, Saturday & Sunday                2013 price: $16        2014 price: $18 = 12.5% increase

Grandstand Travers Day                                        2013 price:  $19       2014 price: $25 = 31.6% increase

Clubhouse Travers Day                                          2013 price: $26        2014 price  $35 = 34.6% increase

I have no problem with the Travers Day price increases; in fact they should have happened years ago.  But the weekday, and to a lesser extent weekend, price increases demonstrates an out-of-touch NYRA that is insulting and bleeding the very fan base that keeps it going. 

You could shoot a cannon ball from section M to section Y of the grandstand seats any given weekday and not hit anybody.  So NYRA decides it makes sense to chase away the few dozen fans left?  The weekends also have large gaps in most seats in both the clubhouse and grandstand, and the further you get near section Y, the more likely it is that the entire section's seats will be emtpy.  NYRA doesn't get it: They should have lowered the prices, at least on weekdays.   They might have made up the admission total in volume, increased handle, and retained fans rather than drove them away. 

How about free seating on Wednesdays for senior citizens? That's the fan category that arguably most would appreciate a seat, and incidentally comprises a large percentage of the gambling community.  Many of us wanted a new NYRA, myself included.  The old NYRA was annoying to say the least, but this new NYRA seems intent to drive a dagger into the heart of the the fan base, and by extension our beloved Saratoga race course.  All in the name of the dubious goal of weaning itself from VLT money.  I'm nostalgic for the devil I knew.  The old NYRA wasn't so bad after all.

NYRA announces price increases for Saratoga admission and reserved seating - Applications now available

If you have been waiting for NYRA to finally mail out the reserved seating applications for the 2014 Saratoga Race Course meet, you have to wait no longer and can even access the applications on line.  That's the good news, the bad news is that there are price increases all around, from the admission to preferred parking to the price of the seats themselves.  I guess we all knew this was coming.

Are Saratoga Race Course Admission Prices Going Up?

Well, that's a tough question, and conflicting reports from various newspapers don't help that inquiry. The end of this March 5th article in the New York Daily News, which focused on the deplorable conditions at Aqueduct, reports "NYRA officials did say Wednesday that there will be no admission price increase at Belmont and Saratoga this year....".  A Times Union article from the same day, however, reports that "Kay also confirmed that entrance and seating prices are planned to rise. Admission prices at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course will be formally announced soon, based on a report supporting such increases from a consulting firm’s market research."

My guess is that reserved seating prices in Saratoga Race Course's grandstand and clubhouse will rise, but general admission prices for most days will stay the same.  If I am correct, I see a rise in seating prices as short-sighted because NYRA can't sell the seats it currently has.  Other than Travers Day and perhaps one or two other days featuring major stakes races, I often see hundreds of empty seats.  During the weekday it seems as if 90% of the grandstand and more than half of the clubhouse seats are empty.  

Perhaps general admission prices for the Travers will rise; NYRA could double the admission price for the Travers and I think it would be justified.  Of course I've been to the Kentucky Derby twice now and I spent a fortune for a crappy seat last year, so I am viewing Travers prices from that perspective. 

In any event I am assuming NYRA will announce seating prices very soon - they are missing out on a lot of money coming in.  In previous years you had to get your reserved seating requests in by December.  Now it appears you will have until April to get them in.  Keep an eye on the NYRA site's Saratoga ticket/seating page for updates.

 

Fox Sports 1 televising of Saratoga and Belmont races is a good thing

I think it's great that another Sports Network will be showing races from Saratoga this summer.  Fox Sports 1 Network, a relative newcomer to the scene created by Fox Entertainment Group, will show the grade 1 American Oaks (July 20), the grade 2 Saratoga Special (August 10) and Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational (August 17).  They will also show a few Kentucky Derby prep races at Keeneland and in Dubai, as well as a few others in the U.S. and Canada, including the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont.  Click here for the full schedule of Fox's "Jockey Club Tour".

 

These televised races will be in addition to the Summer at Saratoga series on NBC and the NBC Sports Network that have been shown for the last several years.  I hope Fox does as stellar of a job showcasing the sport in general and Saratoga in particular as NBC does. 

This is certainly a good thing, and while I found blog entries on this news from the Times Union, Daily Gazette, and even The Buffalo News, there was nothing about this in the Saratogian.  While I appreciate the great work of Michael Veitch and Jeff Scott, they are columnists writing select days of the week and aren't expected to report breaking news.  I've said it before and now it's even more relevant with the Kentucky Derby preps heating up:  the Saratogian needs someone like their former reporter Andrew Champagne, who let very little get by him in the horse racing world and wrote many informative articles.

On a related note, read this upbeat blog post by the Buffalo News' Gene Kershner, who is a regular at Saratoga in August.  The Kentucky Derby is just 2-1/2 months away folks!  Take care.

 

New York Times article on opposition to gambling in Saratoga

This article was in Monday's edition and can be linked here.

The article has an interesting map of Saratoga Springs highlighting all the key landmarks that have relevance in the gambling debate. 

And I learned a new word in the article:  busker - a person who entertains people for money in public places (as by singing or dancing), usually while asking for money.

NYRA posts Saratoga 2014 dates; possibly scrapped previously announced admission price increase

The Saratoga section of the NYRA web site has been updated to show the key dates for the Saratoga Race Course season in 2014.  Interestingly, the updated portion of the site shows that the admission prices for both the grandstand and clubhouse will remain at $3 and $5 respectively.  You may recall last month NYRA announced they intended to increase admission prices, something that did not go over well with the fans to say the least.  Although the price hike proposal wasn't final, and it would be simple to update their web site with any approved price hikes, it seems odd to me that they would put the long-standing current admission prices up there if they intended to raise it.  Then again, it's NYRA.   

Some key dates for the Saratoga Race Course 2014 are as follows:

• Opening Day - July 18
• Closing Day - September 1
• Travers Stakes - August 23rd
• Twilight Racing/Party at the Spa August 29

That NYRA web page I linked above had a few typos on it, including the wrong date for the Travers (Should be August 23rd) near the bottom (however it was correct at the top) and the Twilight Racing was incorrectly listed for August 30th, it should be listed as August 29th.  With that sloppiness, perhaps I shouldn't read too much into what I find on that site and realize that my assumptions may simply be incorrect. 

Saratoga Snippets

These "snippets" posts are hard for me to write b/c they often take 2+ hours to create and edit.  With a three-month old at home I'm lucky I have time to shower.  Well I'll try writing this over a few days and see if I can fit it in here and there.

• Margarita and I were out Greenwich way a while back and we stopped in to the Ice Cream Man for a sandwich.  The staff there tells me to look for the new Saratoga South Broadway location to open in May or June of next year. 

 

• While heading out Rt 29, we noticed that the former Mango 29 Deli, near Schuylerville, is now "Joe's Deli".
• CORRECTED:  I haven't had a chance to go into the new TC Paris Sweet Mimi's Bakery in the former Beverly's location.  That place sat empty for almost two years, so it's good to see it filled.  TC Paris is on Henry Street where Inferno Pizza used to be - I would like to check that out to.  Thank you Alexandra for alerting me to my error.
• Speaking of closed Saratoga eateries, I miss the Saratoga Diner and Restaurant.  All those empty restaurants on South Broadway and nobody wants to open a good diner.
• Purdy's has been the big dog of Saratoga liquor stores, but now that they expanded into the neighboring former Hallmark store, it's even a bigger dog.  Look out little dogs.
• Friday, November 29th is the last day to receive your early registrant discount and save $5 for this year's First Night Saratoga 5k Run. So don't wait another day - register today at www.saratoga-arts.org/firstnight/5krun to be a part of a great Saratoga tradition!
• If you thought this year's July 19th track opening was early, you were right.  But if they open on their usual opening Friday, the 2014 opening date will be an even earlier July 18th.  Let's hope NYRA has since squashed any dumb ideas to open earlier. 
• I sure miss Andrew McGuire, the former Saratogian Sports reporter.  Our hometown daily's thoroughbred horse racing coverage has plummeted since he left.  AP Wire stories just don't do it for me.
• Continuing on that subject, I wrote a long posting about how the Saratogian's Breeder's Cup coverage showed how some of their weekend sports deadlines were around 7pm.  Trouble is, I was never able to finish it and it quickly became old news.  Nonetheless I put a lot of work into it and again it pinpointed just how early the Saratogian's weekend publishing deadlines are, so I'll link it on a back page here if you care to read it in it's incomplete form.
• Hate to pile on our hometown daily, but they got scooped on their own story about paywalls going up on their web site.  Both Saratoga Wire and All Over Albany were days ahead of the Saratogian's announcement of it.  There never seems to be a sense of pride, ownership, or timeliness of news items at the Saratogian - items they should own and/or be the best at. You'd think they'd at least want to be first to report important news items about their own publication.
• I see Gaffney's new addition came out looking nice.  I don't get downtown as often as I used to - and I get to downtown bars even less these days - so some of these snippets are reporting months' old news.  Gaffneys will be holding a South American wine pairing on December 7th.  Click here for more info.

• Not too far away from Gaffneys, I see there is a new cigar shop on Putnam Street on the other side of Izumi Restaurant.  Check out Adirondack cigar shoppe's web site for info.
• Sometime when I wasn't looking, 13 Caroline became the Caroline Street Pub.  Heck for all I know that's been the case for years.
• Also when I wasn't looking, the Crown Grill became "The Crown Grill at the Circus Cafe".  Back in April, when the Crown Grill first opened, owner Colin McLean told the Saratogian "The Crown Grill will be upscale-casual and will offer guests a separate and distinct dining experience from Circus Café,".  I guess that "separate and distinct" part is out the window.
• Also when I wasn't looking, someone plowed down the old house and motel cottages on Ballston Ave near those white condos abutting the Saratoga Spa Park.  I wonder what the plans for that now open lot are.

• What's going on with that building immediately adjacent to the Best Western on South Broadway?  It's seems like it's been half built - or half rehabbed - for 3 years now.  It looks terrible.  Did somebody run out of money?

• I don't want to put this last because I'd hate to end on a sad note.  I just wanted to say I knew Kyle York a little and I thought he was a very interesting, nice, and intelligent guy. I was very sad to hear about his untimely death. RIP Kyle. 
• Finally, did you catch this opinion piece in the Times Union this past weekend about Las Vegas style casino gambling in Saratoga Springs?  Interesting.  I have mixed feelings on the issue, but I think it's important to point out that someone voting "NO" for a constitutional amendment for Vegas-style casinos in the state, might not necessarily vote "NO" to Vegas-style casinos in their municipality once the electorate of the state has already approved the amendment.  In other words, some could have been against the amendment, but after it passed they might think that since it's going somewhere, it should go to Saratoga.   Just a thought.

Hey everybody have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!  I am a blessed person so I have a lot to be thankful for. 

Don't forget the Fasig-Tipton auction on Monday starting at 11am

The Saratoga Fasig-Tipton auctions in August are big events, but the fall sale, in just its second year, sort of falls below the radar.  It is more officially known as the Saratoga Mixed and Horses of Racing Age sale, and it will be held tomorrow, Monday October 7th starting at 11am and going well into the afternoon.

 

It's not as high-end (and therefore not as dressy) as the August affairs; in fact it's downright laid back, but still interesting and fun.  For more information, including an on-line catalog, click here.