Fun in Saratoga

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.

 

Fewer than 200 openings left for the Saratoga Springs First Night 5K

Those last few will go fast so register for the Saratoga Arts sponsored First Night 5K here.

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. 

Saratoga Springs Farmers' Market First Day at the Lincoln Baths on Saturday

Vendors will be on the lawn and inside the Lincoln Baths on Saturday Come explore at Saratoga Spa State Park! Farm & Vendor News DUCK AND LAMB: Elihu Farm kicks off the Winter Market with a cooler full of fresh duck. They'll also have a special on very small lamb shanks, $5.00/lb as well as large mutton shanks, $5.00/lb. (Pick up their recipe for osso bucco.) For stock or for small dogs, they have bags of lamb bones. CRACKERS: Try Saratoga Cracker's newest wheat-free flavor: Tater Crackers, an amazing cracker made with potato flour. All the homemade crackers are free of  preservatives, additives, soy, trans fats, anything artificial. Stop by for a sample. ABSENT: Anna Mae's Jams and The Chocolate Spoon will return to the market on Saturday, November 9. Saturday Highlights New Location: The Lincoln Baths building is located at 65 South Broadway, near the park's main entrance on Route 9. You can enter the driveways/parking lots from South Broadway/Route 9 or from Avenue of the Pines. There is plenty of parking in lots surrounding the handicap-accessible building. Once inside, there are staircases as well as an elevator to get to the second floor.  Photo Contest: To celebrate the new location, we invite you to take photos and enter them in the contest by November 17th. Images should capture both an element of the new location (building, architectural detail, park element) and something of the market. Complete details are here or pick up a handout at the market this weekend.  Giveaway Drawings: Enter to win market merchandise on both the main floor and the upper level. Entry boxes will be towards the back of each floor. Winners will be notified after the market closes, and can pick up prizes next week or thereafter.  Music: Running the River is a 4-piece acoustic band consisting of guitar, bass, fiddle and mandolin, who play an eclectic brand of music influenced by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead to the Kingston Trio, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash. They perform regularly to enthusiastic audiences throughout the Capital District, the Lake George region and beyond. Produce in Season Pears, apples; many types of greens including head and leaf lettuces, micro-greens, escarole, Swiss chard, collards, kale, spinach, arugula, bok choi; assorted fresh herbs; beans, beets, broccoli, broccoli raab, cabbage (red and green, Napa, Savoy), Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, garlic, kohlrabi, leeks, shiitake and oyster mushrooms (Saturdays only), peppers (sweet and hot), potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rutabaga, salad turnips, onions, scallions, sweet potatoes, tomatillos, tomatoes, winter squash (buttercup, butternut, delicata, acorn, hubbard). Great White Pumpkin Winner Congratulations to Linda Whittle, who was last weekend's winner of the large white pumpkin at Fall Festival. Linda correctly guessed 57 pounds as the pumpkin's weight.    Market Recipe Peanut Butter Crumb Apple Pie Take home some Saratoga Peanut Butter and some fresh apples from the market and try out this recipe. All of our most recent recipes are on our website.

Order your free-range Thanksgiving turkey from Putnam Market

Putnam Market if offering these birds from Misty Knoll Farm in Vermont.  Get your order in by November 20th.  Click here for the latest newsletter from Putnam Market which includes some information about their Thanksgiving offerings, and here for their Turkey Day menu.

First Night 5K registration is open

In yet another sign that winter is on its way, The First Night 5K registration is now open for you brave and hearty souls who choose to run it.  As in the past few years, the number of runners will be capped at 1,500, so be one of the early registrants and you won't have to worry about getting blocked out. 

SPAC, Track, and Divine wines at Saratoga Springs Healthy Living Market

Healthy Living is not cheap, but its products are certainly top-notch, ad if you can get past the sticker shockw it's a fun place to shop.  Here is their latest newsletter entitled SPAC, Track, and Divine Wines.

A'Hearn painting and photography exhibit July 25 at Universal Preservation Hall

The exhibit will be shown on July 25th at UPH, as well as on Friday evenings August 2-September 6

Check out my latest post on Saratoga Wire

Click here for my latest Saratoga Snippets posting, with information about many things including Saratoga Race course reserved seating in 2013.

Latest Saratoga Snippets posting is on Saratoga Wire

My latest Saratoga Snippets Posting can now be found on Saratoagawire.com.