In 150th year, track remains racing institution
Jul 16, 2013 18:44:20 GMT -5
Post by cait on Jul 16, 2013 18:44:20 GMT -5
there is no track that can be compared to saratoga - it's simply the best
In 150th year, track remains racing institution
By Teresa Genaro
“Mr. Morrissey deserves great credit for the excellent manner in which the whole detail of his attractive entertainment is managed.”
So wrote an approving reporter in the Aug. 4, 1863, edition of the Daily Saratogian, following the first day of the inaugural racing meet in the village of Saratoga Springs. Visitors to the little track on the north side of Union Avenue − not the south side, where the track currently lies − saw two races that day. The first comprised three one-mile heats and was won by Lizzie W. The second was won by Sympathy, and both horses came back to race again in the four-day meet. Seven of the eight winners were trained by Bill Bird, an 88 percent win rate that even Todd Pletcher couldn’t dream of seeing at Saratoga.
“Mr. Morrissey” was John Morrissey, the man credited with bringing Thoroughbred racing to Saratoga. He grew up in Troy, N.Y., not far from Saratoga, after emigrating from Ireland with his parents when he was a child. He was a bare-knuckle fighter, a gambler, a state senator, and an entrepreneur, and in the summer of 1863, he took out ads in the local paper, promoting his four-day meet on the same pages that featured updates from the Civil War front. As Morrissey touted the $1 admission fee, a headline two columns away read, “Lee Preparing for Battle! Rebel Forces Driven Out!”
Already a well-established summer resort, Saratoga apparently embraced Morrissey’s new diversion so warmly that in a wrap-up of the final day’s racing, the Daily Saratogian noted that plans for a new track were already in the works, though, it cautioned, “[We] do not know how likely the project is to be carried out.”
The skepticism would prove to be unwarranted. A year later, Morrissey’s vision, with the backing of New York businessmen William Travers, Leonard Jerome, and John Hunter, moved from the confined quarters of an old trotting track on the grounds of what is now the Oklahoma training facility to the approximately 100-acre lot across Union Avenue on which the track has been located since 1864.
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.” Shakespeare wrote it of Cleopatra, but the words might aptly describe the old Spa, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Some parts of her may indeed have seen better days, and a close look will reveal the signs of age. But this summer, as in 143 summers past, thousands will flock to the old track, to the oldest sporting venue in the country, and forgive the track’s frailties in the face of a racing experience that continues to be unparalleled.
it's long lol
www.drf.com/news/saratoga-150th-year-track-remains-racing-institution
In 150th year, track remains racing institution
By Teresa Genaro
“Mr. Morrissey deserves great credit for the excellent manner in which the whole detail of his attractive entertainment is managed.”
So wrote an approving reporter in the Aug. 4, 1863, edition of the Daily Saratogian, following the first day of the inaugural racing meet in the village of Saratoga Springs. Visitors to the little track on the north side of Union Avenue − not the south side, where the track currently lies − saw two races that day. The first comprised three one-mile heats and was won by Lizzie W. The second was won by Sympathy, and both horses came back to race again in the four-day meet. Seven of the eight winners were trained by Bill Bird, an 88 percent win rate that even Todd Pletcher couldn’t dream of seeing at Saratoga.
“Mr. Morrissey” was John Morrissey, the man credited with bringing Thoroughbred racing to Saratoga. He grew up in Troy, N.Y., not far from Saratoga, after emigrating from Ireland with his parents when he was a child. He was a bare-knuckle fighter, a gambler, a state senator, and an entrepreneur, and in the summer of 1863, he took out ads in the local paper, promoting his four-day meet on the same pages that featured updates from the Civil War front. As Morrissey touted the $1 admission fee, a headline two columns away read, “Lee Preparing for Battle! Rebel Forces Driven Out!”
Already a well-established summer resort, Saratoga apparently embraced Morrissey’s new diversion so warmly that in a wrap-up of the final day’s racing, the Daily Saratogian noted that plans for a new track were already in the works, though, it cautioned, “[We] do not know how likely the project is to be carried out.”
The skepticism would prove to be unwarranted. A year later, Morrissey’s vision, with the backing of New York businessmen William Travers, Leonard Jerome, and John Hunter, moved from the confined quarters of an old trotting track on the grounds of what is now the Oklahoma training facility to the approximately 100-acre lot across Union Avenue on which the track has been located since 1864.
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.” Shakespeare wrote it of Cleopatra, but the words might aptly describe the old Spa, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Some parts of her may indeed have seen better days, and a close look will reveal the signs of age. But this summer, as in 143 summers past, thousands will flock to the old track, to the oldest sporting venue in the country, and forgive the track’s frailties in the face of a racing experience that continues to be unparalleled.
it's long lol
www.drf.com/news/saratoga-150th-year-track-remains-racing-institution