It’s the third opening day at Saratoga Race Course in a little over a month. And it doesn’t look like racing fans will tire anytime soon.
In June, the Belmont Stakes was at Saratoga Race Course, bringing with it a five-day racing festival.
It was the second time the third leg of the Triple Crown was run upstate, as its usual downstate home undergoes a nearly half-billion-dollar renovation.
What’s more, NYRA moved its annual four-day July 4th racing festival upstate last weekend.
So, all told, that’s nine days of racing at The Spa before the normal 40-day meet even kicked off today.
But for Scotia native Kevin Lynch, there’s no such thing as too much racing. It’s his 10th day at the track so far this summer – 39 to go.
“Well we’ll get some rainy days and I kind of take it easy during those days. Could be a day that it’s pouring rain all day I’d stay home. Weather permitting—I went through the winter with nothing much to do, I’m retired, so now I get to get out of doge for a while. $90 for the July 4th plus this that’s 44 days. That’s like $2 a day if you do the math,” said Lynch.
Lynch was one of a handful of track regulars waiting at picnic tables in the backyard ahead of the 11 a.m. opening.
“You know I go into town I get a breakfast for $10 and then I come up here for a while and I spend a few dollars on something and I’m still ahead,” said Lynch.
“What’s your goal by the end of the summer to be up by? If you can be up by a certain figure do you count it as a successful summer?”
“I have no figure. To be even. Just to be even that’s a damn good summer. You walk in here with $100 and you walk out with $100 dollars, you had a terrific day,” said Lynch.
For local officials, the additional days of racing have been an opportunity to promote the track, and by proxy the city, as the so-called “summer place to be.”
That promotion strategy seems to have worked for Mike and Pamela Simmons. They’ve been coming to Saratoga Springs during the summer for decades, but never the track.
“Well, we’re actually camping up in Lake George at the RV resort and we happened to see it, and I said, ‘ah we’ll go down and take a look at it, first time here,” said Mike Simmons.
“It’s different, it’s fun. We’re learning so next time we come we’re more prepared,” said Pamela Simmons.
Next time they make the trek down from Burlington Flats, New York, they plan on bringing their own chairs and drinks. But for now, they just won their first bet. A race course veteran would tell them to get out while they’re ahead.
“We probably will,” said Pamela Simmons.
Track regulars John Anderson and his wife avoided the busier days of racing held prior to today.
“The prediction for the crowds was great than we were willing to tolerate,” said Anderson.
This year’s Belmont Stakes drew more than 46,000 fans to The Spa. And the New York Racing Association recently announced the Test of the Champion will return for a third summer next year, meaning 2026 promises plenty of excitement, too.
But today the 2025 meet is just getting out of the gate.
“This is our first opening day. And I’m kind of surprised by how quiet it is. We usually avoid the big ones, the Traver’s and the Whitney. It’s usually a bit more than we’re—I mean we’re just amateurs at this we pick the horses based on their funny names,” said Anderson.
Racing at The Spa continues through Labor Day.
