Another opening, a different show
Spa backstretch quiet due to COVID 19-related limitations
Wednesday morning, it didn’t seem like the day before opening day at Saratoga Race Course.
Normally, the air of anticipation is as thick as the humidity on a sweltering August afternoon. Not this year.
The backstretch at Saratoga, which would be bustling with activity most years on opening day eve — both from humans and horses — was eerily quiet. Oh, there were some marquee horses on the grounds. Tiz the Law, the Belmont Stakes winner, was munching on grass outside trainer Barclay Tagg’s barn. Tom’s d’etat, considered by many to be the best older male horse in training, was chilling in his stall at trainer Al Stall’s barn.
Other than that, it was mostly the sound of silence.
Trainer John Kimmel, who said he has been here the past 25 years for work, was sitting in his golf court along with assistant Loretta Lusteg on the backstretch. Peanut, the trusted 7-year-old salt-and-peppercolored dog, was along for the ride, too.
Despite this being the day before one of the most anticipated days on the New York racing calendar, things just felt ... different.
“It has certainly lost the excitement and energy that you usually get when you come here,” Kimmel said. “The place is usually jumping with anticipation, just getting ready to commence the season.”
Kimmel said the vibe he felt was more like one he would get the day after the summer meet ended. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there are not as many trainers on the Saratoga grounds. Some don’t want to travel because of the virus. Some are shipping their horses up for races and then shipping back to Belmont Park. Some are just staying home.
“Right now, trainers are just trying to cope with the situation; there are so many problems associated with this pandemic,” said Kimmel, who has 33 horses on the grounds. “There is a shortage in exercise
riders and quality help. Just trying to get your work done and your horses out and getting them trained has become a challenge.”
Kimmel considers himself fortunate because he hasn’t had those problems.
It also doesn’t feel like a Saratoga season because, when the races start at 1:10 on Thursday afternoon, the only gate that will open is the starting gate. State government and health officials announced months ago that racing could be held in New York but only without spectators. Saratoga drew more than a million fans for its 39-day meet a summer ago (one day was lost due to oppressive heat).
“Our motivation is to run
the Saratoga meet as riskfree as possible,” NYRA president and CEO Dave O’rourke said this week. “It’s still a great sport and there will be great racing.”
O’rourke, in his second year as the NYRA boss, would like nothing more than to be able to allow fans to flock to his summer playground. Even though New York has done well in reducing the spread of the disease, mass gatherings are not what Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants. Saratoga, unless things change dramatically, will stay spectator-free for the 40 days of racing.
“It’s one of the best times,” O’rourke said of the Saratoga meet. “A 40-day party where everyone has a smile on their face. We are all going to miss that.”
Saratoga will offer 71 stakes races — 39 of them graded — worth $14.45 million. Last year, there were 76 stakes races on the schedule worth $20.85 million. The purses are less this summer because the casino at Aqueduct Race Track has been closed since late March due to the pandemic. Nearly 40 percent of the purse money is funded by the casino.
Racing will be held Wednesdays through Sundays with one exception being closing day, Monday, Sept. 7, which is Labor Day.
The highlight of the meet, as it always is, will be the $1 million Travers Stakes. That will be different this year, too. The Midsummer Derby, which would normally be run on the second-to-last Saturday of the meet, will now be run on Saturday, Aug. 8. NYRA made the switch to accommodate Churchill Downs, which rescheduled the Kentucky Derby from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in September.
NYRA’S television show — “Saratoga Live” — will bring the Spa meet into everyone’s living rooms. The program, which will be shown nationally on FS2, will show more than 210 hours of live programming from Saratoga.