NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Adjacent to the historic Saratoga Race Course, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has an extensive collection of fine art and sculpture along with Eclipse-award-winning photography, all celebrating Thoroughbred horses and the sport of racing. Multiple galleries trace the history of racing in America since colonial times, and a Racing Day Gallery offers a look at the world of contemporary racing.

Collection highlights include Exterminator’s four Saratoga Cup trophies, Count Fleet’s Triple Crownn trophies and in the courtyard a bronze nze sculpture of Secretariat by John Skeaping. The Hall of Fame is lined with jockey silks and bronze plaques honoring each inductee, and in the “Ready to Ride!” racing simulator, visitors can try out their own race-riding skills. For more information, go to www. racingmuseum.org.

Founded as a research library dedicated to equestrian sports such as foxhunting and polo as well as angling, shooting and other field sports, the National Sporting Library and Museum now also features an art museum with more than 800 pieces including paintings, sculpture, drawings and other decorative works from the 17th century to the present. Both the library and museum are open to the public.

“We see hundreds of visitors each year who enjoy sitting in our cozy rooms reading family favorites by Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley and C. W. Anderson,” says librarian John Connolly. “In the F. Ambrose Clark Rare Book Room, we have books that chronicle the history of horse care and riding, and an essay manuscript by Theodore Roosevelt, written and signed by him.” For more information, go to nationalsporting.org.