RACING TO THE SPA
Thousands visit Saratoga Race Course
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » A funny thing happened on the way to the track for a trio of Clifton Park women on Saturday.
Lindsay Parmerter, Diana Asner and Celina Bilinski were headed up the Northway to their annual Travers Day outing when the Uber car they were traveling in got a flat tire.
Undaunted, they made the most of the delay by posing like hitch-hikers, and taking funny photos, while waiting for a replacement vehicle to arrive.
“We finally made it here safe and sound,” Asner said. “We come every year. It’s just the biggest day of the season and everyone comes out. It’s awesome to see our friends and see the races.”
Mother Nature helped produce a good turnout by providing sunny skies and cool, comfortable temperatures in the mid-70s. More than 45,000 people were expected for the meet’s most prestigious race, the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes. The 12-horse field featured all three of this year’s Triple Crown race winners — Always Dreaming ( Kentucky Derby), Cloud Computing ( Preakness) and Tapwrit (Belmont Stakes).
New York Racing Association began capping Travers Day attendance at 50,000 two years ago when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah suffered an upset loss to Keen Ice. Last year’s attendance was 48,500.
More people could squeeze inside the grounds, but NYRA limits crowd size to make the event more manageable, and enjoyable
for people who do show up.
Jim Ennis and his brother, Dave, got to the track at 5 a. m., stood in line and braved the predawn cold for a chance to get a back yard picnic table, when gates opened at 7 a. m. They’re part of a Rochesterbased group celebrating their friend Craig Narin’s bachelor party this weekend.“It’s exhilarating,” Jim Ennis said. “The atmosphere here is second- to- none.”
Narin is engaged to the Ennis brothers’ sister, Colleen. An Oct. 7 wedding is planned. Narin said Saratoga on Travers Day was a no- brainer for choosing a place to hold his bachelor party. “This is an insane weekend,” he said. “The turnout for everything is incredible. We’d never been to a horse race before. Travers Day just seemed like the day to be here. We picked Saratoga because it was a good central point for guys coming from Rochester, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. We came in last night, hit a couple of local establishments and we’re just getting after it. It’s fantastic.”
For everyone in the group, it was their first trip ever to Saratoga Race Course.
“It has exceeded my expectations,” Bob Tonnesen said. “We went right up to the track and saw the first race. It was a great time.
Aside from the worldclass horses, 6- foot- 5 Nate Kelsey, of Rochester, might have been the most colorful attraction on the entire grounds. In addition to his large frame, Kelsey has a bright red beard and long hair to match. In the right outfit, he could easily pass for a Norseman.
But he came dressed head- to- toe in a red, white and blue suit complete with stars and stripes, prompting several people to stop and have their picture taken with him.
Like his buddies, Kelsey said there’s no place else he would have rather been.
“Why wouldn’t we want to be here?” he said. “The ambience, the people, it’s a beautiful day, beautiful weather and the races have been good. We’ve won some money. A couple of people are in the poor house. We’re hoping to win that back.
Tony Hammel, of Glens Falls, got a front- row seat by one of the back yard’s big video screens thanks to friends from his native Allentown, Pa., who arrived early. Hammel coached the Glens FallsHigh School basketball team, including future college and NBA star Jimmer Fredette, to the state finals in 2003.
“Wewere at a tournament in Allentown when one of the other coaches said his team had been Jimmer’d,” Hammel said. “That’s the first time anyone said that.”
Hammel put his money on Bill Mott- trained horses West Coast and Good Samaritan in the Travers.
“We’ve been coming here on Travers Day for the past 35 years, this same spot right here,” he said. “We just love being here, seeing all the sights and betting on the horses. It’s great.”
Does Hammel visit the track much, otherwise?
“Once a day,” he said, smiling.
Just inside the main entrance, off Union Avenue, NYRA hospitality worker Ruth Mattiello of Saratoga Springs answers questions and directs people to points of interest. She stands next to a large sandwich- board sign that says: “May I Help You?”
“This is a very long day, but it’s interesting,” she said. “There’s a lot of interesting people.”
Mattiello gladly answers people’s queries, such as: “Where is the springwater?”
But sometimes she can’t help being amused at some things people say, like: “Where’s the race track?”