Racing hall to host murder mystery Saturday
SARATOGASPRINGS, N.Y. » Eventgoers will be tasked with solving a murder mystery this weekend at one Spa City horse racing hotspot.
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will play host to a 1920s thoroughbred racing-themed murder mystery event at 6 p.m. on Saturday inside the 191 Union Ave. museum. This first-time event is a fundraiser to support the museum’s educational mission.
Guests are invited to immerse themselves in the glamour of Saratoga Springs during the roaring ‘20s with the Newport Murder Mystery group, which has created a custom Saratoga-specific mystery for this museum event.
The featured era was defined by gambling, danger, deception and tremendous thoroughbred racing. The legendary Man o’ War was the greatest sports figure of the time. He even had his own security guards to protect him from murder plots organized by gambling interests.
Attendees will meet a cast of colorful period characters, but they must be careful who to trust.
Cast members from Newport Murder Mystery will in---
teract with attendees and help them solve the crime set among the museum’s historic collection.
Along with figuring out who done it, participants will enjoy an open bar all night, a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres in the sculpture gallery, dinner catered by the Brook Tavern, a themed live auction ( in which auction items may contain clues), then dessert as attendees attempt to crack the case during the event’s conclusion.
“The audience becomes the detectives,” said Patrick Grimes of Newport Murder Mystery.
The idea for the murder
mystery evening was suggested by a museum member after they attended in a Newport Murder Mystery event at Foxwoods Resort Casino, the museum’s development and membership officer Maureen Mahoney explained.
After hearing the rave reviews, the museum decided to bring Newport Murder Mystery to Saratoga Springs in an event sponsored by Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Grimes said that Newport Murder Mystery, which makes its Saratoga Springs debut this weekend, has enjoyed creating a story line based on some of the city’s unique qualities including bits about gambling, bootlegging and Man o’ War in the 1920s, to be played out by a cast of eight fun, crazy characters.
Though it can take a lot of work, Grimes said, “We take great joy in coming up with these ideas.”
In researching the Spa City, the Rhode Islandbased group was surprised to find some connections between Saratoga Springs and Newport, particularly some of the cities’ most famous gangsters.
One lucky winner in attendance on Saturday will receive two deluxe overnight accommodations and a $200 credit to one of Foxwoods’ fine dining restaurants, in addition to a day at the races in the museum’s clubhouse box at Saratoga Race Course.
Tickets are $125 for museum members and $150 for the public. They may be purchased online at mystery at the racing mu-
seum. eventbrite. com or by calling (518) 584- 0400 ext. 102 and leaving a message. All tickets will be sold in advance and are not available at the door.
“It’s a unique event. It’s something that we’ve never had before, and it’s special to the museum,” Mahoney said, adding that a lot comes included in the evening’s ticket price, which in the end benefits the nonprofit museum. “It’s a really neat thing to do, during kind of a quieter time in Saratoga.”