Extension a win-win
Extended calendar adds another weekend for downtown, larger handle for NYRA
SARATOGASPRINGS, N.Y. >> Earlier this week NYRA announced the 2019 racing meet would be longer on the calendar, but maintain its current 40 racing dates that have been the norm since 2010.
This year the Saratoga meet will begin on July 11 and end on Labor Day, the meet will continue to have 40- days of racing with the inclusion of an additional ‘Dark Day’ a day of no racing, now two consecutive days, Monday and Tuesday.
Previously Saratoga was a six- day racing meet with Tuesday designated as its Dark Day.
The news was well received by businesses as the earlier calendar start will add an additional weekend of tourism for the Spa City.
“Hotels are looking forward to higher occupancy that week,” Darryl Leggieri, President of Discover Saratoga said. “Our retailers and restaurants should see additional business during that time as well. Overall, it will be great for tourism in Saratoga and the local economy.”
Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan may have had a tip on the official announcement as the proposed 2019 City Budget included a sales tax and hotel occupancy tax increase of 0.7% based on the 2018 results. The report also noted that revenue associated with NYRA admissions is up 22.4% as the City of Saratoga Springs benefited from strong admission figures at Saratoga Race Course.
The hopes for increased revenue was echoed by craft beer garden owner Hilary Morrison of Sinclair Saratoga, located at 17 Maple Avenue.
“I’m happy about it, it’s exciting to think of having an extra week on top of an already great season as a downtown business,” she said.
Saratoga Springs mayor Meg
Kelly included her support for the one-week extension of the racing calendar, noted in the NYRA press release earlier this week.
“The City stands firmly ready to support NYRA in any way we can,” Kelly said in the press release. “We have no doubt that the new calendar has been thoughtfully planned and will be expertly executed.
“The new schedule will bring both anticipated and unanticipated benefits to our summer racing season, and we will use the City’s resources to make it even more successful than ever. I am looking forward to the 2019 meet — it’s going to be another great season.”
Another local business that welcomes the increased traffic and exposure is Mountainman Outdoor Supply and its 490 Broadway location for its Saratoga Springs Clothing and Footwear location.
“Anything that comes to Saratoga helps business, the City Center with their conferences and all the events,” founder and president John Nemjo said. “Chowderfest was huge, it was huge for our business that weekend, we couldn’t have asked for a better weekend to have the event, especially since we are selling hats and gloves.
“It should help and spreads it out a little bit more, we’re welcoming it. We’ve talked to our staff about it and they think it’s a good thing.”
While there is no such thing as a sure thing, the one- week extension appears to be a win-win for businesses and NYRA.
According to figures obtained by The Saratogian and Troy Record, the calendar extension will allow a horse to compete at the Saratoga meet more than
twice with the calendar extension. The increase is a percentage of racing opportunities, but each possibility is a boon in revenue.
By increasing the opportunities to compete, that will increase the field size for more races throughout the meet, giving the horseman, trainers, owners as well as the public more chances to benefit.
It is estimated that every entry at Saratoga Race Course is worth between $150,000 to $200,000 dollars in wagering. The calendar extension allows for an estimated 25 more horses to race each day.
A poll on The Saratogian and Troy Record websites offered a different picture as the public was split on the one-week calendar extension. 51.8 percent of readers agreed with the extension with 48.2 percent disagreeing.
On Facebook, comments were positive and surprised, ranging from ‘ Wow, that’s early;’ to ‘I’m not surprised.’ One caller to the Sports Sound- Off Hotline at (518) 889- 9355 vehemently disagreed with the idea.
“You’re only extending it season because you want more money,” caller Jim said. “That’s the reason behind the whole thing. The other thing is what are you doing with this money? You got potholes all the way down by the track there, nobody bothers to fix them.
He continued with his disgruntlement.
“What about all the traffic that you create? Nobody does anything about that either?” Jim concluded with.
Those questions and the final financial impact will not be known until Labor Day 2019, but the single guaranteed start is that the Saratoga Race Meet will get underway on July 11.