Plans unveiled for Racing Museum attraction
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » A $20 million immersive theater experience will make the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame a must-see destination and industry gamechanger, museum President John Hendrickson says.
Plans for the project, scheduled for completion in 2020, were announced Friday during annual Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the Fasig Tipton Sales Pavilion on East Avenue.
Hendrickson and his wife, Marylou Whitney, are donating $1 million for the attraction, handled by Donna Lawrence Productions, which designed the Clinton Presidential Library, Kentucky Derby Museum and many similar sites.
“I believe it will be one of the
most important things our industry has ever done in our lifetime,” Hendrickson said. “We think this is truly transforming. This is going to change the museum forever. But it will take the entire industry’s participation.”
Spectators got a glimpse of the project during a brief video. It celebrates the spirit of thoroughbreds, starting as young colts and fillies on breeding farms, continuing on through their careers as champion race horses.
Museum visitors will be surrounded by screens in a 360-degree theatre.
Interactive displays and exhibits also will allow people to learn more about their favorite individual horses.
Complete details about the project are scheduled for release Monday.
The initiative is the latest effort Hendrickson has undertaken, since becoming president last year, to make the racing museum the best major sports museum in the country.
In December, the museum launched a Foal Patrol project that allowed people around the world to view mares in foal, via live web streaming, right up to and including birthing. The project attracted more than one million views from people around the world.
Such efforts are benefiting the Museum and Hall of Fame financially as it closed out 2017 in the black, the first time it’s done so since opening in 1955.
On Sunday, Aug. 19 (10 a.m.-noon), the museum will host a “Women in Racing” symposium featuring the likes of Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliot and record-breaking trainer Linda Rice.
From 12:30-1:15 p.m., Krone will sign limited-edition prints of her groundbreaking victory aboard Colonial Affair from the 1993 Belmont Stakes. Autographs are $15 with proceeds benefiting the museum.
On Saturday, Aug. 18 and Tuesday, Aug. 21 (11 a.m.12:30 p.m.), the Museum and Hall of Fame will host behind-the-scenes tours of Godolphin’s famous Greentree Stable, at 36 Nelson Ave.
Greentree is the private training facility owned by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. The 106acre property has a training track, two stable blocks with accommodation for 96 horses and a 10-bedroom residence featuring colonial architecture.
Tours are limited to 75 people.
The cost is $15 for museum members and $20 for non-members.
Advance reservations are required. Call (518) 5840400, extension 120.
The Museum and Hall of Fame is the subject of a large feature story in the latest (Aug. 4) edition of BloodHorse magazine.
“We have the oldest sport in America, and if can’t have the best museum and Hall of Fame, we’re not doing our job,” Hendrickson told the magazine.