PONIES AND POTATO CHIPS
And they’re off ! The ponies are running and the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Saratoga Race Course are out of the starting gate.
Saratoga Springs’ natural waters attracted VIPs including George Washington as far back as the 1770s, but thoroughbred racing now is the town’s best-known attraction. The thrilling season at the Saratoga Race Course runs until Labour Day, and it’s a colourful spectacle. Even if you don’t want to bet on the horses, the track still is a great place to watch the ladies in their hats, the prancing steeds warming up and the jockeys arriving in their colourful silks.
Named one of America’s great sporting venues by Sports Illustrated, the venerable Saratoga Race Course is part of horse history, having seen the likes of legendary thoroughbreds Secretariat and Man O’ War and such champion jockeys as Eddie Arcaro and Bill Shoemaker.
Good vantage points for the races are the Clubhouse Porch, which serves lunch right near the rail, or the Turf Terrace, which overlooks the finish line. Picnicking also is a big tradition and there is a huge field, The Backyard, set aside for blankets and tables. It doesn’t have a view of the races, but it has become a wildly popular family playground anyway.
The 150th anniversary parties will add a festive element to a Saratoga Race Track season that is already short and frenetic. Events include a Victoria Stroll and Tea Aug. 1, which will have a period costume contest. The Floral Fete and Ice Cream Social, Aug. 2, will dazzle the town with a party in Congress Park and a parade of horse-drawn carriages decorated in pink roses, plus vintage cars, floats, bicycles, baby carriages and a bevy of nonmotorized contraptions on wheels, all draped in flowers. The official anniversary party, Aug. 3, will feature music, prizes and the chance for five people to win $15,000 for betting. The $1-million Travers race for three-year-olds will be held Aug. 24, and the Final Stretch Festival will have a Labour Day spirit, Aug. 30-Sept. 2, with concerts and family fun.
The track is closed on Tuesdays, and everyone heads downtown to Broadway. An influential travel magazine has named Saratoga’s main street among the Top 10 in America. It’s an eminently walkable thoroughfare jumping with restaurants and boutiques over a stretch of about two kilometres.
We browsed and bought beribboned straw hats at Saratoga Trunk, an equestrian tie at Dunday’s and canine treats at Dawgdom. We considered skydiving and miniature golf. We said “no thank you” to both, in favour of more shopping along Broadway.
Then we lunched on seared-tuna sandwiches at the terrific Putnam Market and made reservations next door for dinner at Maestro’s at the Van Dam.
The track is a great place to watch the ladies in their hats, the prancing steeds warming up and
the jockeys arriving in their colourful silks.
In the 1850s, a customer complained his fried potatoes were too thick ... the cook sliced them thinner and cooked them
longer ... a new snack was born.
The most happening dining spot in Saratoga, Maestro’s always has lineups for its easygoing, entertaining menu of crab cakes, lamb lollipops, duck bruschetta, lobster fricassee and “drunken” bucatini, a pasta cooked in red wine.
Putnam Market is one of the stops on the Saratoga Springs Food Tours run by a former U.S. air force pilot, Joe Haedrich, who has discovered his inner “food advocate.” The epicurean excursions, running on Saturdays, meet at Saratoga’s Farmer’s Market and continue to Saratoga Peanut Butter, Saratoga Olive Oil, Saratoga Salsa and Bettie’s Cakes.
Haedrich is also a local historian with lots of lore. Didja know that the potato chip was invented in Saratoga Springs? The story goes that in the 1850s, a disgruntled customer at a resort complained that his fried potatoes were too thick and soggy. The frustrated cook, George Crum, sliced thinner and thinner and cooked them longer and longer. The crisp was a hit and a new snack was born.
When I think of Saratoga Springs, I always think of horse racing (and now potato chips). But the town is also crazy for the arts.
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center will showcase the New York City Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada in July, the Allman Brothers Band with Steve Winwood in August and the Saratoga Wine, Food and Fall Ferrari Festival in September. The 36th Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, which just took place at the end of June, pre- sented a roster that included performances by Tony Bennett and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. On the folk front, Caffè Lena is a treasured coffee house that opened in 1960 and launched many singer-songwriters, including Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie and Ani DiFranco. Thurs- days are open-mic nights and the summer lineup includes Mary Fahl, Aug. 3, and Ray Murray & the Bomb Squad, Aug. 30.
With more than 1,000 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, Saratoga Springs is a living treasure of Victoriana, mostly preserved in its unique, historic B&Bs. The precious Saratoga Arms is one of about a half-dozen of these vintage hotels or splendid mansions now restored and modernized. The Saratoga Arms has high tin ceilings, a curved walnut staircase and such family heirlooms as Chippendale chairs and Georgian tables. Co-owner Noel Smith makes superior breakfasts of omelettes, coffee cakes and blueberry and walnut pancakes. His wife, Kathleen, and daughters, Amy and Sheila, keep the 30 rooms going. (Gee, my grandfather, Maurice Lash, owned a small hotel on Saratoga’s William St. where we visited in summer, but it wasn’t half as nice and the building is gone now.)
If you like modern, the Holiday Inn is good value and has spacious rooms and keen service — “what can we get for you, ma’am?” Every room has a mini-fridge and microwave, the hotel has small indoor and outdoor pools that children adore and there is a handy shuttle around town.