NYR A keeping Spa meet the same

The 2020 race meet at Saratoga Race Course will look a lot like the record-breaking season from a summer ago.

The New York Racing Association announced on Tuesday that the wildly popular thoroughbred race meet will, for the second year in a row, have a five-day week. The meet will start on Thursday, July 16, and run through Labor Day, Sept. 7.

And, for the second straight summer, the racing week, except for the opening weekend, will be from Wednesday through Sunday. After opening day, racing will be conducted through Sunday, July 19. Then, it will pick up again the following Wednesday.

There had been some talk that NYRA might change the dark days of the meet. Some in the Spa community had advocated for Tuesday and Wednesday to be the dark days, but, after NYRA officials met with community leaders, it was decided to keep Mondays and Tuesdays dark (except for Labor Day).

“We asked the local and racing communities for their feedback to these changes following the conclusion of the (2019) meet),” NYR A president and CEO David O’rourke said. “Given their support, and to maintain consistency and stability for our fans and stakeholders, we will conduct a similar racing schedule in 2020.”

Todd Shimkus, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, endorsed the decision. He said the WednesdaySunday race meet was supported by the local business community.

“We assembled a group representing local hotels, restaurants, retailers and entertainment and recreation destinations to meet with NYR A following the summer meet,” Shimkus said. “By the end of the discussion, everyone understood why two dark days is best going forward and agreed that keeping those two days (Monday and Tuesday) consistent with this past summer offers the best chance to attract more visitors.”

Last summer, the Saratoga meet generated more than $700 million in all-sources handle for the first time in the history of the Spa. That happened despite races being canceled because of weather issues twice. One of those cancellations was a full Saturday card, on July 20, because of oppressive heat. Five days later, the final seven races of the card on Thursday, July 25, were called off after a heavy downpour made the track unsafe for racing.

The complete stakes schedule for the Saratoga meet will be released in the near future, according to NYR A.