John Pricci

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Horseplayers headed north on Route 87 are usually so anxious to get to the races here that they’ll exit at 13 instead of 14 and take Route 9 north into town. That way they can get a feel for the place all over again as they wheel past the motels, the parks, the drive-in barbecue joints and vegetable stands rife with local corn, tomatoes and melons from the Hand family farm.

They’ll know they’ve arrived when they see a welcome sign that reads “Saratoga: History, Health and Horses” and won’t mind even if they think the chamber of commerce folks got it a little backwards. Instead, they’ll recall the best directions ever given horseplayers who make the annual Saratoga sojourn: “Take Northway exit 14, make a left on Union Avenue and go back a hundred years.”

Nothing, not a Horse of the Year-less Whitney Handicap or even the possible future loss of a franchise can diminish expectations for a Saratoga meeting that will dawn July 28 and go on for another 35 days. They’ve been doing this here almost every year since 1863. Breed improvers only have two must-do things in life: see the Kentucky Derby and queue up to make a bet at Saratoga.

On balance and without equivocation, Saratoga is the world’s best race meet, long enough to be a significant stop on the American racing circuit and short enough to remain special. The Saratoga race meet is the fastest six weeks in sports.

What makes Saratoga special; the restaurants, night life, health spas, museums and performing arts theaters notwithstanding, is a sport featuring virtually a stakes race a day with enough turf and juvenile racing to please even the most discerning fan. It was here that a horse named Afleet Alex burst onto the national scene, last year’s Hopeful Stakes victory the harbinger of fame that the founders had intended.

For the past two months, many major outfits have taken up residence across the street from the race course at the Oklahoma training track, so called for its lengthy trek from one stable area to another. It’s deep, demanding strip, many say, gets horses fit like no other can. “[The surface] may get a little uneven sometimes because it requires more water than other tracks,” explained trainer Bobby Reinacher. “But there probably isn’t a better training surface anywhere.”

Slide show   Images of the Triple Crown See images from the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

Wayne Lukas once used this phrase to describe Oklahoma that no one’s heard this side of a two-a-day training regimen. “By working over this deep, forgiving surface you can ‘sound up’ a sore horse.”

“I think horses that train here before the meet opens have an edge,” said head clocker Fred Bond, “especially the babies. I don’t know if it’s the water, the cooler nights, or just [the atmosphere]. And everybody wants to win with their babies in Saratoga.”

No barn has been more proficient at juvenile racing recently than the outfit of defending Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “We have between fifty and sixty two-year-olds stabled here,” said highly regarded Pletcher assistant, Seth Benzel. The Pletcher shedrow is seeking its fourth consecutive Saratoga training title, its fifth in the last eight years.

“We can make the babies more comfortable and get them ready by acclimating them to the water and cooler nights. We can match them up in teams to see which ones are developing quicker than others, who’s the cream of the crop, which ones may be special.”

“[Oklahoma] really helps the elders to relax,” Benzel added. “They relax here better than anywhere. We can take horses that were unhappy down-state and take them for long walks [on hacking trails] out back. It does them good, changes their whole mentality.”

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