Saratoga: Of Spirits and Spirited Steeds

Ah, Saratoga, where I grew richer, as a horse lover and reporter, from the privilege of living there.  I lived walking distance from misty morning breezes at its legendary track, dawn’s stillness broken only by the sound of hoof beats on dirt and Canadian geese on its infield pond.  Over mimosas and melon balls, I could mull the history of the “Graveyard of Champions” and its August racing program, including The Jim Dandy Stakes, in honor of a 100-1 long shot that beat the 1930 Triple Crown champion, Gallant Fox. 

But such lore is what makes Saratoga Springs special.  If you have not yet decided whether you should come to upstate New York for the AHP “Break From the Gate in 2008” Seminar in June, let me assure you that no other town is better designed to appeal to your professional horse sense. 

AHP wordsmiths will appreciate that Saratoga is where the word "upset" entered the American sports lexicon.  It went from humble adjective to uber-noun in 1919 after a horse by that name beat Man o' War.  It marked Big Red's only defeat, and sportswriters jumped on the catch phrase to describe any unexpected outcome.  Soon sports like football and basketball were referring to “pulling off an Upset."

Or who can forget the 1973 headline, “Onion Makes Secretariat Cry,” when another Big Red, considered invincible after the first Triple Crown sweep in 25 years, finished second in Saratoga’s Whitney Stakes to a speed horse named Onion, ridden with pitch-perfect pacing by jockey Jacinto Vasquez, and earning trainer, Allen Jerkens, his nickname, The Giant Killer?  Secretariat weakened at the final sixteenth, and Onion paid $13.20 to his bettors, who may have taken a tip from the Daily Racing Form report that, only a week before, had noted how Onion had set a new Saratoga record for 6 1/2 furlongs.  

Nearby, too, were the Fasig-Tipton Thoroughbred sales, a living mural of iconic images:  young racehorses, mute grooms, hopeful breeders, consignors, and starry-eyed auction buyers.  The fabulously wealthy and nearly desperate could stand elbow-to-elbow amid its low sheds and tall trees, all dreaming of finding that one, would-be champion under the gavel.

And lest we overlook another American racing icon, the Standardbred horse, Saratoga’s harness history is equally compelling.  I was ten years old when I remember seeing Stanley Dancer drive the fastest (1:54:4) pacing stallion in the world, Albatross, at Saratoga.  Fifteen years later, while living there, I produced a television segment on possibly the finest pacer of the 20th century, his son, Niatross, whose 1:49 time trial was called “truly epic” by Dean Hoffman, former editor of U.S. Trotting’s Hoof Beats.

To call Saratoga Springs a horse lover’s paradise hardly does it justice.  It is living, breathing equestrian history, from its legendary flat and harness tracks, to its battlefields.  The 1777 Battle of Saratoga, at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights, was a turning point in the American War of Independence, and horses, such as General Benedict Arnold’s own mount, gave their best -- and lives -- there.

Just a horseshoe toss from the racetrack is Yaddo, a 400-acre estate founded in 1900 by New York City robber baron Spencer Trask and his poet wife, Katrina.  Left without immediate heirs following the deaths of their four young children, the Trasks bequeathed their private estate to Saratoga after Katrina Trask had a vision, and saw generations of talented men and women yet unborn walking the lawns of Yaddo, "creating, creating, creating."  Yaddo offers residencies to professional artists from all nations and backgrounds, and author John Cheever once said, “The forty or so acres on which the principal buildings of Yaddo stand have seen more distinguished activity in the arts than any other piece of ground in the English-speaking community and perhaps the world." Collectively, Yaddo’s guests have won 62 Pulitzer Prizes, 24 MacArthur Fellowships, 58 National Book Awards, 22 National Book Critics Circle Awards, 106 Rome Prizes, and a Nobel Prize (Saul Bellow, who won the Nobel in Literature in 1976). 

Some believe its Italianate rose gardens and koi ponds hold mystical powers and have retained the spiritual vibrations of its predecessors. Before the Trask’s opulent mansion was installed, the property belonged to Revolutionary War veteran and tavern-keeper, Jacobs Barhyte, whose guests, once upon a midnight dreary, included Edgar Allen Poe, said to have written at least part of The Raven there.  The ghosts of two Trask children, and their mother, Katrina, are also said to haunt Yaddo and outbuildings neighboring the Graveyard of Champions.

Finally, no visit to Saratoga would be complete without a stroll through downtown Congress Park and the circa 1870s Canfield Casino, designated a national historic landmark.  In 2008, the Saratoga Springs History Museum, located in the casino, celebrates its 125th anniversary, and offers three floors of exhibits to explore.

If you’d prefer to remain outdoors on a beautiful June day, Congress Park’s luscious flower gardens and ponds, gazebos, historic statues, and brick paths will invite you to commune with art and nature.  My favorite spot was by the marble fountain fauns known as Spit and Spat, from whose mouths Saratoga’s mineral springs spout, and if you want to indulge your inner horse lover, for fifty cents you can ride Congress Park’s restored carousel. 

From racehorses to painted ponies, spirits or high-spirited steeds, you are never far from horses or history in Saratoga Springs.  Please come, and I promise, you too will be richer for the experience.