As the final few days of the Saratoga Race Course meet rolled to an end, the traditional blend of excitement and electricity were back.
Large crowds.Some robust betting races. An unforgettable Travers Stakes (G1) with Fierceness holding off the fabulous filly Thorpedo Anna. People smiling, laughing, and having fun.
"I thought the meet went really well," said New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke on the eve of the Sept. 2 closing day. "We are looking to match last year's handle with one day left and once again attendance was over a million."
Despite the cancellation of one day and the postponement of turf stakes that wrecked the Aug. 3 wagering on Whitney Stakes (G1) Day, the total all-sources handlefor the 39-day meet was $803.8 million, exceeding the 2023 figure of $799.2 million. The average daily handle for the meet was $20,610,435, anincrease of 3.2%.
Attendance topped one million for the ninth straight year (1,051,092) since 2015, not including 2020, when fans were not allowed in the facility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Yet the numbers that were most important and brought back the festive attitude involved safety.
After a horrific spate of 14 fatal injuries in racing and training that cast a pall over the final days of the 2023 meet, there was one catastrophic injury during racing (The Big Torpedo, Aug. 30) and two in training this year. Those 2024 incidents came during 11,614 timed works and nearly 400 races with more than 3,000 starters.
"We had incredible improvement over the last year in terms of the safety figures and it will continue to get better. The industry is on a real positive course," O'Rourke said. "I have to give praise to our vet team led by Dr. Sarah Hinchliffe for all of the long hours they put in during racing and training. The end result reflects their dedication."
Rain is an unavoidable part of the meet, and while it did cause the cancellation and shifting until a week later of the Aug. 3 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and the Troy Stakes (G2T), the turf course held up well during the meet, earning praise from horsem*n such as Chad Brown, the meet's leading trainer with 45 wins, one short of his 2018 record. He had five Monday.
"We have a 40-day meet that is turf-centric and it's prudent to be more conservative early on because you know you are going to need that course as the meet goes on," O'Rourke said. "Each time you use it, you wear it down, and if you use it when it is soft, you are going to accelerate that process."
While the care of the turf course rests in the hands of NYRA senior vice president of operations and capital projects Glen Kozak's track maintenance team, there was a new player in deciding when to take races off the turf.
After issuing a lengthy report on fatalities and the correlation to rainy periods, New York State Gaming Commission equine medical director Dr. Scott Palmer instituted new measurements, such as spatial variability, to measure the moisture in the racing surfaces.
"Glen and his team along with Dr. Palmer did an excellent job of monitoring the turf, and what I am seeing is that the monitoring and the sensors are something that will dovetail as Dr. Palmer fleshes out his study on moisture levels," O'Rourke said. "I think it is extremely positive. We've all seen over the last five years how when there's heavy rainfall there's a correlation with issues. Dr. Palmer is on the cutting edge of this."
The loss of turf racing due to wet conditions usually raises the possibility of an all-weather surface coming to the Spa at some point in the future, but NYRA is no hurry to make it happen.
"We will not move aggressively until we do an inordinate amount of study," O'Rourke said about an all-weather track, which will be part of the new Belmont Park. "We've gotten preliminary studies on the main side and now we're having similar studies done for the Oklahoma side because it could be helpful for training. It doesn't impact the dirt program, but if we have to come off the turf it would be wonderful to have it. The challenge is what do you have to give up to get there? And we're just at the beginning of that process. There are tradeoffs. It could lead to just one big turf course instead of the two we now have, which would lead to less turf racing."
While there will not be changes to the 40-day summer meet at the Spa, there could be more racing at Saratoga in 2025. Among the items being considered for next year is shifting the July 4weekend of racing from Aqueduct Racetrack to the Spa.
Those dates would be part of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet and would then lead into the start of the 40-day Saratoga summer meet on Thursday of the next week.
"We could look at moving the July 4 weekend stakes, led by the Belmont Derby," O'Rourke said. "If you are going to study something, you study it from all angles. We could also cut the number of Saratoga dates. Nothing drives demand like scarcity. We are looking at several things but right now we are focused on getting back to Belmont Park."
O'Rourke said any plans of keeping the Belmont Stakes (G1) at the Spa once Belmont Park reopens are "not on the table."
NYRA, which will conduct the Belmont Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga for a second straight year in 2025, is hopeful of holding the 2026 Belmont Stakes at the new Belmont Park and perhaps hosting the Breeders' Cup World Championships there that fall. Yet it would not be a huge surprise if the Belmont returns to Saratoga in 2026, and 2027 becomes the target date for bringing the final leg of the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup back to Long Island.
This year marked a new, six-day entry schedule for Saratoga and it will continue when Aqueduct re-opens Sept. 13. Under the new schedule, Saturday races are drawn on Sunday.
"Andrew (Offerman, NYRA's senior vice president of racing and operations) likes it, and if Andrew likes it, I like it," O'Rourke said.
While this year's additions featured anexpanded area for the Jim Dandy Bar, there are no major renovations in the works for 2025. At the end of next year's meet, plans call for the saddling area to be revamped and the moving of the racing department offices to the paddock area adjacent to the saddling area.
NYRA's "Saratoga Live" shows on FOX Sports' networks also continued to show growth, with six of the telecasts airing on the main FOX broadcast network for increased visibility.
"We had six broadcast shows on FOX. Go back a decade, that's incredible. The popularity of the show is driving mainstream attention," O'Rourke said. "DraftKings' sponsorship of the Travers Stakeswas also great because it broadens our audience."
