Pandemic Brings Change to Saratoga Race Course

Even a place as traditional and timeless as Saratoga Race Course has been unable to fend off the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the area around the serene Victorian-era racetrack has been remarkably free of the coronavirus, with just five deaths linked to the disease and less than 0.3% of 220,000 county residents diagnosed with it (a total of 624 cases) since the start of the year, racing at the Spa has not developed an immunity to the way COVID-19 has changed everyday life throughout the country.

"There will be a 2020 Saratoga meet on paper, but it will not be one to remember in a lot of ways in terms of the ambiance on-track," New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke said.

The 157th season at Saratoga will be unlike any other, with change the optimum word.

Reflective of that, change is happening on what seems like an hourly basis as the New York State Gaming Commission waited until less than 24 hours before the July 16 start of the meet to finally announce that a limited number of owners will be allowed on the grounds for racing and morning training.

Prior to that July 15 release of new protocols, it appeared the Spa's opening day would feature the same ghost-town look of Belmont Park during its recently concluded 25-day spring/summer meet with no spectators of any kind, just essential personnel for the care of the horses and the conducting of races.

Now, at least, there will be some activity, though it will be a far cry from the throng of 22,591 that turned out for the 2019 opener.

"It's fantastic news," said Jack Wolf, who has a home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and is the founder and managing partner of Starlight Racing, which will send out two horses on Thursday's card, including Mo Hawk in the $100,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3). "I heard rumblings that owners may be allowed in, but I had been planning to watch our horses from home or at a restaurant, so to be able to go over there and watch is great news."

Under the new protocols, only people with a valid New York state owners license and a horse running on that day's card will be allowed to attend the races, with no more than eight owners per horse. Owners will have temperature checks before they are allowed in and must wear a mask and maintain social distancing during their time on the grounds. Guests will not be permitted.

Backstretch access will also be limited to licensed owners, though they will need a negative COVID-19 test in the past seven days for admission.

The ability to have owners in attendance brightened what had been an unusually lackluster lead-up to the first of 40 days of racing at the Spa and should be a shot in the arm for local business who depend on tourism for their financial well-being.

"It's a good day for Saratoga. Our businesses have been suffering, and this will help hotels attract owners who want to stay here. And once there's heads in the beds, it will help the restaurants and other businesses in the area," said Todd Shimkus, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. "It's the best first step we can have to potentially open safely for fans. Our hope is that the owners and the groups that have access to the racetrack do everything they can to make sure there's not a spread of COVID-19 up here. That will hopefully allow us to bring more people in. There's now a lot of responsibility on the owners' part to do the right thing."

Whether fans will be permitted at some point during the meet remains to be seen, though it is a foregone conclusion that even on its best days in 2020, the Spa will bear little resemblance to the nation's premier racetrack that was jammed with 1,056,053 fans last year and handled $146 million on-track alone.

The sights and sounds will surely be dramatically different. If any of the circuit's jockeys decide to leave Saratoga to ride at a different track, new COVID-19 protocols will bar them from returning for the remainder of the meet. There are coverings along parts of the track's perimeter to prevent people from gathering to catch a glimpse of the racing. Instead of thousands of fans at the grandstand railing cheering on their horses, about 20 restaurants around town will conduct viewing parties so that fans can watch the races from afar. Needless to say, the widespread anticipation that builds to epic proportions for opening day at Saratoga was barely palpable until Wednesday, when owners received a reason to cheer.

"It certainly doesn't have the electricity that you normally feel going up to Saratoga. It's the quietest I've seen on the backstretch leading up to the meet in a long time," said Todd Pletcher, a 13-time leading trainer at Saratoga. "We know it won't be a normal meet, but the main focus is to continue racing, so hopefully we can make the right adjustments along the way. Everyone has to be prepared for changes and adjustments."

Yet beyond all those issues, what Saratoga 2020 has going for it is a hallmark of the Spa since the days of the Civil War: sensational racing. Tiz the Law, Vekoma, Midnight Bisou, Code of Honor, Tom's d'Etat, and Gamine are just a few of the stars slated to race during the season, which runs through Sept. 7.

"It's still Saratoga, and we have large purses for what's going on in the world," NYRA senior vice president of racing operations Martin Panza said. "Saratoga is still a special place. It adds value to your horses, especially if it's a female. People are going to support racing here, and that's a good thing."

Pletcher also expects to see a high level of racing.

"There's still a lot of great racing and a lot of high-quality stakes," he said. "It's always a time when you look forward to seeing your 2-year-olds develop."

NYRA's hope is that quality racing on a daily basis will spark a boost in handle, as it did at Belmont Park, where wagering was up by 42%, to offset the potential loss of on-track handle and revenue from last year's meet as well as funds for purses from the still-shuttered casino at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"Our purses are generated by our handle," O'Rourke said. "The handle is doing well, but it's coming in through different channels, so it's not replenishing the purse account like a 40% increase normally would. Saratoga, with the power of its brand and the television exposure it will get, will help drive the handle and the purse replenishment. No one knows when (the pandemic) will end, and racing at Saratoga will allow us a better continuity into the fall than if we stayed downstate. The handle numbers would be lower if we stayed at Belmont, the purse replenishment would be lower, and we might be sacrificing the ability to race through the fall at certain purse levels. At Saratoga, it's going to be a great television and gambling product."

Due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, the backstretch at the Spa figures to be less crowded than in past years. Some horsemen from Kentucky who usually send a string of horses to Saratoga will only have a handful on the grounds. Some of the smaller trainers on the circuit who endured the financial sting of 80 days without racing during the height of the pandemic say they will not be stabling at Saratoga, preferring to van their horses north for races and then return them to Belmont afterward.

"It's all financial. Saratoga is the highlight of the year for any trainer. All we want to do is run up there and enjoy everything that goes into the meet. But for me, it means renting a house for me and my staff and moving the operation. When you own a lot of your horses yourself, it's expensive. It's a difficult situation, so I'm not stabling there," said trainer Chad Summers, who normally sends his 18-horse stable north for the meet but will remain at Belmont this season. "I don't want to ship up from Belmont a day before the race in 100-degree temperatures, but it didn't seem like there was any other alternative."

One potential problem with trainers keeping horses at Belmont could be a reluctance to send a horse to the Spa as a main-track-only entrant when weather is iffy, a common occurrence in the Adirondack region, where weather often changes in the blink of an eye.

Finding backstretch help will also be more of an issue this year.

"The labor situation at Saratoga will be tough," said trainer Rick Schosberg, who recently added horses from owners Leonard and Jonathan Green's D. J. Stable and will have a larger presence than normal at the meet. "Some trainers are sending satellite divisions up there and shuttling horses back and forth, which can be difficult. But it's hard to get the labor to go up there, and I can't blame the people. If some people can't get second jobs in the afternoon, it's more economical to stay home. There will be less of a labor force than normal this year, and I'll probably be rubbing three horses a day myself, which isn't fun when you're 60. It will definitely be a different look this year, but I'm just happy they're racing."

Joe Appelbaum, the president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, said there are several main reasons behind workers' reluctance to be at the Spa.

"Logistically, it's a bear whether you come up to Saratoga or if you stay at Belmont," he said. "I think the No. 1 issue for us is getting enough workers because of restrictions on visas, restrictions on travel, and people's health concerns. We are pretty darn good at shipping horses up and down the Thruway, so we'll be OK with that, but the staffing is a huge issue. We all have to figure out ways around this.

"It's bittersweet. The sweet part is that the meet will take place with decent purse levels and a full complement of horses and jockeys. The bitter part is that there's no fans there. It's not the same without that community feeling. But for those of us in this business full time, it's important to race at Saratoga, and in this new world, let's be thankful for what we have. It will be great racing, and we're ready to put on a show."

A more subtle difference is the addition of a new safety rail for the main track, which also allowed NYRA to improve the surface's drainage and make it better equipped for handling the freakish summertime rainstorms that have pelted the racetrack for more than a century and a half.

In another sign of the times, while NYRA's climate-controlled 1863 Club, which was unveiled last year, will not be open this year, some restaurants have found a way to capitalize on the track being closed to the public and offset the loss of dining revenue from tourists. According to Shimkus, about 21 restaurants in the county will be offering their version of a day at the races, providing day-long seating to watch the card on big-screen televisions.

At Prime at the Saratoga National Golf Club, director of sales and marketing Lauren Holmes said they have virtually sold out seating for a maximum of 200 people on each Thursday through Saturday during the meet. Prime is charging a $50-a-person fee for 12:30-6:30 p.m. seating each racing day, with $30 going toward food and beverage costs. In addition, Prime will offer programs and access to opening and funding NYRA Bets accounts. Patrons can also download Daily Racing Form past performances, and NYRA's Anthony Stabile and Capital Off-Track Betting personalities will make guest appearances to provide handicapping advice.

"It's a crazy time and it's been a challenge, but people want to get out," Holmes said. "We usually handle 400 people, so 200 will be a piece of cake. We're excited about doing this for racing fans. Bring on the good weather, and we're ready to go."

Another popular spot for racing fans, the West Side Bar and Grill, is offering reserved seating in its dining room and patio for a maximum of 75 people from 12:30-5:30 p.m. each racing day at a cost of $40 each, with $20 allocated toward food and beverage.

Racing City Brewing Company, with a huge projection screen that measures 23 feet by 14 feet, will offer $25 seating, with the money going toward the customers' final bill.

While the positive response at restaurants certainly reflects the evergreen appeal of Saratoga racing, and horsemen can take tremendous pride in the hard and dedicated work that went into keep racing afloat during the pandemic, there's no getting past the differences everyone will see at Saratoga in the coming weeks. There will indeed be strange sights, though, in a way, they may ultimately only enhance the fondness for what Saratoga used to be some 12 months ago and what it will hopefully be next year.

"We're all getting desensitized to it," O'Rourke said. "Belmont Stakes Day was a great day of racing, but it was strange on-site. We've set picnic tables up around the paddock and it's a nice scene, but without the crowds, it's not really Saratoga. Hopefully, the world will return to normal in 2021 and we can go back to the wonderful kaleidoscope this place is."