Saratoga Saga II

Posted by Avram Freedberg

On Saturday morning, we had reservations to go ballooning. (I know many have reservations about going ballooning!) I got up at 3:45AM, so we could be at the meeting point by 5:45. A few minutes before we were going to leave the balloon Captain called to say he was concerned about some incoming weather and he was postponing the flight.

What to do ? – go back to sleep or… go watch the early morning workouts at the racetrack. Well, wouldn’t you go to the racetrack at 5 in the morning? OK, OK, I know the answer but we went nonetheless.

It was spectacular. Still night when we arrived, Linda told us to go into the backstretch entrance and she’d be out with Ahvee’s Destiny soon after 5:30. We went to the coffee hut which was the only place that was lit up and a few others (besides the workers in the hut) milled about drinking their coffees or munching on… who knows what at that hour.

I took some pre-dawn photos, which came out with more light in them than my naked eye could see. It was peaceful and beautiful. So was dawn, as Mr. Sun crept over the horizon to the east.

As 5:30 came and went more and more horses and riders entered the track; more and more people too. At this point mostly trainers, assistants, owners, clockers and some punters. Not much difference between the last two categories as they wanted to find winners to bet by clocking and watching their workouts. Soon, Susie was coming towards us aboard the beautiful Chestnut, Ahvee’s Destiny, now 4 years old. Susie stopped next to us, so we could take photos and do a little horse snuggling, then they went jogging onto the Saratoga main track. Basically once around the 1 1/8 mile oval. Ahvee seemed to enjoy her exercise and pranced by us on the way back to her stable stall.

Soon after, Rob Koones’s colt, Jess Not Jesse, was brought out for his turn to jog around the track. Rob and Sheri were up for the weekend but it was too early to call Rob (since I only had Sheri’s cell phone number at that point, so I took a photo of his horse. A good looking 2-yr. pld bred by Rob and looking plenty feisty. Hopefully, he will get his first race next week.

Rexy wasn’t coming to the racetrack that day, since her regimen called for walking only after her race on Thursday. It wasn’t until after 8AM that Conseated Lady was brought to the track for gate training. The starting gate is intimidating for horses. They are often scared to walk in and they don’t like being confined in such a narrow space. So, each race horse needs to “graduate” from gate school. They actually get a card from the Starter before they are authorized to race.

On this day, Conseated Lady went in without too much trouble. She took off when they released the gate. It was quite fascinating to watch her and the other horses being schooled. Some got quite anxious.

Linda told us she was leaving Arielle’s Song for last because this was her first day at the track and it is quieter at the very end of training time. So, we ran to see our realtor and got a list of alternative rentals for next year. Then we ran back to Linda’s stable to accompany Arielle’s Song to the track. WE also met two other horse owners, Patsy and George. We all went with Arielle’s Song to witness her first workout on a small training track away from any remaining hubbub at the main track. She went around this smaller track twice, had some fits and starts but did well for her first training session.

While we were waiting around, we chatted with some of the other viewers and even ran into a gossip writer who was handing out his own newsletter called Indian Charlie’s. Thanks to the balloon cancellation, we did something I doubt we would have done so early. It turned into a real highlight of our visit.

We did a little driving around, then walking around, had breakfast and felt like it was time to go to sleep. So we did. Though it was just a nap followed by a quick shower, a change of clothes and off to the track for the races. We got to meet Joan and Carmen, who thanks to my assistant, BJ, gave us a wonderfully situated box. Curtis Sliwa passed by in full Guardian Angel gear. Later we went to visit with Steve Byk to finish the ten second conversation we had on Friday. We left before the end of the races, walked a little more around downtown, poked our heads into a gallery and had a wonderful dinner in a private room at Mouzon with Rob and Sheri.

And so it went, morning to evening, it was a full day… and it was good!

More to come.

Visit the Official Avram Freedberg website!