Our last night in Saratoga for this year

Today was Travers Day. A mass of bodies surrounded us wherever we went.

We must have been sitting in the right place because the New York Racing Association people kept bringing out the various trophies for each race and had to pass our box. Then, NY Governor David Paterson stopped by our box to shake hands on his way to the Winner’s Circle and on his return, I kidded him about his not returning with one of the trophies. He told us that the trophy for the Belmont was much heavier than the one for the Travers and after the Belmont, he had to hold it for quite a while when the TV network was doing commercials. He found it quite difficult. So, he said he worked out before the Travers to be ready but it turned out he didn’t need to. I told him I saw him flipping the Travers trophy up. He said it only weighed about 5 pounds. When he left I imagined having a similar conversation with his predecessor (NOT).

Thursday night we attended the Travers Celebration at the Racetrack which is a benefit for two charities. They had a silent auction. As the deadline for bids neared, I found myself in a bidding war for a piece of art with Virginia Payson. She could eat my assets for breakfast but she kept pressing the bid only $100 at a time. When one of the administrators said the auction was over, my last bid was the apparent winning one. However, not to be outdone, Mrs. Payson put down another bid. The administrator saw her do that and took the bid sheet to the charity director. In the meantime, because Mrs. Payson was making such a ruckus, I told her if she would up her bid substantially, I’d let her have it for the good of the charity. Then I took it on the chin from Rhoda for not getting the painting. She really liked it. Oy!

The lady with all the dogs was also there. I mentioned that I would expand on the charity event she threw at her house. However, I think if you go to the website, you’ll get an appreciation: http://www.poshpalazzopups.com/

Ahvee’s Destiny’s race was postponed until Wednesday. I guess with all the rain we had here, it is a good thing. However, we are not remaining. We’re weighing the possibility of just coming back for the race. It’s a tough one with both Smart and Fancy and Canadian Ballet entered. This time we’re in post position 6 with Smart and Fancy to our inside in PP 4 and Canadian Ballet outside in #8. We’ll see how it plays out.

So, tomorrow, we pack up, say goodbye to Ahvee’s Destiny and Conseated Lady and make our way home. Part of us looks forward to returning. Part of us will miss our Saratoga friends and the horses. We won’t miss Linda too much because we didn’t get to spend much time with her. Last year we spent lots of time with her. I think that is one of the reasons this year’s experience was different than last year’s. I know that is true for me.

It was nice to have some of you visit. I know it enhanced our time here. Hope you enjoyed it!

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