It's the 3 H's -- horses, handicapping and history -- that are the fundamentals in Saratoga Springs, New York. Get an insider's view during the six-week summer meet by touring the stables, watching workouts and attending the famous yearling auctions. Enrich your knowledge by exploring the history of the sport through its museums and learning about the art of handicapping at free seminars. Spend your evenings at certain hot spots and you'll be rubbing shoulders with jockeys, trainers and owners and exercise riders. What better way to learn the secrets of Saratoga?

The Horses

Horses are everywhere in Saratoga Springs – from a mirrored statue on Broadway to race horses prancing across Union Avenue from their stable to the track. To see them up close, enter the track for free every raceday morning from 7 until 10 a.m. to watch the morning workouts. Since there are stakes races every day at Saratoga, chances are good of seeing a celebrity horse prepping for a big race. You might even spot a famous jockey trying out a new mount. To help you know who’s who, Mary Ryan, a New York racing fixture, provides a commentary. A breakfast buffet on the Clubhouse porch gives you a ringside view, but you’ll have to dip into your pockets for that.

Another excellent freebie, the tram that takes you over to the “back side,” as the stable area is called, is always crowded. It starts from the main clubhouse gate and runs every raceday, weather permitting, from 8:15 to 9:00 a.m., on a first-come-first serve basis, so get there early. If you’ve never had a chance to see how racehorses are cared for, this is a must. Over 1,800 horses are stabled at Saratoga during the summer. There is a groom and a hot walker for every four to five horses, as well as exercise riders, farriers, vets, etc. The track provides the outriders, clockers and other staff to manage the bustle Keep an eye on the golf carts zipping around the stable area – you might see famous faces, as trainers go to watch their horses. Some of the trainers ride their pony horses to the track (the term “pony” originates from “ponying,” the racing term for leading another horse and has nothing to do with size), including top trainer Todd Pletcher in his signature fringed blue suede chaps. Even those pony horses might once have been famous. Steeplechase trainer Tom Voss rides his former champion John’s Call out to the track to watch his horses work. Another popular figure to watch out for is Angel Cordero, Jr., a Hall of Fame rider who is now a very successful jockey agent, often surrounded by a group as he tell a story with his famous sense of humor.

The other place where you can vicariously experience the thrill of ownership is the yearling sales. These are held by the auction company Fasig-Tipton near the beginning of the meet, at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion, a large round building on East Avenue, just half a block north of the main racetrack. Prices are high for the Select Sale, and that generates a big buzz in the crowd. The dream is to buy a Kentucky Derby winner – many have been purchased here, from historical greats like Man O’War to recent winners Go For Gin and Monarchos. The horses all look like champions as they come into the ring. The young fillies and colts have to pass rigorous conformation and pedigree standards to be in this sale, and they have been groomed and exercised to look their best. Look closely at the horses and you’ll see the attention to detail – even their tails have been braided and then brushed out to make them full and fluffy. The horses arrive a few days before the sale so buyers who register with the sales office can view them.

On the night of the Select Yearlings Auction, limousines and sedans roll up to the doors of the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion, where seating inside is by invitation only. If you aren’t a member of this privileged group, you can peer through the large windows, watch from the balcony or go around back to the walking ring, where a “bid spotter” stands on a podium, and the proceedings can be followed on television monitors. Watch the young horses as they nervously circle, with a numbered sticker on each hip. This is usually their first exposure to crowds, and the handlers have them under a tight hold. The bidders can be tougher to spot – don’t worry about bidding by mistake – each buyer who is interested in a particular horse has made a bid spotter aware of their interest in particular hip numbers and arranged a signal. Sometimes their movements are so discreet even the bid spotter has to double-check.

If you really want to get up close, attend the Select Yearlings Auction, for horses bred in New York State. The pedigrees might be less stellar, but New York breds qualify for special races with high purses, so there’s still a very competitive market and a big crowd. The bid spotters exchange their tuxes for navy blue jackets, and its easier to borrow a seat in the pavilion if you want to get a close look at the action. There is a free seminar the day before the auction if you are interested in becoming an owner. The first advice given is to work with a trainer or an agent who knows the routine! For either auction, you can pick up a catalog in the sales office back in the barn area. If you want to look like you know what you are doing, jot down notes and sales prices in your catalog. Pick out a few horses you like and see how much they sell for. Who knows, one of them might be a future Derby winner!

Handicapping

The Daily Racing Form sponsors free handicapping seminars at Siro's (168 Lincoln Ave, west of the track entrance) every racing day except Monday at 10:30. Come early for a good seat, especially if the weather is threatening, as only a few seats are under cover. You can buy breakfast from Siro's but it's not required. Bring your Racing Form (available the day before at Barnes and Noble and newstands) or other sheets if you want to keep track of the handicappers’ picks. Harvey Pack, who did the New York Racing Association broadcasts for nearly 20 years, hosts the seminars in his own inimitable style. He and the featured guest handicappers, a variety of nationally syndicated racing columnists, cover the day’s card. In between, they take humorous shots at each other. Steve Crist, publisher of the Daily Racing Form and author of Betting on Myself: Adventures of a Horseplayer and Publisher is a frequent participant. A lot of useful background information about horses, riders and trainers make these seminars worthwhile as well as entertaining, even if you don’t follow the experts’ picks. The seminars are also televised locally on Channel 12, which specializes in racing programming.

Channel 12 is also the place where you can watch NYRA’s pre-race broadcast, which covers any program changes such as scratches, rider changes and other key information. This information is also provided on a board inside the clubhouse and over the betting windows. Saratoga is an excellent place to focus on a new aspect of horseracing and to learn something more about handicapping – you’ll be going up against the most dedicated horse players in the country here.

History

History is all around you at the track – racing history, that is. The original Saratoga track was called Horse Haven, and is now a road leading around part of the stable area on the Oklahoma side. It was here, in 1863, that John Morrissey, ex-boxer and future politician, organized the first racing meet. Plans were made for the building of Saratoga Race Track across the street, and it is now the oldest operating track in the country. It’s hardly surprising that it has a strong sense of history and tradition. Roads are named after famous horses from the past, like War Admiral and recent popular favorites like Fourstardave and Funny Cide. On a sadder note, the famous racing filly Go For Wand, who broke down during a Breeders Cup race at Belmont, is buried in the main track infield at Saratoga.

Don’t forget to walk along the back of the jockeys changing room building, where tall windows let you view a rainbow display of racing silks. Every racing stable provides a set of their silks to track officials, who are responsible for storing them cleaning them and providing them to the jockeys. Look for the silks of major owners, like Mary Lou Whitney (Eton blue and brown), Bob and Beverly Louis (yellow and green stripes) or popular favorites like Sackatoga Stables, owners of Funny Cide (grey and maroon diamonds).

The statue in the paddock area, Sea Hero, is a fairly recent addition. It commemorates the 1994 winner of both the Kentucky Derby and Travers, Saratoga’s richest race. The horse was trained by Mac Miller and ridden by Jerry Bailey, both members of the Racing Hall of Fame. After a sojourn in Kentucky he was sold to Turkey, but he left behind a legacy. Check the program – one of Sea Hero’s offspring might be in the race.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is located on Union Avenue, across from the racetrack. It has an extensive collection of racing art that traces the history of horseracing in America from the first thoroughbreds shipped over in the 1660’s to more familiar names like Seabiscuit, Secretariat and Seattle Slew. Other exhibits explain the mechanics of racing and video and audio programs about the training techniques from some of Saratoga’s most illustrious names. It’s the artifacts that are most telling, though, from the well-worn boots to the elaborate riding whips, relics of riders long since vanished. They are visibly antique, and yet fundamentally not all that different from their counterparts today. They memorialize the essence of racing, a daring partnership between horse and rider to cheat the odds and achieve immortality.

Who achieves that place in the pantheon? The industry itself tries to determine who is most deserving. Every year in August, new candidates for the Hall of Fame are inducted in a presentation at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. The ceremony features the new inductees, but is attended by many previous winners, like jockeys Jerry Bailey and Pat Day. The ceremony is open to the public and draws a large crowd, come to celebrate the sport’s rich sense of tradition. An exhibition of sporting art fills the rear wall of the upper balcony, so if the speakers are dragging, you can peruse the collection. The works are for sale, but many of them are by well-known sporting artists and command hefty prices.

Horse racing was only one of the summer draws of Saratoga Springs in the Gilded Age of the nineteenth century. John Morrissey built on the success of his racetrack and opened two gambling houses in Saratoga Springs to cater to the wealthy New Yorkers. The second of these, built in 1870, is now known as the Canfield Casino. Site of Mary Lou Whitney’s annual ball, it also houses the Saratoga Springs History Museum. The museum offers tours of the casino as well as presentations on other aspects of Saratoga Springs history. The museum’s hours from June to September are Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Around Town

After your strenuous exertions at the track, you’ll need a place to unwind. The Parting Glass, on Lake Avenue near Broadway, is one of the favorites of the track crowd from both sides of the rail. It’s an Irish pub and often features live Irish music by local favorites. There are two Mexican restaurants popular with the racing crowd, The Mexican Connection, at 41 Nelson Avenue, close to the entrance to the stable area, and nearby Leon’s, at 135 Crescent Street. Both have their own loyal following -- try both and judge for yourself which is best. Another place to rub shoulders with some track celebrities is Hurricane Sam's on Caroline Street, for the Monday night Jockey Karaoke fundraiser. A special event not to be missed is the softball game that the jockeys play every year, also as a fundraiser. Make no mistake, many of them are all-around athletes and they are in very good shape. Watch the notices pinned outside the Racing Office at the track to find details on these events. The best time to go out is often earlier than in the big city – remember that track folk get up before dawn.

All in all, the biggest complaint most Saratoga insiders have is that there is just too much to do in town. If you need a day off from all the stress, Brown’s Beach, the only public beach at Saratoga Lake, is the perfect escape. You can get there by following Broadway south as it becomes route 9 for about 5 miles to Route 9P. Take a left on 9P and the beach is about 3 miles along on the left. Horses are NOT allowed!