But there are still slices of Americana that fight to preserve those memories. They are places that shaped the birth of our nation and mirrored the development, growing pains, and successes of nearly three centuries of American history.<\/p>\n
Saratoga Springs<\/a> in upstate New York is arguably one of the best of them.<\/p>\n Located 40 miles north of Albany, this small city of 28,000 is a gateway to the Adirondack Mountains and shares that region’s natural beauty. But there is so much more.<\/a><\/p>\n Print shows British General Burgoyne trying to surrender his sword to General Horatio Gates after the Battle of Saratoga, New York, Oct. 17, 1777. Published by N. Currier. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.<\/p><\/div>\n The “Serachtuage” mineral springs that Mohawk and Iroquois tribes introduced to white settlers in the 1700s gave the city its name and reputation as a place to go for restorative health.<\/p>\n In 1777, the Battle of Saratoga, a crucial victory for the Patriots, was considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War and was the impetus for France to support Washington’s Continental Army.<\/p>\n Explorers and fur traders, soldiers and Frenchmen, spread the word that “taking the waters” of Saratoga Springs cured just about everything from cancer, diabetes, dyspepsia, hangovers, heartburn, kidney disease, malaria, and rheumatism to the “weakness of women.”<\/p>\n Completion of the railroad in 1831 opened America’s growing east coast population to Saratoga, “The Queen of the Spas.” The Gilded Age of the late 1800s through the early 1900’s attracted many of the nation’s most successful capitalists, including the Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, JP Morgan, and “Diamond Jim” Brady.<\/p>\n Great hotels and mansions were built to cater to America’s elite, who increasingly escaped the hot streets of New York City for the cooler summers and restorative spas of far north Saratoga.<\/p>\n 1865 drawing by famed artist Winslow Homer of the Race Track at Saratoga. The illustration is an original leaf from an August 1865 edition of Harpers Weekly. Photo: Brooklyn Museum, Creative Commons License.<\/p><\/div>\n Then, it was natural that the “Sport of Kings” would appeal to Saratoga’s wealthy industrialists who had plenty of money to spend and wager.<\/p>\n Actually, horse racing in Saratoga began much earlier when in 1847, the New York State Fair came to town, and a couple of local entrepreneurs built the Saratoga Trotting Course to get around New York’s widely unpopular anti-racing statute in place at the time.<\/p>\n Billed as events to promote the upcoming State Fair, four days of trotting competition managed to sidestep the anti-racing laws. The races drew some 5,000 people, a massive crowd for Saratoga. The New York Herald<\/em> reported that patrons included “a number of lovely women from the South, whose interest in the event seemed greater than that of the gentlemen. Some forgot the name of decency and even common honesty as to climb the fences.”<\/p>\n Club house at the race track, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Photo: Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress) between 1900 and 1915.<\/p><\/div>\n The events, which continued for five more days into the State Fair, historically included Saratoga’s first official Thoroughbred race. Former US presidents Martin Van Buren and John Tyler and future president Millard Fillmore reportedly attended the festivities.<\/p>\n Despite the popularity of this seminal event, horse racing suffered ups and downs in Saratoga for more than a decade.<\/p>\n It wasn’t until the summer of 1863 when bare-knuckle boxing champion John Morrissey staged the first “formal” horse racing meet in town. A year later, on August 2, 1864, the Saratoga Race Course was built and soon became one of the nation’s lead racetracks.<\/p>\n Today, and for every August for 157 years, the Saratoga Races remain a pillar of thoroughbred racing. The Saratoga Race Course<\/a> stands as the oldest active sporting venue in the country.<\/p>\n Saratoga Springs 1865. Photo: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs Photography Collection, The New York Public Library.<\/p><\/div>\n The evolution of Saratoga’s two defining features, its spas and legendary racecourse remain as solid reminders of the American personality. Early discovery of the restorative powers of its natural springs promised a healthier life, and the excitement of horse racing appealed to the challenges and risks of a population that embraced hope.<\/p>\n The city has sputtered and recovered through war, depression, corruption, and unbridled success in its three-century history.\nThanks to the spas and the race track, Saratoga Springs became a playground for the rich throughout the Gilded Age. There are still bathhouses and drinking pavilions galore throughout the town and the early dawn breezing of thoroughbreds at the track in August hasn’t changed much since the Civil War.<\/p>\n There are great examples of stately houses, historic old hotels, horse and spa-themed watering holes sprinkled throughout a bustling town with plenty of restaurants, a university (Skidmore), a Performing Arts Center, and more.<\/p>\n National Museum of Racing entrance. Photo: CWorthington<\/p><\/div>\n A visit to Saratoga Springs is incomplete without a visit to the leading horse museum in the nation, The National Museum of Racing<\/a>.\u00a0 Located across the street from the sprawling Saratoga Race Course, this enticing tribute to the horses, riders, and impresarios of America’s oldest sport gallops through time with an eclectic treasure trove of memorabilia, interactive displays, and awe-inspiring videos that capture the excitement of thoroughbred racing.<\/p>\n By the mid-twentieth century, racing at Saratoga had become a summer tradition for thoroughbred enthusiasts. The decision to memorialize and build upon its colorful history was made by a well-heeled group led by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a polo player, thoroughbred owner, and philanthropist.<\/p>\n Saratoga Springs donated $2500, and the Saratoga Association ponied up $5,000 to open a display of racing history in a room at the Canfield Casino in Congress Park on August 6, 1951.<\/p>\n National Museum of Racing Museum (clockwise from top left): Hall of Fame Experience brings all aspects of racing to life; Post Civil War Gallery; Hall of Fame Experience; Pre-Civil War Gallery. Photos courtesy of National Museum of Racing Museum.<\/p><\/div>\n As reported in the Daily Racing Form<\/em>, “The National Museum of Racing…has been recognized as a vital need for many years, both by the leaders of the sport and by the citizens of Saratoga, who have come, quite properly, to regard the Spa as the spiritual capital of the sport.”<\/p>\n The Museum’s earliest exhibits were paintings and esoteric memorabilia donated by a few patrons of the sport. One such patron was Harold O. Vosberg, a steward for the Saratoga Association who kicked in the first artifact — a horseshoe worn by the great thoroughbred, Lexington (1850-1875), winner of six out of seven races and sire of 236 winners of 1,176 races.<\/p>\n Although Saratoga Race Track patrons conceived of the Museum with support from the town, their ambition was to showcase racing as a national sport, appropriately from the home of its first track established at Saratoga in 1863.<\/p>\n Eight thousand visitors came in its first year, more artifacts flowed in, and by 1955 the Museum moved to its current site, a colonial red brick building on Union Avenue across the street from the racetrack.<\/p>\n The move to bigger headquarters afforded the vision to add a Hall of Fame dedicated “to preserve and promote the history of thoroughbred racing in America and to honor the sport’s most accomplished participants.”<\/p>\n The first inductees included nine horses that had raced before 1900, twelve jockeys, and six trainers, all of whom were no longer active. Since then, 216 thoroughbreds, 108 jockeys, 100 trainers, and 38 “pillars of the turf” have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n Those who follow horse racing, and even those who don’t, will recognize the names of the nation’s most famous thoroughbreds, including Man o’ War, Sea Biscuit, War Admiral, Native Dancer, Secretariat, Affirmed, American Pharoah, and so many more.<\/p>\n Today, the annual Hall of Fame<\/a> Induction Ceremony is held in conjunction with the Saratoga racing season every August. The town is swollen with horse racing fans from all over the world who come to drink in the atmosphere, visit the spas, and elbow up to the bars of dozens of horse-themed watering holes throughout the center of town.<\/p>\n The induction ceremony is a must-attend seasonal highlight in addition to legendary races like the Whitney and Travers Cup. Those lucky enough to get a first-come, first-served free ticket are treated to a behind-the-curtain look into the fascinating world of big-time horse racing.<\/p>\n Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2021. Photo: Skip Dickstein.\u00a0Attendees were given the special treat of seeing some of the great past Hall of Fame winners including (Photo above, from left to right) top Thoroughbred horse racing trainers Nick Zito and Shug McGaughey; Javier Castellano, 4-time winner of Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey; Ramon Dominguez, Eclipse Award-winning jockey born in Venezuela; Sandy Hawley, Canadian Hall of Fame jockey; Gary Stevens, jockey, famed 2003 film Seabiscuit actor, and sports analyst; Chris McCarron, gifted jockey who also served as technical advisor, racing designer, and actor Seabiscuit.; John Velazquez, two-time winner of the Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey hailing from Puerto Rico; Jose Santos, retired Chilean Thoroughbred jockey; Bill Mott, youngest Thoroughbred trainer ever inducted; Julie Krone, first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race; Angel Cordero, Jr., one of the leading Thoroughbred horse racing jockeys of all time and first Puerto Rican to be inducted; Janet Elliot, first woman trainer to be inducted in the National Museum of Racing\u2019s Hall of Fame; Braulio Baeza, jockey and first Latin American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.<\/p><\/div>\n This year’s ceremony was held at Fasig-Tipton, the thoroughbred horse auction house founded in 1898. The event honored both 2020 and 2021 inductees (2020 was canceled due to COVID), was a highly entertaining mix of laughter and tears as winners in the trainers’ category, introduced by legendary track announcer Tom Durkin, shared their incredible stories of life at the track.<\/p>\n The three inducted trainers, Mark Casse, Jack Fisher, and Todd Pletcher were the in-person show stoppers with emotional and humorous personal stories about what it takes to amass a collective number of race starts (44,762), race wins (8,920, 18.9% win average) for total earnings of $613,995, 539!<\/p>\n The only honored jockey, Darrel McHargue, had 2,553 wins during his career from 1972-1988. The three inducted “Pillars of the Turf” (the late Alice Hadley Chandler, J. Keene Dangerfield, Jr, and George D. Widener, Jr.) were honored as “individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to thoroughbred racing in a leadership or pioneering capacity at the highest level for a minimum of 25 years”.<\/p>\n Of course, there could be no Hall of Fame without horses. This year’s class was led by the 2015 Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah and included Wise Dan and Tom Bowling, winner of 14 out of 17 starts way back in the 19th century.<\/p>\n The annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony <\/a>celebrates the past and is the gateway to the future. Spring boarding from the event is the realization that the legacy of thoroughbred racing is an integral part of the American landscape and that Saratoga Springs holds a unique place in our nation’s history.<\/p>\n Seeing and hearing the life-changing stories of people who have built and perpetuate thoroughbred racing reflects the American values of setting goals, working hard, and turning dreams into reality. And it sends one back to the Museum to learn more about this fascinating American story.<\/p>\n It’s no wonder that the National Horse Racing Museum and Hall of Fame have flourished for nearly seventy-five years, and they just keep getting better. Donations and memorabilia continue to flow into the Museum.<\/p>\n Thanks to a recent $20 million capital campaign, the Museum has added interactive displays, a fantastic sound, and video trip through the Hall of Fame, a remarkable “Women in Racing” room, a massive volume of historic racing memorabilia, and one of the finest collections of racing art ever assembled.<\/p>\n The unique blend of the spas, the race track, the Museum, the Hall of Fame, and the historic town seems to rekindle a yearning for days gone. For sure, all of that contributed to this year’s record rebound from 2020’s pandemic shutdown. Saratoga’s 2021 summer blew the doors off race season attendance (1,046 million fans), and total money bet during the 53 day racing season ($18.5 million).<\/p>\n But perhaps what makes Saratoga so special is summed up by the words of legendary turf writer, Peter Burnaugh\u2014words as true today as they were in 1927:<\/p>\n “Saratoga Springs in the month of August is not merely the most fashionable home of healing waters or the home of the best racing to be found in America, though it happens to be both. It has a celebrity that is grounded a good deal deeper. Reduced to essentials, its peculiar charm lies in the opportunity it offers to a broad class of Americans to live for one month as they imagine they would like to live for the eleven other months of the year.<\/em>“<\/p>\n Saratoga Springs, New York for the active traveler<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2021","category-fall-2021-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11789"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11971,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11789\/revisions\/11971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Print-shows-British-General-Burgoyne-trying-to-surrender-his-sword-to-General-Horatio-Gates-after-the-Battle-of-Saratoga..jpg\")
Early History<\/h3>\n
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Horse Haven<\/h3>\n
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Saratoga Springs: Unique in America’s Evolution<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Racing-Museum-front-750-cworthington-photo.jpg\")
The National Museum of Racing<\/h3>\n
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Hall of Fame<\/h3>\n
Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony<\/h3>\n
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The Saratoga Legacy<\/h3>\n
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the Museum, including special events and program offerings,\u00a0 call (518) 584-0400 or visit\u00a0The National Museum of Racing\u00a0website<\/a><\/h5>\n
More on What to Do in Saratoga Springs, New York<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"