Impressions of Saratoga

After all these years of going there, which started in 1974, and has continued on and off, and now on for the last 24 consecutive years, I've decided to etch a few written impressions of the place.

• Saratoga is old, but it does now have flat panel TV screens. Nearly everywhere.
• The wooden stands are not where you'd want to be if there was a fire. Close your eyes, open them again, and you could be back in the era of the Civil War when you look at the stands from the apron. Do you approve of Lincoln?
• A lot of women go to the races at Saratoga.
• Some of them wear hats that are knock-offs from Kate Middleton's head gear.
• Horses are large, especially when you get close to them.
• Jockeys are not as small as you might expect. They are not pygmies.
• Horses run fast, even the ones you lose on. It's just there are others that run faster.
• Very little of the place is air conditioned.
• Money is needed to bet.
• Winning isn't everything, but it helps when you do.
• There are people who come to Saratoga who appear to be homeless. They seem to be carrying everything they own, and one of these things suddenly becomes a chair.
• Very few people are carrying anything less than an Igloo lunch cooler.
• Saratoga is an expensive place to eat if you're hungry and don't bring your own food.
• It is very hard to be the oldest person at Saratoga. Someone near you is older.
• It is better to have a seat at Saratoga than to have to stand.
• It is not true that all those people at the picnic tables live there. It just looks that way. They do go home. Eventually.
• It is not much fun being there when it rains, unless you know the slop/mud pedigree of every horse that has been left in the race to run.
• Handicapping is an art or a science. It doesn't matter which it is when you win.
• There are horses whose purse earnings for the last two years exceed your annual income by a multiple of five. And they've only won one race. See Frammento.
• The place is quite colorful. But red and white prevail nearly everywhere.
• No horse has ever won as much money as Alex Rodriquez has been paid.
• Don't worry about your car. Just hope you have enough energy to walk that far to get it when the day is done.
• Don't stay mad at the place too long. A year will go by fast enough.

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