Saratoga Racetrack 2022 Season Opening: What is it?

By Wednesday evening, fans were already waiting in line for Saratoga Race Course to open its gates for the facility’s 154th meet. Racing will be conducted on a Wednesday through Sunday schedule through Sept. 5. The calendar includes 77 stakes races worth $22.6 million and will be covered for 225 hours on the Fox Sports Network.

So what makes Saratoga one of the most special places on the planet for eight weeks?

Dimers.com contributor Kimberly French, a freelance horse racing writer and Assistant Director and Production Manager at the New York Racing Association, answers those questions and will provide betting insights each week at Dimers.com.

The quality of the horses who compete at the Victorian racetrack and the connections who train, ride and care for them. Saratoga features the best of the best and is not only a wagering mecca but a summer destination. 

The first week of racing features the Wilton Stakes which will be contested out of the reconstructed Wilson Chute, the Grade III Schuylerville Stakes, the Grade III Forbidden Apple Stakes, the Coronation Cup Stakes, the Grade I Diana and the Grade III Sanford Stakes. All These races and their supporting events feature robust fields as 105 horses will run on Thursday and 95 on Friday. 

The historic Saratoga Race Track season kicks off today, with events summer-long! 🏇 Turn your race day into a weekend getaway with our guide to how to spend a weekend in Saratoga Springs: https://t.co/U6JGoKpj0a

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📍 Saratoga Race Track pic.twitter.com/FW1pQJmZ8Z

— I LOVE NEW YORK (@I_LOVE_NY) July 14, 2022

One of the reasons Saratoga is so revered in the racing world is for the quality of 2-year-old races that are carded. Hence the Schuylerville, for 2-year-old fillies, and the Sanford for 2-year-old colts, take center stage opening week. Some of the sport’s most talented horses have won the Schuylerville and Sanford. In fact, the great Man o’ War suffered the only loss of his career to Upset in the 1919 Sanford. 

The best horses in training will take center stage with eight of the top 10 horses in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s poll having one or more of Saratoga’s Grade I stakes on their radar. This includes Life Is Good, Olympiad, Hot Rod Charlie, Jackie’s Warrior, Clairiere, Letruska, Malathaat, Regal Glory, Bleecker Street, Jack Christopher, Early Voting, Rich Strike, Zandon, Epicenter, Charge It, Secret Oath and Nest whose names will be in the entry box for the Aug. 6 Whitney Stakes (Grade I), Aug. 20 Alabama Stakes (Grade I) and Aug. 27 Runhappy Travers Stakes (Grade I).

A story for the opening day at Saratoga https://t.co/bWwjkiWScm #Saratoga @TheNYRA

— New York Almanack (@NewYorkHistory) July 14, 2022

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) which operates the Saratoga meet in addition to the meets at Belmont Park and Aqueduct has also incorporated several new wagers for the 2022 season. One is a two-day double with the Saratoga Derby and Oaks and another is a two-day Pick Six on Aug. 26-27 and Sept. 4-5. 

There is also the newly implemented Cross Country Pick Five on some Sundays and a $3 Pick Three on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

Wagering in 2021 set an all-time record of $815.5 million, but records are made to be broken. Will that figure be eclipsed this year? 

More than 1.04 million people attended last year’s Saratoga meet, making it the sixth straight year (except for when the track was closed to fans in 2020 because of COVID-19) more than one million people came to the track for the meet.

In a world that is rife with uncertainty one thing is concrete: a successful Saratoga meet is as close to a sure bet as there possibly can be. 

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