Vic Zast Saratoga Diary

Vic Zast’s daily journal of the Saratoga premier summertime race meet and the characters who make their annual pilgrimage there.

As the World Turns

An international cast of characters converges in the small New York town as the yearlings disappear from the auction grounds.... Read More

No Use Complaining

Business was down but the good weather held steady as a son of Mineshaft burned up the track and The Sheikh took his treasure in horses.... Read More

Money Goes 'Round

Lucky college students win scholarships at the racecourse and the ghost of Bernie Madoff lurks in the background of the season's priciest fund-raiser.... Read More

Chicken Salad

Low attendance continued to plague the racetrack as the day's most interesting things happened away from it - a town hall meeting, a toast to an unsung hero and a basketball game.... Read More

Hoop Dreams

The end of the extra four days of Saratoga horse racing was marked by the morning workouts and rumors about a ringer on the jockeys' basketball team.... Read More

Hat's Off to Scisney

Embarrassed to enter the hat contest, an elegantly dressed owner from Louisville got to hold her head up high when Maybesomaybenot won the Sanford.... Read More

Rachel Saratoga

The reigning Horse of the Year, although racing at Monmouth Park, became an attraction for fans that remained once the feature was done.... Read More

Sloppy Beginning

Two French jockeys make the most of a dreadful weather day and a horse with a fondness for the course treats the smaller than desired crowd to an exhibition.... Read More

Restaurant Wars

Two popular New York City restaurants are getting their own building on the racecourse grounds, providing competition for Siro's and evidence that NYRA's daunting problems are only temporary.... Read More

The Year of the Girl

Females made the 2009 meet memorable, as women achieved in ways never before realized and a filly captured the soul of horse racing fans in a manner that will never be forgotten.... Read More

Let Them Eat Cake

Several ceremonies took place at the racetrack including a retirement, a wedding and two graded stakes trophy presentations.... Read More

The Sound of a Crowd

Rachel Alexandra sweeps through the turn, races down the stretch and crosses the finish line first by a head, as her adoring fans hail her triumphant performance.... Read More

Sara...toga...toga...toga

Frat boys and sorority sisters played games in the Saratoga backyard on College Day, as working men and women got around to the serious business of figuring out a very big Pick Six.... Read More

Pick Nix

Longshots carry the big Pick Six pot over to another day, as people and horses of the feminine sex take center stage again.... Read More

Playing the Gender Card

Females dominate the first day of racing in the last week of the season, as NYRA salutes the armed forces and excitement for the filly builds.... Read More

Tasty Morsels

Unusual occurrences in at least four races highlighted the first post-Travers day of racing, as Saratoga learns that it's about to lose a favorite food stand.... Read More

All in a Day's Rain

NYRA officials were hoping that the rainy weather would clear for the Travers. It didn't, but there was a lot for the fans to enjoy anyway.... Read More

School Daze

Trainers were in a stupor from staying out late, but they still found the energy to school their stakes runners in the paddock prior to the season's top steeplechase. ... Read More

Paddock Postings

Post positions were drawn for the Travers and one man with a horse in and a horse out had something to say to the media.... Read More

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