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.

Pink Ladies

A filly from Canada makes like Rachel Alexandra in the Alabama, after a six-horse photo lights up the crowd on Breast Cancer Research Day.... Read More

Chew on This

Bunbury's Pub is the racecourse's attempt to bring a British sensibility to upstate New York. But for the time being, it's steeplechase racing that makes the connection. ... Read More

Longshot Immersion

There's money to be made on a perfectly fine betting day as a longshot from Chicago wins the feature and Storm Cat is heard from again and again.... Read More

Poster Boy

Colonel John is on the new Travers Stakes poster and sales are brisk. Will he meet Rachel Alexandra next?... Read More

Coming and Going

The yearlings leave town, an old friend returns and an unlikely duo serenades the horses for the Cab Calloway Stakes with Minnie the Moocher.... Read More

Life Goes On

An usher known for rigid inflexibility and a legendary New York race caller are remembered on a great day when good taste was in question.... Read More

Counting Crowds

Unexpected winners in the Whitney and the Test thrilled a big crowd as fans poured into town for the first Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing and the action from Arlington Park on TV.... Read More

Busy Day Back

After the first dark day of the season, the racecourse sprang to life, activities were renewed at the Museum of Racing and the Reading Room and Cocoa Beach completed her comeback despite an objection.... Read More

First Time on the Flat

A steeplechase jockey rides a steeplechase horse to victory on the flat and Quality Road prepares for the Travers with a win in track record time.... Read More

Hats Off to Seventh Street

Godolphin's mud-loving filly by Street Cry won the Go For Wand. But the filly on television in the Haskell had the fans tipping their "Hats Off to Saratoga" caps in approval.... Read More

Running a Blue Streak

Racing from dawn to dusk engaged people of all interests, including cross country runners, horseplayers and a one-year-old toddler, as Steve Asmussen saddles stakes winners within minutes of each other.... Read More

The Summer Resident Takes Leave

In the quiet of early morning, the most famous of the 1800 horses stabled at Saratoga exits the premises undetected. Later, one of the least predictable wins the Lake George. ... Read More

Breakfast Tutorial

The talk turns to food as cheap horses run fast times, Linda Rice wins another turf sprint and jockey Miguel Mena takes a 95-year-old stakes in his first Saratoga summer.... Read More

Stuffing Moolah through the Mutuels

A slow-moving crowd for Saratoga's opener showed little enthusiasm, except when it came to betting, as Hot Dixie Chick beat the rain, the humidity and her Schuylerville Stakes competition.... Read More

Return to Normal

It's opening day at the Spa, which means Bill Mott has a good chance for a winner on his birthday. The race card is over-subscribed and filled with intrigue.... Read More

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