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Aside from the pandemic, I have visited Saratoga Race Course as a reporter or fan every summer since the mid-1970s. As Saratoga prepares to host the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets for the first time while construction continues on the new Belmont Park, I reflected on some of my greatest memories from a track I fell in love with long ago.
UNFORGETTABLE GALLOP: Thoroughbreds train almost every morning and not much is thought of it. But American Pharoah was no ordinary horse, and when the public was allowed to watch the first Triple Crown champion in 37 years gallop the day before the 2015 Travers Stakes, it turned into an unforgettable event. Approximately 15,000 people, including many children atop the shoulders of adults, were there to salute him and roar their approval as he sped past. It was such a feel-good moment that, for me, it overshadowed his stunning upset loss to Keen Ice the following afternoon.
RAISING THE RAFTERS: I can recall standing trackside and soaking in every second as Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra defeated older males in the 2009 Woodward Stakes. She summoned everything she had to fend off Macho Again by a desperate head. I will always treasure track announcer Tom Durkin’s call. “…Calvin Borel imploring his filly for more and Rachel holds on to the lead. Bullsbay is second. Macho Again is making a tremendous run from the back of the pack. Rachel Alexandra! Macho Again! It’s going to be desperately close. Here’s the wire. Rachel won! She is, indeed, Rachel Alexandra the Great, beating Macho Again here and farther back is Bullsbay in third. The time was 1:48 and one. Rachel Alexandra raises the rafters here at the Spa!”
SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCE: Truth be told, I did not think much of Arrogate’s chances as he tried graded-stakes company for the first time in the 2016 Travers Stakes. I rather fancied another Bob Baffert trainee, American Freedom. No one could have anticipated what occurred. Arrogate rocketed out of the starting gate for jockey Mike Smith and immediately took command. The opening quarter-mile went in a swift 23.23 seconds, the half-mile in 46.84 seconds and he was still rolling through three quarters in 1:10.85. Arrogate was relentless as he left the field with every stride. He tore through the mile and a quarter in the track-record time of 1:59.36. Runner-up American Freedom lagged 13 ½ lengths behind. What a performance!
LAST CALL: I doubt anyone will ever come close to Tom Durkin in my enjoyment of a track announcer. His vocabulary, his voice, his flair for the dramatic led me to treasure his big-race calls, playing them over and over. It was a bittersweet day when he retired on Aug. 31, 2014, descending from the announcer’s booth and reaching the winner’s circle to a tremendous ovation. I was happy for him that he closed a career that began with his calling races at Wisconsin County Fairs in 1971 on his terms. But I knew Saratoga would never be quite the same without Durkin’s marvelous voice.
DEAD HEAT: One of the joys of covering racing beyond the cast of characters you meet is that you never know what you might see next. When I settled into the press box to cover the 2012 Travers Stakes, I never imagined I would see something that had not occurred since 1874. Yet that is what happened when favored Alpha used a furious late surge to draw even with 33-1 Golden Ticket in the final instant. They flashed across the finish line in 2:02.74. An extended review of the photo determined that there was no separating them. Attila and Acrobat had finished in a dead heat for first in 1874, with Attila prevailing in a runoff. This time, there would be no runoff. Just two relieved winners.