Images provided by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
In an effort to showcase its vibrant downtown scene, Saratoga Springs has been hosting free concerts to kick off the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Dubbed Belmont on Broadway, the events have been featured on Netflix’s “Race for the Crown” and have included headliners such as Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms.
For the third and final year that the Belmont Stakes will be run at the Saratoga Race Course, the Spa City has aimed to put on a grand finale that includes two notable music acts and one of the most famous stand-up comedians on the planet.
Belmont on Broadway 2026 will take place on Wednesday, June 3. Saratoga’s thoroughfare will close at 5 a.m., creating a block party-like atmosphere where revelers can stroll (and/or dance) in the streets.
The festivities will begin this year with something new: a ticketed VIP experience at Universal Preservation Hall, located just steps away from Broadway on Washington Street. Beginning at 2 p.m., VIP-ers can strut their stuff on a green carpet (to match Belmont’s distinct color), get their photo taken, receive a keepsake lanyard and commemorative poster, watch the day’s races on TVs inside, and then get seated for comedian Chelsea Handler’s stand-up show at 4 p.m.
Handler has been a big name in the comedy world for decades, hosting her own late-night talk show on E! from 2007 to 2014 before hosting a Netflix show from 2016 to 2017. In addition to touring across the globe, she’s also written six books that have hit #1 on The New York Times bestseller list.
Once Handler wraps up her set, VIP-ers can saunter over to Broadway, where they’ll have access to a special tent in Ellsworth Jones Plaza near the main stage. VIP-ers can also access a private indoor hospitality lounge on the second floor of the Saratoga Springs City Center.
7 p.m. is when the free fun begins. Vertical Horizon, an alt-rock band that scored a massive hit in 1999 with “Everything You Want,” will first take the stage. The band has released seven albums, including Everything You Want, which sold more than two million copies. The title track hit the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Adult Top 40 charts and went on to become the most-played single of 2000.
Next up will be the headliner: Fitz and the Tantrums. They’re an indie pop group best known for their hit singles “HandClap” (if you’ve ever attended a baseball game, you’ve probably heard this song), “Out of My League” (which has more than one billion plays on Spotify), and “The Walker.” Their latest release, 2025’s “Man on the Moon,” has been described as the group’s most daring album yet.
The concert will finish around 10 p.m.
Tickets for the Chelsea Handler performance and VIP experience can be purchased at atuph.org or chelseahandler.com. The Belmont on Broadway concert is free to attend.
More information about Belmont on Broadway is available at www.discoversaratoga.org/belmontonbroadway.
Belmont on Broadway 2026
• When: Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The VIP experience begins at 2 p.m., comedian Chelsea Handler performs at 4 p.m., and the free concert featuring Vertical Horizon and Fitz and the Tantrums goes from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Where: The VIP experience and Chelsea Handler performance will be at the Universal Preservation Hall (25 Washington Street in Saratoga Springs). The free concert will occur outside on Broadway near the Saratoga Springs City Center (522 Broadway).
• Parking: Parking will be available at the Saratoga Springs City Center garage, as well as other public parking facilities downtown, such as 21 Putnam Street, 34 Woodlawn Avenue, and 37 Walton Street.
• Rules and Policies: The event organizers ask that attendees not bring coolers, backpacks, large bags, strollers, pets, glass bottles, alcohol, or weapons of any kind. Attendees should use the sidewalks solely for walking. Individuals who require a seat are asked to bring a folding chair that is not inside of a bag. Organizers also ask that those inside the event space refrain from smoking. Leaving a bar or restaurant with alcohol is not permitted.
Gov. Nelson Rockefeller mounts a bulldozer during the June 1964 SPAC groundbreaking ceremony. Photo provided by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).
In the 1960s, a crowd of SPAC attendees pack the venue’s lawn. Photo provided by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).
Fred Eaton, publisher of The Saratogian, with Gov. Rockefeller and the governor’s wife, Happy Rockefeller. Eaton and the Rockefellers were instrumental in creating SPAC. Photo provided by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).
THE SPIRIT BEHIND SPAC
Nelson Rockefeller had every advantage in life, descended as he was from the nation’s first billionaire. Opulent estates, an Ivy League education, and colossal sums of money were at his disposal.
But he was also dyslexic, and for much of his life, he didn’t realize he had a learning disability. He believed that his IQ was simply not as high as those around him. This resulted in some intellectual humility. Rockefeller—as governor of New York from 1959 to 1973 and then vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977—surrounded himself with the best experts his vast fortune could buy.
But Rockefeller’s dyslexia also meant that he struggled with pre-written speeches, a burden for someone so often in the spotlight. Though not typically known for his oratory skills, there were off-the-cuff moments when his passion rendered him eloquent.
One such moment arrived during a heated budget debate with a fellow Republican, who argued that because state spending needed to be reduced, the state council on the arts would have to take a hit. Rockefeller rejected the idea and then uttered these memorable words:
“Let me ask you a question. What is government all about? What is life in this nation all about if it’s not centered around our culture? You indicate that these issues of dance and the arts have nothing to say to us, but they are absolutely the essence that holds our culture together… This isn’t silliness. This is what we’re all about.”
Rockefeller’s sentiment, spoken decades ago, is in many respects embodied by the existence of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), which is celebrating its 60th season this summer.
“If you think about Rockefeller and his view of society, he really looked at the arts as the foundation of a democratic society,” said SPAC’s CEO Elizabeth Sobol. “I’d love to think that spirit permeates what we do.”
“People forget now what a radical departure it was 60-plus years ago for a state government, or for that matter, the federal government, to invest tax dollars in culture,” said Rockefeller’s biographer Richard Norton Smith. “Saratoga was, in a lot of ways, an experiment. And I think [Rockefeller] would be very, very pleased with the way it’s evolved.”
THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER THAT STARTED IT ALL
Before Nelson Rockefeller became entwined in the creation of SPAC, there was an editorial that sparked the idea of a performing arts venue in Saratoga Springs.
Duane LaFleche of the Knickerbocker News, a now-defunct newspaper based in Albany, caught wind of the idea of hosting a summer festival for the New York Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet in Vermont. LaFleche had a different idea.
“It seems strange, somehow, that a New York Orchestra and Ballet should have to look out of the state for a summer home,” LaFleche wrote in his 1961 editorial. “Wouldn’t the State Reservation at Saratoga make a nice location?”
With the idea now out in the ether, prominent Saratogians converged to manifest it. One of those manifesters was another newspaperman, Fred Eaton, publisher of The Saratogian. According to him, “the idea for a performing arts center started with an editorial in The Albany Knickerbocker News, a speech by then State Sen. Eustis Paine, and telephone calls to two people from Saratoga Springs resident Robert N. McKelvey, then with the state commerce department in Albany.”
The idea spread from one interested party to another—McKelvey, the Adirondack Trust Company, The Saratogian, Yaddo, Leonard Bernstein (then musical director of the New York Philharmonic), and Charlie Dake of Stewart’s Shops all played their parts. A veritable who’s who of Saratoga power players had coalesced around the idea. Then, Gov. Rockefeller entered the stage.
ROCKEFELLER’S INFLUENCE
“At a January dinner at the Governor’s Mansion, I got Gov. Rockefeller’s ear and explained our problem – we needed an angel,” Eaton wrote. “His $1.2 million from the Martha Baird Rockefeller [Fund] was a huge stimulus.”
The precise total donated to SPAC’s creation by the Rockefeller family varies from source to source, but all agree that it was substantially more than $1 million (which is equivalent to $11 million today).
“The governor’s support was wholehearted,” states SAPC’s 50th anniversary commemorative book, published a decade ago.
“A lot of things had to come together for the Saratoga Art Center to exist, and it never would have happened, in my opinion, if Nelson Rockefeller had not been governor of New York at that point,” said Smith.
Saratogians also turned out their pockets, committing to fund the entire $1.8 million construction estimate. Again, the Spa City elite (such as the Dake family and Marylou Whitney) stepped up to the plate. By the time they were done, millions had been accrued.
As money fell into place and plans advanced, SPAC was hit with a curveball: the New York Philharmonic decided to present its summer concerts in Central Park, leaving the future SPAC without an orchestra. But Richard “Dick” Leach, then the executive director of SPAC, came to the rescue, securing a commitment from the Philadelphia Orchestra instead. After the New York City Ballet also formally committed to the project, the time had come for a suited Nelson Rockefeller to hop aboard a bulldozer for the groundbreaking ceremony.
THE IMPACT ON SARATOGA SPRINGS
Initially, it made sense that an arts center housing two New York institutions (the Philharmonic and Ballet) should be located in New York. But there were other reasons to build a center in Saratoga.
In 1966, when SPAC first opened, a New York Times article labeled Saratoga Springs “a city in decline.”
“The 1950s were a bleak time for Saratoga Springs,” agrees SAPC’s 50th anniversary book.
According to the Saratoga Springs History Museum’s executive director, James Parillo, the Spa City back then was “struggling to redefine itself.”
Saratoga’s collapse stemmed from a confluence of factors. Tourism declined, in part because it changed. The Victorian era, in which visitors spent weeks or months in summer destinations like Saratoga, had ended. So too had the era of gambling. By 1953, all illegal casinos in town were kaput, which sent many service workers packing. Use of the Spa hydrotherapy facility had been declining for at least a decade. Major hotels along Broadway had become vacant behemoths. The city needed a shock to its system. And then SPAC arrived.
“When SPAC came in 1966…they would start attracting a new audience into Saratoga,” Parillo said. “That’s the real kick that we needed to get going.”
It was, as Nelson Rockefeller declared at SPAC’s groundbreaking, a “new era for Saratoga.” His brother Laurance Rockefeller called it a “rebirth.”
THE LAUNCH
On June 30, 1964, SPAC broke ground. Around 1,000 people attended the ceremony.
“When the Performing Arts Center is completed two years from now, we will have here a unique combination of spa, park, and cultural center whose contribution to the recreational, aesthetic, and economic life of this state will be of major significance for generations,” Rockefeller predicted in his remarks.
The governor also reiterated his firm belief that government should “encourage the arts.”
“[Government’s role] is not to dominate the arts, but to lend encouragement and support,” Rockefeller said.
In 1967, after SPAC had concluded its first year of operation, Rockefeller saluted the Saratogians who joined forces to make the venue a reality.
“As impressive as its appeal has been in the international worlds of music, the dance, and the other arts, even more exciting has been the complete acceptance given the Performing Arts Center by the citizens of Saratoga Springs,” Rockefeller wrote in a statement published by The Saratogian. “They have contributed heavily of their time and money to make the Center an overwhelming success. But they also have supported the Center by attending the performances with warm and enthusiastic applause.”
60 years later, the applause hasn’t died out.
At “This Place Loves You Back,” a photography exhibit unveiled earlier this month at The Pines at SPAC, one testimonial from a veteran SPAC-goer read: “I am 93 years old, my husband and I attended the opening night of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ I have only missed two opening nights since that time, bringing my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many friends. It has been a great pleasure.”
Mary Ann Fitzgerald, who watched Rockefeller break ground in 1964, shared similar sentiments with the Times Union a decade ago when SPAC celebrated its 50th season.
“SPAC is the crown jewel in Saratoga,” she said. “I can sit out on the lawn, gaze up at the stars, listen to the rush of Geyser Creek and hear some of the greatest musicians in the world. You can’t beat that.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It’s been nearly two years since the Western Sun Foundation, a charity run by fans of the jam band Goose, raised a record sum for Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga. And now, with Goose storming the SPAC stage on Fourth of July weekend, the charity is back and ready to raise more funds for a local nonprofit.
A golf tournament dubbed “Red, White & Birdies” will be held at the Saratoga Spa Golf Course on Independence Day. It’s a sequel of sorts to “Goose on the Green,” the fundraising golf event held at the same course in 2024, when Goose last played at SPAC. But this time, everything promises to be bigger. Two years ago, 18 tee times were available. This year, there will be at least 20. Two years ago, Western Sun was a relatively new charity supporting a relatively new band. This year, all that’s changed.
“We’re getting more awareness and we’re getting more trust,” Western Sun’s president Sarah Blazincic told Saratoga TODAY. “We used to have to fully explain what our mission was and what our intentions were to the community, and now people know us. People are trusting and knowing what we do and what our mission is. We less have to convince people that we’re up to good because they have seen the proof.”
In 2024, the proof was $7,500 raised by Western Sun for Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga. At the time, the sum was the fan-run charity’s largest gift yet. But Western Sun likes to spread the love around and generally doesn’t donate to the same nonprofit twice within two years. That means they need another beneficiary for their upcoming “Red, White & Birdies” event.
Beneficiaries need to be based in the Capital Region and meet the following criteria:
• Classified as a “Public Charity” with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (individual or private foundations are not eligible)
• Operating budget less than $1,000,000
• Focuses on one of the following areas: music education; music therapy; safety, health, and personal wellbeing of women and children; or climate action and environmental sustainability
Finding smaller charities to serve as beneficiaries can be a challenge, at times, for Western Sun. In 2024, the charity connected with Therapeutic Horses thanks to an article published in Saratoga TODAY (not that we’re bragging or anything). This year, the prize is still up for grabs. (Who knows, perhaps someone reading this will score the bag.)
Since Goose last played SPAC, their charity has grown exponentially, much like the band itself, which sold out Madison Square Garden for the first time in 2025.
“Each year, we have grown anywhere between 30 and 50% year over year from the last year,” Blazincic said. “We are rapidly growing, and we keep thinking it’s going to plateau. We thought this is the year it would plateau, but it turns out it’s just going higher and higher.”
Western Sun was launched by a group of Goose fans in 2022. The Goose community, akin to the Phish and Grateful Dead fan bases that came before it, often attends multiple shows every year, obsessing over the setlists, solos, and sound mixes of each tour. Phish’s Mockingbird Foundation and the Grateful Dead’s Rex Foundation both served as examples for Goose fans looking to give back.
“We decided to take this big energy that was Goose and the music we get from it, transform that into action, and raise money for the communities that we’re traveling through,” Blazincic told Saratoga TODAY in a 2024 interview.
Local organizations that meet the criteria listed above can contact Sarah Blazincic at westernsunfoundation@gmail.com. The deadline to determine a beneficiary is June 1.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The third iteration of Embrace the Belmont, an event designed to educate and hype locals on the Belmont Stakes, will return to the Universal Preservation Hall for one final ride on Tuesday, June 2.
Tickets are currently on sale.
The event will feature a panel of expert handicappers: Sara Elbadwi and Matthew DeSantis from the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and Seth Merrow from Capital OTB.
Prior to last year’s Belmont Stakes, which was won by Sovereignty, DeSantis predicted Journalism would win, while Merrow correctly picked Sovereignty. Elbadwi declared Baeza, who came in third, to be the “best bet.”
Donna Brothers will once again emcee the event. Brothers recently announced that she would step down, after 26 years, from her post as NBC’s Kentucky Derby reporter on horseback. Prior to becoming a broadcaster, Brothers was a jockey who retired in 1998 as the second-winningest female jockey in the nation by money earned.
“I just wanted the people who are in town and the ones most affected by the Saratoga circus coming to town every year, to have an event for them,” Brothers told Saratoga TODAY prior to the first Embrace the Belmont in 2024.
“Saratoga is such an iconic venue,” Brothers said. “When you walk in and look at that structure, you feel the 100 years plus of history ingrained in the wood.”
Embrace the Belmont III will have light bites, cocktails, a “lively social atmosphere,” and a dash of “Saratoga style,” according to event organizers. Fashion partners this year include Frivolous, Mark Thomas Apparel, Miss Scarlett, and Gilded, all of whom will be showcasing Belmont-inspired fashion.
The event will support two nonprofits: Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga and the Saratoga Hospital Foundation. 100% of proceeds will be split between the organizations.
To purchase tickets, visit thsaratoga.org/embrace-the-belmont/.
Ballston Spa native and 2025 AUSL pro softball Rookie of the Year Ana Gold throws out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium before the May 6 game against the Texas Rangers. Photo via the New York Yankees X account, @Yankees.
THE BRONX — Saratoga sent two of its most accomplished sports stars to The Bronx last week to throw out first pitches at Yankee Stadium.
On Wednesday night, Ballston Spa native and pro softball player Ana Gold not only tossed a heater to Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra, she also joined the YES Network broadcast booth for a quick chat.
“Ana, you threw out the first pitch and really brought it, man,” said Michael Kay, the Yankees’ longtime play-by-play broadcaster.
“I had to,” Gold replied. “Gotta show ‘em what us girls got.”
Gold told Kay that she grew up a Yankees fan.
“Born and raised, Saratoga, New York,” she said. “Yankee fan my whole life. So, this is awesome.”
Gold received Rookie of the Year honors from the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) after its inaugural season in 2025. She was also named to the league’s All-Defensive Team as a corner infielder.
Then on Thursday afternoon, Saratoga Springs native Cherie DeVaux, who recently became the first female trainer in history to win the Kentucky Derby, threw out the first pitch alongside Derby-winning jockey Jose Ortiz.
The duo wore Yankees jerseys with number 71 on their backs to honor Elmer Rodriguez, a Yankees pitching prospect who recently made his big-league debut and just happens to be Ortiz’s cousin.
According to the New York Post, Rodriguez watched his cousin compete in the Derby and was “more nervous watching that race than [in] my debut. I don’t know why. I started crying,” he said.
Photo (of the photo by Dave Bigler/Ironglass Productions) by Jonathon Norcross.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — “People gather here for many reasons. For music. For dance. For a night outside under the trees. For the quiet electricity of thousands of strangers paying attention to the same thing.”
So reads a light green-colored wall in SPAC’s new photo exhibition “This Place Loves You Back,” which was unveiled at The Pines last Thursday evening.
The installment, created by artist Whitney Browne, “highlights the intimate, in-between moments that define the audience experience—capturing the spirit of connection that has lived on SPAC’s grounds for generations,” said SPAC.
Browne dug through SPAC’s photo archives to find some of the moments of romance, friendship, joy, relaxation, and community that have occurred at SPAC since it opened in 1966.
The exhibition is well-timed as SPAC celebrates its 60th year of existence.
Of the exhibit, Browne said, “Looking through the archives of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, certain patterns begin to appear—not only the performances on stage, but the quieter moments around them. Over time, places that hold this kind of shared attention begin to gather memories. They accumulate stories, traditions, friendships, and the quiet imprint of the people who have passed through them. This exhibition moves through those traces—photographs and fragments of time. If you have ever sat here, listened here, or looked around and felt yourself part of the moment, you are part of that history too. This place has been paying attention to you, too. And, in its own way, this place loves you back.”
The exhibition includes photography by Francesco D’Amico, Dave Bigler, Jake Ritz and Juan Soler of Ironglass Productions, Bryan Lasky, Erica Miller, Rebecca Loomis, and Shawn LaChapelle.
In addition to images, there are a few short stories and testimonials on the walls of The Pines. They pay tribute to the “pleasure,” “incredible sense of peace,” and “mesmerizing” emotions evoked by SPAC performances.
The exhibition is open to ticketed guests prior to evening performances of BalletX, New York City Ballet, and The Philadelphia Orchestra, inviting audiences to explore the exhibit as part of their SPAC experience. Additional viewing times may be added; visit spac.org for the full schedule.
Book cover of “Small Towns U.S.A.: 100 Must-See Getaways Across the United States” via National Geographic.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs has been officially deemed one of 100 “must-see getaways across the United States” by a National Geographic book published last week.
The book’s Saratoga entry includes two photographs by Samantha Decker, a Saratogian acclaimed for her evocative captures of all things horses, including the Saratoga Race Course, Oklahoma Training Track, various breeding farms, Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga, and the Saratoga Polo Association.
The coffee-table tome “Small Towns U.S.A.: 100 Must-See Getaways Across the United States” was published on May 5 and is available on Amazon. Other locales featured include Paducah, Kentucky; Broken Bow, Oklahoma; Egg Harbor, Wisconsin; and Cody, Wyoming.
Cristina Vane made her Caffe Lena debut on May 7. Photo by Jonathon Norcross.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Cristina Vane is Sicilian and Guatemalan; grew up in France, Italy, and England; and now plays traditional blues and country music in Nashville.
Her song “Little Girl from Nowhere,” which she played during her Caffe Lena debut last Thursday, reflected her unique, transient upbringing.
“No roots, nothing to be holding on to,” she sang. “I’ve been in a foreign land ever since I was just a little baby. You can’t understand. Ageless spirit moves upon the water. She bade me sink or swim. I will not be fearful any longer. I am diving in.”
The spirit of fearlessness expressed by the song seems to reflect Vane’s on-stage persona and artistry at large. Although sometimes singing the blues or plucking a banjo, there’s a modern punk-rock, defiant edge to Vane that has likely spurred her rise in popularity over the last handful of years.
In 2025, Vane released the album “Hear My Call,” which is stuffed with a slew of memorable tracks, especially “You Ain’t Special,” which she also played at Lena. The tune sounds like an amiable, country-tinged bop but has an Alanis Morissette attitude.
At Lena, there tends to be a blend of audience members who are discovering a new artist and audience members who are already fans. At Vane’s show, the crowd seemed to be more of the latter.
Take a glance at Vane’s packed tour schedule and this probably isn’t a surprise. She was headed five hours south to Philadelphia the day after her stop in Saratoga. Then she was off to Virginia, then North Carolina.
Vane released her debut record just five years ago but has already attracted the attention of artists such as Bob Weir, Wynonna Judd, and Molly Tuttle (to name a few), all of whom she’s directly supported on stage.
For Vane’s upcoming tour dates, visit www.cristinavane.com.
Dylan Burkhart, The Wild Horse’s new executive chef. Photo via The Wild Horse.
The exterior of Harvest Grain Pizza in Malta, shortly after it took over the former site of Dunning Street Station. Photo by Jonathon Norcross.
THE WILD HORSE
The Wild Horse in Saratoga Springs closed in January for renovations before officially reopening on May 7.
Chef Dylan Burkhart is spearheading Wild Horse 2.0 as its new executive chef. Burkhart is a veteran of two popular Saratoga eateries: Siro’s and Noah’s Italian. He currently serves as the executive sous chef at both spots. “Dylan is excited to bring his experience and deliver a one-of-a-kind culinary experience,” said Wild Horse in its announcement.
The Caroline Street hotspot also unveiled a Noah Frese-curated menu that featured an array of tapas-esque dishes such as beef tartare, open flame calamari, Nashville hot bao buns, and gambas al ajillo. Offerings also include meat and cheese selections, and bigger plates like pork chops, burgers, and chicken thighs.
Wild Horse is open Wednesday through Sunday at 4 p.m.
HATTIE’S
But when one door opens, another closes. Hattie’s Chicken Shack in Wilton shuttered last week after 15 years in business. Hattie’s will continue to operate its other outposts, including its seasonal one at the Saratoga Race Course. The Southern fare-dishing business didn’t offer a specific reason for the Wilton closure.
HARVEST GRAIN PIZZA
Harvest Grain Pizza in Malta, located in the former home of Dunning Street Station, opened suddenly on May 4 after initially targeting a September or October opening last year. It’s Harvest Grain’s second location.
The pizzeria offers a wide variety of pies, including whole wheat, square pan, Sicilian deep dish, gluten free, a white “Saratoga” pizza, Hawaiian, veggie lovers, and many more.
The Fodero Dining Car-designed building on Route 9 that now houses Harvest Grain has a long history of prior owners stretching back to the early 1950s, when it first opened as the Malta Ridge Diner. In the 1970s, it was a filming location for “My Old Man,” a made-for-TV drama about a horse trainer that was based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway.
SCALLIONS
According to The Dishing, chef/restaurateur Ronald Solevo (the owner and namesake of Solevo Kitchen) has taken over Scallions, where he plans to unveil a new eatery this fall called The Pearl. Solevo will renovate the space to create “a coastal Connecticut seafood restaurant with a hidden twist,” reported The Dishing.
LAKESIDE FARMS
Last but not least, Lakeside Farms in Ballston Lake reopened on April 30. The cider mill/shop/eatery is especially known for its sandwiches, such as The Cortland and The McIntosh.
Lakeside’s restaurant and country store are now open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Horse trainer Cherie DeVaux (left, blue shirt) with jockey Jose Ortiz (right, pink helmet) at the Saratoga Race Course in 2025. The trainer-jockey duo won the 2026 Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Photo by Susie Raisher, via the New York Racing Association (NYRA).
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Saratoga Springs native became the first female trainer in history to win the Kentucky Derby last Saturday.
Cherie DeVaux, who was born in the Spa City and spent two years studying at the University at Albany, once worked as an assistant to trainer Chad Brown, another Saratoga County native who won his first Kentucky Oaks the day before the Derby.
All told, it was a spectacular showing for Saratoga.
“My gender has never really crossed my mind in this journey of mine,” DeVaux told the New York Times after her historic Derby win. “The race track is a tough place. It’s a tough place if you’re a man. It’s a tough place if you’re a woman.”
“The thing that really has become apparent to me,” DeVaux continued, “is that not everyone has the same constitution as I have mentally. It really is an honor to be able to be that person for other women or other little girls to look up to. You can dream big or you can pivot. You can come from one place, and you can make yourself a part of history.”
DeVaux’s horse Golden Tempo, ridden by jockey Jose Ortiz, shocked the racing world after entering the contest with 23-1 odds. Tempo was literally at the back of the pack before sliding in-between two foes, navigating around another, and then rocketing along the outside to narrowly defeat frontrunner Renegade, ridden by Jose’s brother Irad Ortiz Jr.
The Ortiz brothers are regulars at the Saratoga Race Course and, in 2024, even made an appearance at the remodeled Dunkin’ on West Avenue.
Derby champ Golden Tempo has more Saratoga connections beyond DeVaux. The Thoroughbred’s co-owners and co-breeders, the Phipps family, purchased a home on North Broadway in 1967. Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, a prominent figure in horse racing, was inducted into the track’s Saratoga Walk of Fame alongside Marylou Whitney in 2015.
Mechanicville native Chad Brown’s horse Emerging Market didn’t win the Derby, but his filly Always a Runner, piloted by Jose Ortiz, was victorious in the Kentucky Oaks.
“This filly is very resilient, very tough,” Brown told ESPN after winning the Oaks. “She didn’t have to be here today. She didn’t have to run again. She could have never run, easily. I’ve had it happen with several horses. The fact that not only did she overcome it and ended up here today as an undefeated horse in the Oaks is just remarkable.”
According to the Daily Racing Form, Always a Runner is headed to Saratoga, where she’s expected to target the major Grade I races for three-year-old fillies this summer.
On Wednesday afternoon, DeVaux said in a statement that Golden Tempo would bypass the Preakness Stakes and point toward the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.
Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade arrived in Saratoga on Wednesday morning.
