SARATOGA SPRINGS — DraftKings, one of the country’s most popular sports betting operators, will be an official betting partner of both the Saratoga Race Course and the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced last week. DraftKings will also be the presenting sponsor of the Travers Stakes.
DraftKings’ advance deposit wagering offering, DK Horse, will play a prominent role throughout the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Launched in 2023, DK Horse is a standalone app that allows eligible customers access to pari-mutuel wagering on domestic and international racing.
“DraftKings is a premier brand within the rapidly growing sports wagering marketplace, and this arrangement will help to introduce world class racing to a wider audience of fans and bettors,” said Tony Allevato, NYRA Chief Revenue Officer, in a statement.
The DraftKings and DK Horse brands will be displayed throughout the Saratoga property beginning in June, with a variety of on-site activations reminding fans of the availability of DraftKings products.
POUGHKEEPSIE — The Skidmore College baseball team won twice in a three-game series against Liberty League rivals Vassar College in Poughkeepsie last weekend. The final game went into extra innings.
GAME ONE
Skidmore – 4
Vassar – 3
In game one on April 5, sophomore infielder Nate Vandersea clinched a Thoroughbred victory with a sacrifice fly ball in the ninth inning. It was his second game-winning sac fly of the season.
Vandersea has been a major asset to Skidmore this year, improving his batting average from .087 last year to .286 this year. His slugging and on-base percentages have also made steep climbs. Designated hitter Zachary Leiderman had an impressive day at the plate as well, going 2 for 3 with one walk.
On the mound, Ameer Hasan allowed two runs in seven innings. His ERA stood at a career-best 1.77 on the season. Christian Giresi closed out the game, giving up one run in two innings, but earning the win.
GAME TWO
Skidmore – 14 Vassar – 5
In the first game of a doubleheader on April 7, Skidmore exploded offensively, racking up 14 runs. Outfielder Owen Roy led the effort, going 3 for 4 with 3 RBI. Leiderman had another impressive game, going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI. Seven Thoroughbreds had at least one hit in the contest.
Freshman starter Chase Siegel struggled, giving up 5 runs in a little over 5 innings, but still earned his third win of the season. Reliever Ethan Caiazza was credited with his first save, allowing no runs and striking out four batters in nearly four innings of work.
GAME THREE
Skidmore – 9 Vassar – 10
The second game of the doubleheader had a thrilling, albeit disappointing (for Skidmore) conclusion. The game went into extra innings; 11 to be exact. After five straight innings with neither team getting across a run, Vassar earned a walk-off victory with an RBI single by first baseman Ty Murray.
Skidmore was forced to use five pitchers, although three of them (Peter Martin, Grayden Harris, and Cal Champeau) gave up no runs. Offensively, Leiderman and Vandersea again impressed; both went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI apiece.
At the end of the series against Vassar, Skidmore had a 12-9 overall record for the season, and a 5-1 record in the Liberty League. Their .833 winning percentage placed them second among all league teams.
Skidmore’s next scheduled home game is a doubleheader against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on April 20.
Schuylerville Black Horses baseball team graphic via @BaseballHorses X account.
SCHUYLERVILLE — The Schuylerville Black Horses varsity baseball team won its first game of the season on Monday at Averill Park, 7 to 2. The victory could be a sign of what’s to come: a competitive, veteran team fighting for a successful postseason appearance.
“[Averill Park] has been a really strong team the last few years, and usually we go down there and kind of get introduced to what really solid ball clubs look like,” said Schuylerville Head Coach Darrin Renner.
The Black Horses’ veteran-led team includes senior Luke Sherman, a multi-sport athlete who broke his school’s all-time boys’ basketball scoring record earlier this year. “He’s a guy that we really lean on to get things done offensively,” Renner said.
Coach Renner also named senior Griffin Brophy (a former third baseman now playing shortstop), senior lefty pitcher Brenden Steinberg, junior Alex Renner (catcher), senior Trevor French (pitcher/outfielder), and senior Josh Merrill (infielder) as part of his core group of returning players.
Among newcomers, Renner spotlighted Jackson Dunbar, a freshman second baseman whose first varsity at-bat against Averill Park was a double that fell right into an outfield gap and drove in the team’s first run. Renner said he was “very excited about the possibilities of [Dunbar] going forward.”
On the mound, sophomore pitcher Jack Boden closed out the last two innings against Averill. “Bowden’s got really good stuff,” Renner said. “We’re excited to see how he grows and where he ends up in the rotation as we go forward.”
Renner said he runs a goal-oriented program, and one of his team’s primary objectives this year is to go far enough in the postseason to play at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy, which is the home of the Tri-City ValleyCats minor league baseball team.
“Every kid wants to play at Joe Bruno,” Renner said. “To play out on that field I think is for most kids kind of like a dream come true.”
Schuylerville Black Horses Varsity Baseball2024 Roster:
Griffin Brophy – Senior INF, P #9 Luke Sherman – Senior P, OF, INF #13 Brenden Steinberg – Senior P, 1B, OF #1 Josh Merrill – Senior 3b, DH #24 Boston Reilly – Senior OF, 1B, 2B #11 Trevor French – Senior P, OF #4 Alex Renner – Junior C, OF, 2B #3 Lucas Reilly – Junior P, 2B, OF #14 Jameson Brownell – Junior 1B, 3B, OF #18 Aidan Wilber – Junior OF, INF, C #7 Matthew Waldinger – Junior OF #2 Ben Van Veghten – Sophomore 1B, OF #8 Jack Boden – Sophomore P, OF, 3B #6 Jackson Dunbar – Freshman 2B, OF, SS, P #10
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has added the Grade 1, $150,000 Beverly R. Steinman steeplechase event for older horses to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at the Saratoga Racecourse. The race will take place on Sunday, June 9.
The race is named for Beverly R. “Peggy” Steinman, the owner of Dark Equation, who captured the 2008 Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup, and Colstar, a multiple graded stakes-winning filly who won more than $1 million on the flat.
“Peggy Steinman has represented the National Steeplechase Association at the highest level for decades, particularly at Saratoga, where her presence alone, sitting in her prominent finish-line box, has reminded people in the industry and especially at the New York Racing Association, that the traditions of steeplechasing run deep,” said Bill Gallo, the National Steeplechase Association’s (NSA) Director of Racing, in a statement. “This is a fitting and wonderful tribute to a very special person on an historic weekend in Saratoga. She is thrilled with the honor and looking forward to the Belmont at Saratoga Festival.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — U.S. Rowing announced last week that Kristi Wagner, a rower based in Saratoga Springs, will be among the first 21 members of the 2024 Summer Olympics roster.
Wagner and her doubles partner Sophia Vitas won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in the women’s double sculls. They will compete in the same event at the Olympic Games in Paris.
This will be Wagner’s second appearance in the Olympics. She finished fifth at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
“After that race, I knew I wasn’t done,” Wagner said in a statement. “It’s not just that I want to go to the Olympics; I want to be the best rower I can be. There is something addictive about trying to get the most out of yourself.”
For the past year, Wagner has been hosting a podcast, “The Other 3 Years,” in which she discusses her journey to qualify for the Olympics.
THE BRONX — Kevin Smith, the East Greenbush native who competed for a spot on the New York Yankees’ roster this spring, has been sent down to the Yankees’ AAA minor league affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
With injuries to infielders DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza, Smith had been in consideration for a spot on the bench. But prior to opening day, New York acquired veteran infielder Jon Berti in a trade.
Smith may still see some plate appearances for the Bronx Bombers this season should he be called up from Scranton.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Skidmore softball team fell short at their home opener doubleheader against SUNY New Paltz last Friday afternoon at the Wagner Park diamond.
The Thoroughbreds lost the first game in a shutout, 7-0. Haily Clarke, a freshman, pitched a complete game, giving up three earned runs (New Paltz’s other four runs were the result of fielding errors). She struck out three and walked two. Clarke also had two hits at the plate, both singles.
In game two, Skidmore pushed across a run in the first inning but couldn’t keep the momentum going. Elle Harrison singled on a bunt, then hustled all the way home after a misthrow.
The Thoroughbred fared better the following day in another home doubleheader. Against Plattsburgh State, they took one of the two contests, scoring ten runs in game two. Pitcher Natalie Mayne earned the victory with only 3 hits and no runs allowed across 3.1 innings. Mayne also went 1 for 2 at the plate, knocking in 2 RBI. Franchesca Casillas and Cortney Somsky also batted in two runs apiece.
At the end of last weekend, Skidmore’s softball squad had a 3-11 record for the season.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Skidmore softball team fell short at their home opener doubleheader against SUNY New Paltz last Friday afternoon at the Wagner Park diamond.
The Thoroughbreds lost the first game in a shutout, 7-0. Haily Clarke, a freshman, pitched a complete game, giving up three earned runs (New Paltz’s other four runs were the result of fielding errors). She struck out three and walked two. Clarke also had two hits at the plate, both singles.
In game two, Skidmore pushed across a run in the first inning but couldn’t keep the momentum going. Elle Harrison singled on a bunt, then hustled all the way home after a misthrow.
The Thoroughbred fared better the following day in another home doubleheader. Against Plattsburgh State, they took one of the two contests, scoring ten runs in game two. Pitcher Natalie Mayne earned the victory with only 3 hits and no runs allowed across 3.1 innings. Mayne also went 1 for 2 at the plate, knocking in 2 RBI. Franchesca Casillas and Cortney Somsky also batted in two runs apiece.
At the end of last weekend, Skidmore’s softball squad had a 3-11 record for the season.
Players from the Saratoga Central Catholic varsity softball team show off their newly designed uniforms. Photos via the school’s @scc_saints X account.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — New uniforms. A new coach. New players. A new team culture. It seems like the Saratoga Central Catholic varsity softball team has hit the refresh button and is prepared to enter its next era.
“We want to try to change the culture until we expect to win,” said Coach Abby Arceneaux. “We’re trying to set expectations that we can compete with anybody.”
This season will be Arceneaux’s first as coach of the Saints, but she’s been developing the team since last summer. During more than a dozen open gyms, Arceneaux worked on the fundamentals with her more inexperienced players. Thanks to these sessions, Arceneaux said her girls already knew what to expect coming into the season. “We were kind of all on the same page right away,” she said.
Saratoga Catholic has six returning players this year. “They’re all very good softball players even though some of them are young,” Arceneaux said. But it was a struggle to fill in the team’s holes. This year’s roster includes four freshmen with no recent competitive softball experience, as well as an 8th grader and two 7th graders.
In a meeting at the start of the season, Arceneaux went over all of the team’s games from last year. Arceneaux said she wanted to change the team’s mindset to believe they can compete with anybody. “These girls, we’ve heard them say, ‘Oh God, that team is so good.’ And we’re like, so should we not show up? You want me to take that day off?”
Arceneaux has been drilling the message into her team that they have what it takes to win. It seems that strategy is paying off. Arceneaux said morale is high, and she hasn’t “noticed any kind of negativity.”
Unfortunately, the team did suffer one setback. During a batting practice, Arceneaux tore her Achilles. Thankfully, she had an experienced veteran on her coaching bench ready to help out: her dad, John. Arceneaux said she was lucky to have her father’s support. “There’s no better coach in this area that can develop kids and knows the game, in my opinion,” she said.
The Saints will also undoubtedly have help from Ryan McDonald, their standout senior catcher who hit over .450 last year. “She’s 100% the leader of our team,” Arceneaux said. “She’s a player to watch. I don’t know how she’s flown under the radar so much because she’s impressive.”
Fans can get their first look at the revamped, McDonald-led team when the Saints kick off the season on Monday, April at 1 p.m. against Tamarac High School.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has announced the stakes schedule for the 2024 summer meet at Saratoga Racecourse, which runs from Thursday, July 11 through Monday, September 2.
The 40-day meet will feature nineteen Grade 1 races as part of 71 stakes worth $20.75 million in total purses. Highlights include the 155th renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 24, as well as the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 3.
Saratoga Live, the television broadcast produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, will return for its 9th season to provide on-site daily coverage of the summer meet.
To view this summer’s complete schedule, visit nyra.com/saratoga/racing/stakes-schedule.
