The final week is underway at Saratoga Race Course. It has featured a historic Travers Stakes that saw the first-ever official dead heat between Golden Ticket and Alpha—the long shot and the favorite. The filly Questing stunned the crowd in the Coaching Club American Oaks and more so in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes where she set blistering fractions and finished the 1 ¼ mile event in 2:01 and change—faster than the Travers finishers.

WILTON – The town of Wilton is again establishing itself as one of the county’s most up-and-coming areas with the completion of the brand-new SUNY Adirondack Wilton Center.

Pretty in Pink

The Saratoga Race Course was blushing last Friday, August 17, as NYRA hosted their annual Fabulous Fillies Day, a celebration of women and the glamour they bring to the track. Fans wearing pink pushed through the turnstiles on a contrasting red carpet, entering with free admission. Many of them then donated those saved dollars to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, whose volunteers accepted contributions at the entrances in exchange for a pink bracelet of support.

Is racing so complicated that we need to study Aristotle’s philosophy in order to glean pleasure from it? No, not really, but without some understanding of how race horses are raised and developed, we are less likely to appreciate the full spectacle the sport offers.

At last, the 143rd running of the $1 million Travers Stakes has arrived. Run at 1 ¼ miles—or 10 furlongs—the Travers attracts the nation’s best 3-year-old horses. The best of who’s left, anyway.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Mayor Scott Johnson gave a presentation August 21 prior to the City Council’s regular meeting highlighting some of the plans for the $4.3 million capital budget for 2013, and held a public hearing on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

When the Saratoga Race Track opened in 1863, one of the principal partners was William Travers, a wealthy New York financier. Like many wealthy sportsman of his time, Travers maintained a racing stable; however, during his lifetime Travers was known as much for his involvement with race tracks as for being the owner of successful thoroughbreds; he was part owner of a horse track on Coney Island and owned part of Jerome Park.

How do you thank someone who has passed away; someone who was a person of convictions and could communicate to people the truth about themselves, a supporter and friend who could keep a fine line between leadership and friendship? It's a very difficult divide for many in administrative positions to be able to have such camaraderie with the people who work for them and still demonstrate the professionalism as a figurehead. The man who set the bar with practicing this philosophy in the Saratoga Springs City School District was the former Athletic Director, the late Raymond Waldron who passed away on Friday, August 17, after a 17-year battle with prostate cancer.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – On Saturday, August 18, the community will be given a firsthand glimpse into the power of friendship.

SARATOGA SPRINGS – The vacant building on the corner of Broadway and Division Street in downtown Saratoga Springs may not be vacant for long.