I have lived in the Malta/Saratoga area for 26 years. During that period the annual Saratoga racing meet has grown in popularity and length. Our town gets an inflow of tourists, businesses prosper and everyone (including the “locals”) enjoy good horseracing.
My family started going to the meet each August for many years. We went from Grand Stand to Club House to the Turf Terrace Restaurant. We enjoyed the Turf Terrace so much that we would return each year with friends and family from out-of-town. Out-of-town friends and family all went back with fun stories of racing at Saratoga.
But NYRA has been changing things over the last few years that is making it harder for people to enjoy the races. First the picnic tables went to “reservations” then the restaurants did too. You already must know that clubhouse and box seats get sold out in days of opening the sale. The fun little meet in Saratoga took on a “corporate” feel.
This year was even worse. Case in point, reservations for the dining establishments opened on April 10. I logged on to NYRA.com on April 11, the very next day, to make reservations at the Turf Terrace…just to find that all days were sold out except mid-week (Wed-Thu). Plus the weekends in August are sold only as a 3-day package costing hundreds of dollars. To me this sounds like a way to suck cash from out of town (?) people at the expense of us locals who want the ability to enjoy just a day or two of racing in August. The cash outlay for the weekend pass is beyond the desire of many people if not the ability to spend ($500 per person, I believe). This is taking on a tinge of elitism.
As locals we are happy to put up with the rush, crowds and hubbub during July and August… being part of it is actually fun. But now it is becoming different.
The locals now are asked to dig deep into their pockets or not go. So we have decided to forego our annual day or two at the Turf Terrace during the 2019 meet.
I do not know if your readers have noticed the “corporate tendency” by NYRA or are even upset by it. As an avid reader of you paper, I just thought I would send you an email speaking of my feelings about the changes.
P.S. In the spirit of candor, I did not check for space at other track restaurants. We like the Turf Terrace the best and up until this year, we had NO issues with getting a reservation during August.
- P K Davé
