Wilson Chute Coming Back to Saratoga – One-Mile Races On The Main Dirt Track

SARATOGA SPRINGS -The historic “Wilson Chute” will be reconstructed at Saratoga Race Course in time for the 2022 summer meet and allowing for one-mile races to be contested on the main track, the New York Racing Association announced this week.

The Wilson Chute – named after banker and former Saratoga Racing Association President Richard T. Wilson – was dismantled after the 1972 season to accommodate additional parking. It was brought back briefly in 1992 when 25 races started in the chute.

The reconstruction project will carefully follow the route of the original chute along the Clubhouse Turn, just to the east of the 1863 Club, and will be accompanied by upgrades to the Tailgate at the Turn picnic area located at the Clubhouse Turn, according to NYRA.

The chute was part of the 1902 Master Plan which included enlarging the track, moving it westward, and rotating it 25 degrees as well as inserting a steeplechase course into the infield.