"Saratoga harness in the evening is better than going to a Padres game."

Thats very funny. Same with the ballet thing and ole' Mary Lou. Avoid this harness track like the plague, its a dump.

I live in Saratoga so I have no idea what it costs to rent a place there during track season. I'd have to imagine its very pricey. The restaurants are okay but please be advised many of them jack up their prices considerably during track season. Personally I think going to any bar and spending $5 on a beer and $7 for a watered down mixed drink is a waste of money, I dont do that on any vacation. I love this town though its much better during the off season when all the phony high rollers leave.

The racing is superb and if you know where you are going in the track it can be very comfortable, although I prefer not spending an entire day there, for me getting there around the 6th race is plenty.

Siros (bar right outside the track) is one big waste of time and money. It use to be okay about 10-12 years ago but has gone way down hill. It now costs between $6 and & $7 for a can of beer. And the crowds that follow these overhyped cover bands on the weekends there are awful. Your much better off tailgating or hitting a bar downtown.

As far as restaurants, "One Caroline" is superb and tops in my opinion. Everything there is very authentic and very hard to make at home. Prices arent cheap but not all that high scale either. If your looking for a nice steak without all the fancy touches, go to "Docs Steakhouse". Good bang for your buck. For about $25 you get yourself a pretty darn good steak with an all you can salad bar that includes delicious bread.

As far as parks go, Saratoga has 2 beauties, both very close to the track. One is 1/2 mile away- Congress. This is a great place to read the form or eat breakfast or lunch on a blanket. Many trees, nice grass, just gorgeous the way its maintained. The bigger park is the State Park, about a mile from downtown and the track. Great for running, has 2 magnificient golf courses as well, one traditional 18 hole par 73, the other a small 9 hole par 29 course.

Back here again. I think it is pretty safe to say Saratoga has better racing but most people would rather go on vacation in San Diego.

Dixie..

Who here do you expect is going to "remember" Col. Bradley??? Jeez.. I've talked to John Nerud a handful of times this past 6 weeks, and I wouldn't guarantee that HE remembers Col. Bradley...

If housing is taken care of Saratoga is a great place. The rental costs up there on houses and the nightly cost of a hotel are out of control though. Every year I get suckered into staying in Saratoga, but after this year I am going to stay 30 minutes outside Saratoga.

Boldruler-
Why dont you just sleep in your car and shower at a place like the YMCA, where you can buy a day pass for $7? Why would you rent a house, I mean how much time is actually spent in a house while you are up here for the races? Sounds like a big waste of money to me. Thats money you could burn and donate to the NYRA guys kids college tuitions.

The people I go with "need" to rent a house so they can have people over. Biggest waste of money ever. It is nice to stay up there an entire week but I am going to start just hitting the amtrak for the saturday card and coming back to NYC the same day. I used to love the mornings up there but after a while it is no different than going to Belmont on Saturday mornings.

Smart plan. A week is way too long anyways. You can get all the juice you need here in one day, just do everything larger. That would be like me going to Belmont for 1 week, I would lose my mind. I live here and probably go on average a total of 8-10 times per meet, but never for an entire card. To me theres just too much time between races and I like to spend the night before handicapping so I find 28 minutes between every race unbearable, especially in the heat. It gets extra tough because they throw a lot of 2 year old races at you, which I dont really care for.

Mornings are different, I love them and probably get over there 10-15 times per meet. I go a lot of weekday mornings before work, sometimes at the end or the beginning of my run. I'd rather see 60 horses work out in 1 hour with no downtime.

The mornings are great. Some part of me likes to take the Amtrak back the same day and have Sunday to recover from my drinking and losses.

best time to go to saratoga is during the yearling sale--can catch the Jim Dandy during the weekend and go to the sale at night on monday/tues--fun if you have money or not.

I just have to share this...
I talked with a guy that works in the same place I do.
He told me that the nicest thing about Saratoga is that nobody hassled him when he pitched his tent way on the backside so he could wake up early and see the morning works. He unpitched his tent and spent the afternoon loving the races. He didn't say if he won or lost.
Seems he lived in his car (tent), for two days...his vacation.
No grief. Just memories. The "woods" at the far back...near the "dumpster".
Only in Saratoga.
DTS

how's that mexican joint. ummm is it Filiberto's ? or Leon's ?

Don't know about the Mex joint...but ribs or chicken at PJ's outside of town is very filling, and reasonable.

Leon's --only ate there once but it was pretty good. I'm not the worlds biggest Mexican food fan so I may not be the best judge.

Its good. Filiberto is a nice guy.

Leons is great. Absolutely the best mexican food in town, in my opinion and I love the stuff. They always have the horse racing channel on too, no matter what time of year it is.

PJ's Barbecue is pretty wonderful too, we love eating there. Its so cheap for what you get and the soft ice cream (custard style) they have there is amazing.

Saratoga is about a safe a place as you'll ever find. You can sleep anywhere in your car and not have to worry about danger. I have often had to walk home by myself through a dark park with absolutely no lights at 2 in the morning and nver thought twice about it. Now do that in NYC and look out.

I like Leon's too.. The hottest dish there is Filberto's wife...

Yes, those twin peaks are quite amazing.

LOL! Wont comment on her as I am now a happily married fellow. Funny it one of the only places that has the OTB network on all the time, even in the winter.

First time I went there was with my wife a few winters ago, we get there and there is a race on at Aqu and some dude is in front of the TV screaming like a maniac for a horse to get up. My wife goes to me, check that guy out, I look at her and say, oh thats the owner! Thats Filiberto! He could care less about the customers eating dinner in his restaurant, he wanted that damn horse to win!

piglets! LOL