Saratoga Meet - Question for New Yorkers

[Point_Given_Gal]

I am planning a visit to Saratoga on my birthday which coincidentally is August 24 TRAVERS DAY at Saratoga.  We are planning a trip to Saratoga for my birthday!! It is a dream come true for me because I have wanted to visit Saratoga for a long time.  

Does anyone have any tips regarding nicer hotels in the area, good restaurants, and how to get tickets for the TRAVERS and or the best place to try to get seats at the Saratoga race course.

Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide.    

I am looking very forward to my trip to New YorK.

[tonyk]

Good luck ,many of the places are booked solid especially that weekend .I stayed in the Holiday Inn in town last year ,but that was during the week .Weekends especially Travers W/E are booked well in advance .I put myself on a list at several places for this year with no luck .There are rooms in the surrounding areas (ie Albany) or some of the seedier joints up the road ,but getting a room in town will be tough .Albany is about a 40 minute ride to the track .If you can\'t get any seats ,I suggest betting early and camping out near the rail in order to see the race ,its usually a mob scene.

[tonyk]

As for restaurants ,there are some really good places in town ,although i do not recall their names I remember a good pasta joint ,I also had a real good steak at another place in town ,then there  is Siro\'s outside of one of the gate\'s .

[Michael D.]

 Too late...... you will have a lot more fun if you pick a different w/e. (but if you start planning now you might find a few good deals for the 2003 Travers)

[tread]

You guys are wasting your time trying to fight those Saratoga crowds.  By far the best scene in horse racing is opening day at Del Mar.  The \"scenery\" there is hands-down the best collection of beautiful people you will ever see at any racing event, blows Keenland out of the water and that\'s saying alot.  I don\'t plan on missing one the rest of my life.  But either way, everyone enjoy the \"prestige\" meets.

[Michael D.]

hmmmmm.... that might be a good idea. I am tired of the crowds as well, and the simulcasting is horrible. Do they simulcast Saratoga, Arlington, and Monmouth in the mornings at Del Mar? Also, how difficult would it be to get a hotel room close to the track for the first few weeks?

[fager22]

Michelle,

Reply to my email address. I can help with Saratoga accomodations and tix.

[fager22]

My email address is lfe2211@earthlink.net.

[Mall]

Ignore the naysayers PGGM. It\'s doubtful you\'ll be able to get in the Sheraton on Broadway at this point, so you might start by calling the Saratoga Arms, a B&B which also may not have rooms but where the lady who answers the phone will probably be able to direct you to other B&Bs. One I would recommend is The Westchester House, which is only a few minutes from the front gate. I\'m even money to convince the owner, who is former opera singer, to do a number on opening day.

IMHO, the best 2 restaurants in town are Sperry\'s & Phila St, & the best close restaurant is The Lodge, which is located near the harness track. The horse crowd hangs out at Sperry\'s, but the waits can be very long unless you happen to know the maitre de.

For tix, you\'re hoping for Sections C & D, very happy with E,F,G, & willing to settle for anything in the clubhouse. There is an informal \"ticket exchange\" which takes place every day inside the gate near the main entrance on Union Ave. Very rarely does anyone ask for more than face value, but most tix for Travers weekend usually change hands a week or more before the race.

I hope this helps & I\'ll let you know in a post if I run across any extra tix.