The horse player is definitely at home at Saratoga Race Course, which opens its 140th season on Wednesday, July 23, and to accommodate the need for action, a varied betting menu will again be offered this year.
New this year will be rolling daily doubles, and the wager will be offered pending approval by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.
Straight bets (win, place and show), exactas and trifectas will be offered on every race, when possible. Rolling Pick 3s will be offered on races 1-7 on nine-race cards; 1-8 on 10-race cards. Pick 4s will be offered, beginning with race 2 and with race 6 on nine-race cards; race 2 and race 7 on 10-race cards. Additionally, there will be one Grand Slam wager per card.
The Grand Slam, a $1 minimum wager, asks a fan to pick a horse to finish first, second or third in three consecutive races, and then pick the winner of the fourth to hit the Grand Slam. This bet is offered on the race following the start of the Pick 6.
Superfectas will be offered on the final race of the day.
On Whitney Day, Saturday, July 26, Saratoga will offer a guaranteed $500,000 all-stakes Pick 4 beginning with race 7, the 24th running of the Grade 2, $250,000-added Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at six furlongs, and followed by the 70th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana Handicap for fillies and mares at nine furlongs on the turf; the 55th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Go for Wand for fillies and mares at nine furlongs; and the day’s feature race, the 81st running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap at nine furlongs.
On Saturday, August 23, there will be a guaranteed $1 million all-stakes Pick 4 on the sixth running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Victory Ride for three-year-old fillies at six furlongs; the 50th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap at nine furlongs on the turf; the 24th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 NetJets King’s Bishop for three-year-olds at seven furlongs; and the meet’s showcase race, the 1 ¼-mile “Mid-Summer Derby” for three-year-olds, the 139th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers presented by Shadwell Farm.
There will be a full simulcasting menu throughout the meet as well, offering Delaware Park, Finger Lakes, Monmouth Park, Philadelphia Park, Ellis Park, Laurel, Suffolk, Arlington, Colonial, Mountaineer and Del Mar.
The New York Racing Association will again offer simulcast wagering from racetracks in the United Kingdom during the mornings at Saratoga Race Course.
Fans will once again be able to wager on races from Catterick, Sandown, Thirsk, York, Newmarket, Goodwood, Nottingham, Haydock, Redcar, Pontefract, Carlisle, Newbury, Musselburgh, Warwick, Kempton Park, Chester, Hamilton and Salisbury. And, once again, the designated area for wagering will be just to the right inside the Union Avenue, East Avenue gate.
