July 26, 2021

Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

by Will Levith

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Morning workouts at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Clare Byrnes rides Daunt for trainer Bobby Ribaudo. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Preparing to bathe a Thoroughbred outside of the Richard Schosberg Racing Stable. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Training a young Thoroughbred on the Claire Court track on the backstretch. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

The Claire Court track on the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Albie gets a bath outside trainer David G. Donk's barn on the Saratoga backstretch. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Horses head to the main track for early morning workouts. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Early morning workouts at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

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Early morning workouts under gloomy summer skies. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

A bike, the most common means of transportation for backstretch workers, sits outside of the Richard Schosberg barn. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Exercise rider Mike Clark rides for trainer Wesley Ward. Clark is also known as 'The Cowboy,' especially when he is in England. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

An exercise rider wearing the famous '007' insignia of trainer H. James Bond. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Exercise rider for trainer David G. Donk enjoys some time out during early morning workouts. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Foggy morning at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Little Chief with assistant trainer Felix Matos aboard shows little interest in training. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Morning fog at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Riders head to the main track through the morning fog. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Morning mist at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Morning workouts at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Belmont Stakes winner, Essential Quality (gray horse), breezes on the main track at Saratoga Race Course with jockey Luis Saez aboard. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Morning workouts at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Morning fog at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Riders emerge from the fog as they train on the main track at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Riding in the morning fog at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Exercise riders run through the morning fog at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Riding in the morning fog Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

The clubhouse is masked in fog as riders work out horses early on the main track at Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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Scenes From Early Morning Workouts at Saratoga Race Course

'Saratoga Living' photographer Tom Killips takes the a.m. shift at the track.

Saratoga a.m.

Heading to the track in the morning fog Saratoga Race Course. (Tom Killips)

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How good does it feel to be back at Saratoga Race Course? This first summer back in a year has been nothing short of magical. While Saratoga Living has had a number of photographers cover the races over the years, we’ve recently added some new blood: Tom Killips, who will be covering the early morning beat for us—in other words the morning workouts, during which the city is just waking up, but the track is already aflutter with activity.

Tom files his first group of photos from morning workouts on July 17 and then again on the 24th. On the latter date, Tom found himself enveloped by a dense morning fog, something we’ve seen a lot of, given the fact that we’re on track to have the wettest July in history here in New York State.

Swipe through all of Tom’s photos above.

Will Levith

Will Levith is Editorial Director at Saratoga Living and Capital Region Living magazine. He's a native Saratogian and graduate of Saratoga Springs High School. His work has been published by Esquire, Playboy, Condé Nast Traveler, Men's Health, RealClearLife and many others. He lives in Troy with his wife, Laura, and dog, Esopus.