For all of you horse racing fanatics champing at the bit for the 150th running of the Travers Stakes, you’ll have to wait another weekend. But this Saturday’s card has its own Grade 1 gem on it: the 139th running of the $600,000 Alabama Stakes, a race for three-year-old fillies, one of the oldest races of its kind in the country. First held in 1872, the race was named after William Cottrell of Mobile, AL, a prominent horse owner and breeder in his day. (Cottrell’s horse, Ascension, finished 10th in the first-ever Kentucky Derby in 1875.)
Alabama Day also includes two other big-ticket races, the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake Placid and the $100,000 Smart N Fancy, and falls on one of the track’s Fashion Saturdays, so be sure to wear your most eye-catching track attire. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, click here.
Saratoga Race Course Update
Besides August 17’s Alabama, check out these other action-packed days at the races, which include a lot more than just racing.
Case in point: Wednesday, August 14 is Adirondacks Day at the track. Head over to the Coca-Cola Saratoga Pavilion to enjoy, exhibits, activities and other entertainment that highlight the breathtaking beauty of the Adirondack Mountains.
Sunday, August 18 is Lustgarten Foundation Day at the track, in honor of legendary trainer Dominic Galluscio, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in 2014. The Lustgarten Foundation is the nation’s largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research, and its day at the track will feature an autograph and meet-and-greet session at the Jockey Silks Porch from 11:30am-12:30pm with a number of top Saratoga trainers. Proceeds will benefit the foundation.
Outside the track, it’s the last week to catch one of the Skidmore College Saratoga Classic Horse Shows, a series of summer hunter/jumper equestrian events. Held from August 14-17 at the college’s White Hollow Farm in Stillwater—where saratoga living shot last year’s Luxury Issue cover star Ariana Rockefeller—the shows will help fund Skidmore’s scholarship and financial aid programs.
Also on August 14 is the NY Race Track Chaplaincy 2019 Annual Brunch at Saratoga National Golf Club. This year’s brunch will honor Terry and Debbie Finley, founders of West Point Thoroughbreds, a Saratoga-based racing partnership manager and creator that just recently set a sale record at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.
And now for the other stakes races happening this week:
Wednesday, August 14
$100,000 Bolton Landing
Thursday, August 15
$100,000 Union Avenue
Friday, August 16
$100,000 Skidmore
Saturday, August 17—Alabama Day
Sunday, August 18
$100,000 Summer Colony
And for all of you arts lovers out there, be sure to take a look at our hand-curated list of amazing events happening in the area below:
Monday
The Lake George Music Festival kicks off nearly two weeks of classical music performances at various locations around Lake George Village (August 12-23)
7th Annual Blue Spangled Gala will be hosted at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga (August 12)
Genre-defying singer-songwriter Beck, along with popular indie acts Cage the Elephant and Spoon, is bringing his The Night Running Tour to SPAC (August 12)
Tuesday
Saxophonist Greg Abate is joining Chuck Lamb for Jazz at Caffè Lena in Saratoga (August 13)
Come out to Saratoga National Golf Club to take part in one of the summer meet’s final hurrahs, ReRun’s Evening Under the Stars (August 13)
Have some late-summer fun at the 2019 Altamont Fair at the Altamont Fairgrounds (August 13-18)
The incredible hip-hop musical Hamilton is coming to Proctors in Schenectady to kick off its limited, two-week run shows (August 13-25)
Wednesday
The Philadelphia Orchestra will be playing the score to Charlie Chaplin’s unforgettable romantic comedy City Lights (August 14)
Instrumental, modern folk quartet Hawktail will be playing Caffè Lena in Saratoga (August 14)
The Sembrich in Bolton Landing is presenting I Am Carreño: The Extraordinary Life of Teresa Carreño on the life of the Venezuelan-born opera singer and composer (August 14)
Thursday
The Philadelphia Orchestra and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will perform big-band jazz standards, like Marsalis’ Swing Symphony, at SPAC (August 15)
The Palace Theatre’s free, outdoor summer film series, Bites Camera Action, kicks off with a screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on South Pearl Street in Albany (August 15)
Celebrate the Spa City at the Health, History and Horses Charity at Longfellows in Downton Saratoga (August 15)
Catch Footloose the Musical with the Broadway Upstate Actors at the Charles R. Wood Theater in Glens Falls (August 15-18)
Friday
Enjoy a free family concert with Meet the Music! Leave it to Ludwig at the Spa Little Theater in Saratoga (August 16)
Horse racing fans won’t want to miss author Jennifer Kelly sign and discuss her book Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga (August 16)
The Chicago-based blues band Mississippi Heat, with special guest Lurrie Bell, will be performing at The Linda in Albany (August 16)
Grammy-winning hip hop artist Chance the Rapper will be performing at the 2019 GMA Summer Concert Series in Manhattan’s Central Park (August 16)
Get your glowsticks ready for Let’s Glow Crazy featuring DJ Drewski at Putnam Place (August 16-17)
Bargain-hunters should visit the Rhinebeck Summer Sidewalk Sale going on all weekend throughout the Village of Rhinebeck (August 16-18)
The Lake George Volunteer Fire Department’s Annual Summer Festival & Family Festival Craft Show will take over Lake George Village this weekend (August 16-18)
This weekend only, don’t miss a Harry Potter-inspired Wizards Brunch & Dinner at Pier 60 in Manhattan (August 16-18)
Saturday
A Forever Farmland Concert featuring local folk singer Sean Rowe with special guest Grand Boubousse is coming to Putnam Place in Saratoga (August 17)
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s final performance for this season will be an All Mozart night at SPAC (August 17)
Join in for a lively chat on horse racing at the Saturday Morning Social at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga (August 17)
Attend a free End of Summer Party at the Schuylerville Public Library (August 17)
Admire some classic cars and automobiles at the 13th Annual Clifton Park Car, Truck and Motorcycle show at the Clifton Park Elks Lodge (August 17)
Get up early and do some Yoga at the Overlook at Grant Cottage in Wilton (August 17)
The Lake George Land Conservancy will host its Summer Block Party at Up Yonda Farm in Bolton Landing (August 17)
Get ready to move at the 17th Annual Jail House Rock 5K starting at the Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa (August 17)
Don’t miss the 2nd Annual Kingston Design Connection Showcase at Foley and Cox Home in Hudson (August 17)
The 5th Annual Flame Con, the world’s largest queer comic con, returns to the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in Manhattan (August 17-18)
The 11th Annual Saratoga Arts Celebration, a juried festival of fine arts and crafts, will be hosted on the lawn of the National Museum of Dance in the Saratoga Spa State Park (August 17-18)
Sunday
A double-bill performance with two of folk music’s most enduring singer-songwriters, Janis Ian and Livingston Taylor, is coming to The Egg in Albany (August 18)
Get ready to take a trip to the dark side of the moon with The Australian Pink Floyd Show, which is bringing its 2019 world tour to SPAC in Saratoga (August 18)
Take a relaxing cruise one way and then bike your way back with the Annual Full Lake Bicycle Cruise at the Lake George Steamboat Company in Lake George Village (August 18)
