Soon the historic Saratoga Race Track opens up. It is sad what they have done to the track I loved.
I have been going to Saratoga Race Track for forty years. Now I no longer enjoy going there because they broke tradition. Some things are better left alone.
What was great about Saratoga was it never changed. Every spring they slapped a new coat of paint on it, did some repairs and that was it.
Over the past 10 years or so they have changed it for the worse in my opinion. People go to Saratoga and have a picnic on the back lawn. They bring their own food and booze. We used to have keg parties there. People would bring bottles of wine, whiskey. There were few rules.
Much of this has now been banned. Some of the best places to sit on the lawn have been replaced with large tents that sell woman's underwear. A tent now sits where I sat for thirty years. That pissed me off. They have built these rooms at the top of the stretch, where people used to sit, that have sofas and recliners in them. WTF!
I used to arrive early at the track so I could park close to the track without paying. They changed that, now when you arrive you have to park a long way from the track. It sucks.
Over the past few years they removed most of the tellers and replaced them with machines. I loved interacting with the tellers. I had a lucky teller I used to go to and place my bets. It was part of the tradition.
In recent years they started to limit the number of horses in some races, which hurts the bettors. Completely unacceptable.
In many ways they have turned Saratoga into a place for the rich. It used to be a place for the common people. Now it is like more of a high end shopping mall, than a race track.
These days I just stay home and bet. Have friends over for some food and drinks and that's fine. But I sure do miss the good old days at Saratoga Race Track.
One thing has not changed, you still see the best horses in the world race at Saratoga.
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