The Graveyard of Champions

August, the month in general, as a Saratogian, produces so many connotations, and each resident, or former residents, have their own take, be it sordid, surreal, or sucks or whatever. There really is no place I would rather be, in the 8th calendar month, than in this town.  This is all due to this little city being flooded by (mostly gaudy type) humans, gambling on horse racing. The third weekend brings about Travers Day, the biggest race of the meet, and the week following is always summer's last hurrah. So here I am. 

 This year is especially significant, due to the fact that a triple crown winner has entered the Travers stakes. Meaning, potentially the best race horse in horse racing history is in town. The track sold out weeks prior to Travers Day, yet, I was able to score a ticket! (Thanks Richie!) Things started off well, I hit $20 on a exacta box which paid for the ticket and program, which undoubtably rules. But it is winning early that not only helps pay for the day, it also deviously leads you into a day of gambling nonetheless, a false sense of wallet security if you will. So, I also needed to eat something which leads me to this....

 Here's a Saratoga foodie secret I will share with you, if you want the best authentic Mexican food in Saratoga Springs, go to the Oklahoma track/side, where the Mexicans live and work. There is a restaurant that caters to the workers, and they offer beans and rice, pork, beef, chicken tacos, I'm not sure what else because I don't speak spanish, I just point at stuff and say pollo, or taco, or me no nintendo, and gracias amigo Corona! hahahaha

Anyway, they had Corona Familia in a brown 32 oz bottle, mexican cokes and and orange and strawberry soda in the glass bottle, and $2 tacos. Life rules.

 $12 lunch, the best lunch in Saratoga Springs, NY pound for pound.

I ordered chicken tacos, the lady pulled a breast and thigh out of a chicken and tomato stew, hand picked it (with gloves) and laced my tacos, then dressed it all up with beans and rice and onions and cilantro, mole', and green chili, it doesn't get much better than this, people, I don't care where you are on the map.

After I finished eating lunch with the working stiffs of Travers, I joined them in walking to the backstretch, and, well, like I do EVERYWHERE, I acted like I belong there, and here comes the triple crown winner, and other contestants, and I walk along them and re-enter the track as the entourage!~that ruled.

Anyway, back to the horses. Oh no, wait, I noticed a helicopter coming and going, and thought that was the worst idea, nothing like a helicopter to frazzle a bunch of horses, jeez.

 Then you had this dude circling the joint like a buzzard...

Anyway, my good friend Ian was at the track at 4:30 am and got a sweet spot next to the paddock, which is where I was able to rattle off these shots of Triple Crown Champion American Pharoah. (Thanks Ian!) It's so fitting that the horse's name is misspelled. 'Murica Baby. 

I have never seen paparazzi for a four legged animal.

The rose blanket!

Trainer Bob Baffert was on the fence whether or not to bring his horse to the "Graveyard of Champions" and I don't blame him, but I thanked him for it, once I was within earshot!

And they're off!!! In the 2015 Travers Stakes!

You can see #7 was next to last....

And history repeats itself, as American Pharoah, a favorite towing 1 to 5 odds, who lead most of the race, lost by almost a horse length to Keen Ice.

Just after the finish, a kid, about 14 years old, b-lined to the winner's circle with this hat on...

 I met a guy who bet a thousand for American Pharoah to Show 

(3rd place) he won $1,050. So, he risked a thousand dollars to get $50. No thanks, I'll keep playing longshots and hope the great horses lose. Cheerful ain't it? At the end of the day, that was pretty epic, glad I was there for it.

Late Addition;

Every year, the Travers winner gets it's stable colors painted on the canoe that sits on the pond in the middle of the racetrack. And there, it displays and reflects for next years meet, until Travers, and a new set of colors will be donned by the pond.

Ok, everybody go home now!

Mob Boss Arnold Rothstein Marries In Saratoga Springs, NY

photo from Life magazine

In the early 1900's, Mr. Big, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll, Mr. Fixer, The Brain, Arnold Rothstein, found Saratoga Springs, NY to be a honeycomb hideout and made it flourish into a casino laden little village. Arnold bootlegged alcohol during prohibition, from Canada, down through Saratoga, and into NYC and Jersey, as portrayed in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Meyer Wolfsheim in the Great Gatsby, was essentially Arnold, with a different name. Arnold fixed the 1919 World Series, there's a movie called 8 Men Out, detailing how it went down. Here, in Saratoga Springs, he also fixed the Traver's Stakes in 1921. 

 Arnold also built the Brook casino, the prototype for the Saratoga casinos, which was out Rt. 9n, on the southwestern corner of Locust Grove Rd. The brick house that stands on the corner, was the staff boarding house. The Brook burned in 1934, not before attracting the most rich and famous of the era to it's tables.

On August 12th 1909, Arnold Rothstein married showgirl Carolyn Green in Saratoga Springs, at 185 Washington St.

Carolyn was up visiting Arnold at his summer spot, but she had landed a starring role in "Havana" and had to get back to the stage.  

Arnold soon after pawns her ring, to get the couple back to Manhattan from Saratoga Springs, NY. Years later he would become rich and powerful in the underworld.

Arnold was responsible for bring other jewish gangsters like Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Seigel, and a whole list of gangsters into the fold, in NYC and Saratoga Springs. Making of the Mob NY is a current tv show depicting the NY mob scene where he was a major figure of the jewish mob side of NY gangsters.

Hathorn and Hayes Spring Water Colors

Next up in my series of water colors, using the spring water from each spring that I paint, is the Hathorn Spring. Ya know, the stinky one, next to Ben and Jerry's. I remember when it was across the street, in what is now a 2 story parking lot. It is a pretty popular spring due to it's location, next to Congress Park. 

In the late 1800's the 3 big hotels in Saratoga were, Union, United States, and Congress. Congress Hall Hotel bordered Congress Park on the Northwestern corner. Henry Hathorn who built Union Hall Hotel, decided to buy his rival Congress Hall Hotel, then expand.

 Hathorn Spring was discovered while digging the foundation for the Congress Hall Hotel's ballroom in 1869.

 Hathorn's been blamed for being sulfur water.....


Here's a link to a photo from 1895...http://www.shorpy.com/node/8792?size=_original#caption

and a cool shot a bit more recent, a few years ago, frozen over...

and here's my latest! 

Next up, is my favorite.... to huff.....

Hayes Spring in the Spa State Park will forever be known to me as the whippit post. It has always had a pipe sticking out where you could breathe in noxious fumes and get a sweet 10 second buzz. well, ok, everyone feels something different... I get the sensation where the stream next to it gets loud, the ground seems oranger, and my butthole gets diarrhea hot, all for about 10 seconds...hahaha The water basically will make you poop according to the sign posted. I can't think of any place on earth where there is a natural whippit post, and that rules, chalk one up for Saratoga! Out of all the springs that I've painted, this and the Geyser were the most serene settings, with the sound of the stream flowing nearby, it was quite nice. Oh, and I guess that picnic table pavilion on the hill above it was a summer house!

from a 193? NYS Travel Guide

Here's the Whippit Post! Post Whippit!!!

Getting my water for the watercolors ready....