Saratoga Raceway
| Location | Saratoga Springs, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 43°03′41″N 73°46′26″W / 43.061469°N 73.773789°WCoordinates: 43°03′41″N 73°46′26″W / 43.061469°N 73.773789°W |
| Owned by | Saratoga Harness Racing, Inc. |
| Date opened | 1941 |
| Race type | Standardbred |
| Official website | |
Saratoga Casino Hotel (formerly Saratoga Casino and Raceway) is an establishment in Saratoga Springs, New York. Saratoga Casino Hotel is home to a 1⁄2-mile standardbred race track, with a racino and hotel located inside the racetrack's grandstand. Saratoga Casino Hotel is not to be confused with the historic Saratoga Race Course thoroughbred race track located across the street on Nelson Avenue.
Saratoga Casino Hotel has three entrances: A primary entrance on Jefferson Street, where the Saratoga Harness Hall of Fame is located, a secondary entrance on Crescent Avenue, and a third entrance on Nelson Avenue, just north of its intersection with Crescent Avenue. The facility is located on the southeastern tip of Saratoga Springs. First opened in 1941 as a harness racing track, the facility was expanded in 2004 to include video lottery gaming terminals, or VLT as they are officially called. Then in 2016, a hotel was constructed on the north end of the property where a training track once existed.
The track is a 1⁄2-mile oval, where horses do two laps to complete the commonly used 1-mile (1.6 km) distance used in U.S. standardbred races. Because of the landscaping present in the infield and the country feel, the track has been dubbed "The most beautiful 1⁄2-mile track in the country. For some time, an expansion of the track to a 5⁄8-mile oval was being discussed, but it never came into fruition, and no further discussion about an expansion to the track's oval has come up in the last 10 years.
Inside, the first floor grandstand has been converted into the casino, with over 1,700 video lottery terminals, or VLT's for short. While the majority of these are slots, there are some poker, roulette, blackjack and keno games present, all in video format. There is a Diamond Jim's bar and two eateries, one a regular fare menu called Lucky Joe's, and the other a buffet restaurant called Garden Buffet. And there's a nightclub called Vapor's, home to live music, DJ remixes and other special events throughout the year. The second floor was renovated prior to the VLT inclusion, but hosts simulcast and live wagering as well as stands for fans to sit and watch the races, and Fortune's Restaurant, a sit-down casual dining facility serves meals during the racing season, typically between March–December. Attached to the Grandstand is the Clubhouse, essentially unchanged over the past 15 years that the facility has undergone massive changes. Open only during live racing, the clubhouse houses one bar and a quick food eatery for patrons watching the races, in addition to the accustomed wagering terminals.
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Wikipedia