by Part of taking in the history of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., meant going to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Although you can’t tell it from the name, the museum is focused on thoroughbred racing, not car racing.
Before we visited, we knew next to nothing about horse racing, other than what we took away from our fun day at a the Willowdale Steeplechase in Pennsylvania. (The museum did include a small exhibit on steeplechases, too.)
Fun Fact: the average racehorse, weighing in at 1,000 pounds, reaches 40 mph in six strides, or 2.5 seconds!!
The museum dates to 1951 when it opened in the former Canfield Casino in Congress Park in downtown Saratoga. Four years later it moved to its current home across the street from the Saratoga Race Course.
The museum includes lots of displays on racing history, trophies, artwork, an interesting film full of beautiful horses called What it Takes (which did not answer the question foremost in my mind, how much money does it take to participate in this sport?), and a hall of fame for horses, jockeys, and trainers.
Fun fact: at full gallop, the horse takes in five gallons of air per second!
Thoroughbred racing dates to America’s colonial days. As early as 1822, Saratoga Springs was the site of “trials of speed and exhibition of horses” at county fairs.
In 1847 the Saratoga Trotting Course was built in anticipation of the New York State Fair being held in town that fall. The following year the Saratoga Race Course was built, and has been in use almost every season since 1864.
Fun fact: from rest to top speed, a horse’s heart rate increases by a factor of 10 (by comparison, ours increases by a factor of 4)!
The original Saratoga meet in 1863 lasted just four days (and attracted 5,000 people!), but now the season lasts eight weeks, starting mid-July (thus we missed it by a few weeks).
As part of our experience, we watched the movies Seabiscuit and The Horse Whisperer, both set locally. (Both of these films were adapted from books.)
Fun fact: a horse inhales and exhales once every stride, which means it completes 2.5 breathing cycles per second.
I liked seeing the different “Jockey Silks”, though they are no longer made of silk.
