by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway

Saratoga, NY — When Solent Cam hit the finish line late on Saturday night (Dec. 16), the 2006 racing season at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway had wrapped up. Another year in the books and not only was it a successful year from numerous standpoints, it was a record breaking season at the Spa.

Coming into the season, racing legends Mack Lobell and Bunny Lake owned the track records for fastest times in the legendary history of the Raceway. On the Fourth of July celebration the pacing record went down. Rare Jewel, an invader for trainer Rich Banca, drew post position one for the $25,000 feature and longtime Saratoga top driver Frank Coppola, Jr. got the assignment to do the piloting. What resulted was not just historic but dazzling. A mile paced in 1:51 flat from Rare Jewel not only set a new record but set a new time that is seemingly unachievable for anyone else to take a crack at. The classy horse, no stranger to facing dynamite competition at the Meadowlands, Rare Jewel bested the previous mark of 1:53.2 set by Bunny Lake in ’02 and matched earlier this year by Am I Next A, both driven by John Stark, Jr.

The trotting record also got shattered this year. Back-to-back weeks brought back-to-back records as RC Royalty came out and aired in a sensational performance in the New York Sire Stakes and bested the track record, trotting in 1:55.3 for Dan Daley. His record wouldn’t last long as the Sire Stakes finals were set for the next weekend.

On September 16, a night in which we saw the best night of racing in the track’s history, Algiers Hall took to the track for John Stark, Jr. Along with his entrymate, Algiers Hall was dispatched at 1-9 in hopes of taking the $150,000 stakes final. Only a month earlier, the 3-year-old son of Conway Hall competed and factored in the $1.5 million Hambletonian, so Algiers Hall had already shown what he was capable of. In the final stakes race on the historic night, Algiers Hall fronted the field and bested them to win in 1:55.2, breaking the record set the previous week by Algiers Hall’s main competitor all year long, RC Royalty. The previous mark of 1:56 of Mack Lobell’s in 1988 was now a distant memory and it now belongs to Algiers Hall. For trainer/driver John Stark, Jr., his record on the pace with Bunny Lake went down, but he now owns the trotting record at the Spa in a season where it seemed like everything Stark touched turned to gold en route to another training title at Saratoga.

Algiers Hall set the standard for trotters on a historic night in September. The New York Sire Stakes Night of Champions called Saratoga home for the second straight year in ’06 and it was a success to say the least. Many records went down that night both on and off the track. With the top New York breds comprising the majority of the 14 race card, purses of $1.303 million were distributed on the big night, a record setting number in its own right.

There was attendance of better than 4,300 people and fans were left to remember the “old days” when patrons would be lined up throughout the night to get a bet in or to pick up a beer or hot dog. When the dust settled from the big night, yet another record had gone down. Saturday, September 16 now stands as the biggest handle night in Saratoga Harness history. A total handle (amount of money bet on the Saratoga race card) of $587,513 bested the previous mark set on a winter afternoon in 2002. Our signal was out in California for the first time in the track’s history and that contributed to putting the number over the top for handle. A hike of 46.5% just from last year’s Night of Champions showed that enthusiasm was high during New York racing’s biggest night. There were shirt giveaways to program buyers and the night was a great time for all. Many would later say that this year’s Night of Champions was the most fun they had ever had at the racetrack.

With purses never higher, the quality of competition this year at Saratoga was at its peak. More money led to better horses which led to faster times and thus the track records were falling. The higher purses also led to another record. Three drivers were over $1 million in purses this year, the first time that has ever happened here and one, leading driver Dan Cappello, Jr., approached the $2 million mark, easily a new standard for drivers.

Another notable difference this year was the percentage of winning favorites. There has always been a way of thinking that “only favorites win” at the Raceway. This year, the public choice won about 40% of the time, a number well down from years past and a number that has decreased every year in the past five. With the better quality of competition, a more even playing field likely is the reason why the favorites aren’t quite as dominant at the Spa.

Horses starting from outside post positions even seemed to be at less of a disadvantage this year. Those starting from the seven post, for example, won half as much as those from post three. Still a decided advantage, but not as much as in year’s past.

Live racing will resume on February 2 and right now the schedule will consist of Fridays and Saturdays during the month of February.