Episode Transcript
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The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken shot. Thank you, Scott Gizi, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me, the parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. We have another great show for you and we're going to wrap things up from last week's Belmont Stakes festival at Saratoga. It was a amazing four days up there at the track with it's been highlighted by the Belmont Stakes and Doorknock winning the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
We had great coverage throughout the week, both sports side and news side, and I'm going to be joined by sports writer Mike McGaddam, who covered all the races up there for us for the Gazette. Also news reporter Shenandoah Brier and videographer and photographer Stan Hooty. We're going to reminisce about the four days, what they liked, what maybe needs a little improvement. But we have good chat about that. So I hope you will enjoy our conversation looking back at the Belmont Stakes festival at Saratoga. Of course, they'll be back again next year as they continue to reconstruct Belmont park down in Elmont, New York. Coming up, Mike McGann and Shenandoah Brier and Stan hooty talk Saratoga racetrack and the Belmont Stakes Festival. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
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Hi, this is Clarkson hockey play by play announcer Bob Alfield, and you're listening to the parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
Welcome back to the podcast. And it's over now. The Belmont stakes at Saratoga and what a, what a four days up there. And it was a lot of fun, and three of the people helped cover that for the Gazette are here in the parting shots podcast studio to discuss what happened during that time. Sportswriter Mike McGaddam who covered all the races there? News reporter Shenandoah Brier and photographer videographer Stan Hootie. And people, welcome. And let's get some initial thoughts, starting with Shenandoah, because you were around the corner crowd, and what was it like?
[00:03:00] Speaker C: So it was definitely a lot larger than I was anticipating it would be. And Saturday, I mean, Saturday was no surprise by the crowds. It was packed in the backyard picnic area.
Biggest upset of the day, obviously, was the Belmont Stakes race. And I was just mentioning to you guys before we went on that, you know, you could really see the excitement there for all the favorites, seize the gray Sierra Leone as they were racing. And then immediately, everybody's heart dropped when Doorknock won the race, and everybody was just kind of, like, in surprise there. But there were a lot of other wonderful aspects, just, you know, watching the crowd interact, and it was very calm, and everybody was nice, so it was great to be there.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: So, Stan, for you shooting video all day and taking pictures, what was that like?
[00:03:45] Speaker D: It was, you know, we had it right. We got a hat tip to my former editor and my early mentor, Barbara Lombardo. She actually came up with Travers day on steroids. We caught her up on the concourse, and she's the one who first said that. And we borrowed that for a headline, and she was right. It was, I've been there for Travers. I've been there for meets just like Mack. But this was bigger and better than ever, and it was straight excitement.
People from across the globe, across North America, you know, we talked to people on Thursday from Toronto and Boston and all over, along with locals.
It was everything everybody wanted it to be and more. And that extended out from the Wednesday Bellman on Broadway concert event, where Shannon and I were there throughout the streets for hours. The excitement was there. The weather was on our side all the way through.
I think it was even maybe more than anyone expected. And if there's a six star to be placed on a rating, I think Saratoga got it for this.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Mike, for you, between the crowds and the races, I mean, did it meet your expectations or go past them?
[00:04:51] Speaker E: I mean, this is nitpicking. The only thing I would say, you know, I didn't know what to expect, really, on Thursday, and they got 22,000. I thought that number was going to be a little higher than that. But again, I didn't really know what was going to happen on Thursday. So the other days, a legit 27,000 on Friday, and then 20,000 die hards showed up on a wet, muddy day on Sunday. But Saturday was one of those days. And I can't confirm this, but I've heard a couple people get back to me and say that there had to be more than 50,000 in there, which is the capacity for paid admission. So I guess some people snuck in, maybe somehow. What I call it is it's one of those days, like Traverse day, where there's no such thing as a straight line. So it's usually a pretty simple, easy walk from the clubhouse to the paddock, if you want to go in the paddock before a race to kind of check out the horses getting ready and saddled and everything. No such thing as a straight line on Saturday, you were zigzagging against the crowd. People were going in every direction. You felt like a salmon, you know, swimming upstream to spawn. So that that's kind of usually the indicator that there's a large number of people there.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Yeah, the preparation you guys put into this and the paper put into this. Shannon, what was that like, getting prepared for this? Obviously, this is a big event.
Bigger. As Stan said, you know, this Travis day on steroids, were you maybe surprised at how big this actually was compared to the normal Saratoga meat?
[00:06:29] Speaker C: So I've actually only covered the Saratoga meat on closing day, one time on Labor Day. So I have nothing to really compare it to, like Stan or Mac would. So, I mean, just generally speaking, though, crowd wise, there are a lot of people there, and we learned a lot, Stan and I did, just being out in the backyard talking to people, trying to do Facebook lives and stuff. And I think no matter how much we prepared, we had to remain as flexible as possible with things. So, you know, there was like one Facebook Live that just did not go the way we wanted to audio wise, that we had a scrap at the end of the day. And, you know, we were paying attention to comments regarding sound and stuff like that, but it was just so packed in there at points and so loud between the different music going on and people talking and people walking around buying things, stuff like that, that, you know, it's something we definitely took away for next year is just how to get better. And even for, you know, opening day of the Saratoga meet, how to get better at doing Facebook lives and making sure the sound and the audio is there. But, I mean, for me, as much as I prepared for it, I mean, I think Stan can probably speak a little bit more about being prepared because he's done this quite a few times with bigger crowds there. I mean, there's nothing really like it.
[00:07:41] Speaker D: So it was interesting on the prep for this. Cause this is.
I don't think there was a day that went by that Shen didn't bring up Belmont. Two months plus going into this. So you reach that point, you're like, okay, yeah, I know it's coming. I know it's coming.
And to be there Thursday was just a taste. It was a sip. It was a sample tasting at a winery.
It was nowhere as close to what it was under live fire on Saturday. It was. It just exploded. There's some time, like, in a sense, like Max said, Thursday, Friday, to say build. There was a build, but there's nothing like being there Thursday for the opener and then also being there Saturday there live. So we planned. We had a really good plan going in. We knew who we people. We wanted to see, themes we wanted to see, things we wanted to grab, but then we were really flexible, and things just popped up. And, you know, credit to Shen and. And also the cooperation here in the office that we were able to catch things and pivot. And literally, we're standing there on the concourse, and I go, Jen, turn around, turn around. She's like, what? I go, there's a bride. There's a bride over my shoulder. And that was Saturday, and we end up with this young couple.
He's from Glens Falls, she's from Connecticut, and they were married on Friday. And they're here. They are Saturday. Belmont stakes day at Saratoga race course. And that was a great pivot that ended up really adding to all the excitement of. It's not just, again, Mac and Erica's tonnage of work on the course side, we were on the color side on the back, but together, it was a perfect, perfect match.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: Is there one thing that caught you by surprise? Pleasantly, that stood out?
[00:09:25] Speaker D: It's one of the things that. It's kind of been a theme that I've been fortunate enough now, and this goes back to last year and heading in, like, chowderfest.
I just. We embraced. Shannon and I have done a couple of these. We just embraced these moments where it's really fun. I mean, that's all. We're out there for the fun. We're not out there. We're not, you know, the day in and day out, we're not digging for anything. Everybody we're running into was smiling. They're happy to see us. Our work was appreciated from Wednesday on. The people we ran into, I was shocked. The pleasant surprise came from the amount of people that we saw throughout the week that were just telling us the work that the Gazette was doing was noticed, and it was appreciated and just the people.
It was absolutely, we got 50,000 people there, and if somebody left without a smile, it may be because they were broke. But that was about it. That was about it as far as.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: The racing is concerned. Mike, what was your general take of the four day card?
[00:10:27] Speaker E: It was its typical, fabulous Belmont parade of stakes races that we see, and this is one of the pitches, when I asked to cover the Belmont and go down to New York for it every year, is that it's the gift that keeps on giving.
A lot of the horses that win, a lot of the horses that don't win are going to wind up back at Saratoga a month later. So you're really laying a lot of groundwork. And we would be derelict in not mentioning the wonderful work by our colleague Erica Miller, who just did some wonderful photography work. She was with me at 530 in the morning the previous Saturday to get the Kentucky Derby winner Mystic Dan working, and she said the same thing to me on Sunday, the final day of the four days of racing. She said, wow, we got so much stuff that we can use for later. I said, thank you. That's my pitch every year. When I asked to go down and get an Airbnb for three nights down in Nassau county to cover Belmont. It's the gift that keeps on giving, and it was kind of cool that she noticed that, too. I mean, we have a ton of photos on file that we will use when we get into July.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Yeah. The bell on stakes race itself.
How surprised were you about the outcome?
[00:11:37] Speaker E: I was 17 to one. Surprise, as we're like the betting, most of the betting public, except a couple people that we know that we won't mention who are stealing our money by making a lucky bet like that. 17 to one. I mean, the odds weren't surprising. He came in 10th place in the Kentucky Derby. That's Dornoch. Of course, he hadn't won since the fountain of youth in February.
You know, it's Danny Gargan. He's never won a classic race. The trainer, you know, the jockey, Louis, say, as everybody in New York knows him. But, you know, there were other horses in there that were going to take the betting public's money. Like the Derby winner I already mentioned, Mystic Dan. They had the Preakness winner, seize the gray, Sierra Leone, who was actually the favorite despite the presence of those two horses. So Todd Pletcher had three horses in there. His horses are always going to get money from the betters in races like this. So, yeah, it was a pretty big surprise.
I think Dornoch may have benefited a little bit from the fact that the track was playing very fast. And what that means is the front runners might have a little advantage because if they go fast early, they don't come back to the field. Later, however, sees the gray falls in that category. And he, he finished way back after leading early. So, I mean, the way the race played out was really interesting.
Let's see who came in second place. Oh, mindframe, one of the Pletcher horses.
You know, he probably wins the race if he can run in a straight line in the stretch, but he's. That was only his third career race and its first stakes race of his career. So he's still running like a green, you know, rookie to some degree. Watch out for him and the Travers later.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Yeah, of course, one of the most famous people in that winner circle was a 2008 World Series champion, Jason Worth, who is Harris, I think got even longer since I last saw him. What is his involvement? He's a part owner.
[00:13:25] Speaker E: I'll take this moment right now to remind you that I gave you this horse before the Kentucky Derby based on the fact that a Philadelphia, former Philadelphia Philly, and I'm pretty sure you didn't run with that useful information that you could have gotten rich on.
Jason Worth. His share is not that big, but his impact on the sport being recognized in mainstream media is gigantic. So he doesn't actually own a big share. Some of the other owners would be considered the majority owners, but he's there and he's totally into it. And if you go on Twitter or social media, there's just tremendous reaction shot of him watching the races bent over, like almost falling over, you know, on the seat back and then jumping up and down. And he's very easy to pick out in the winter circle even though it was mobbed with people because he's like a foot taller than everybody and has the hair and the hat and he looks like a country singer and he's very enthusiastic.
Really good for the game. As Danny Gargan pointed out Sunday morning when I went to go see the horse at 730, it's good for the game because it kind of shows people that, you know, you can still get your competitive rush that he was used to. You know, he won a World Series and he compared winning the Belmont to that and that I think that really resonates with, you know, mainstream sports fans.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Yeah. What other races stood out to you?
[00:14:48] Speaker E: Oh, boy, by far this. That's an easy one. And it wasn't even on Saturday. It was Friday. The Philly torpedo Anna, who won the Kentucky Oaks and then was being considered to run against the males in the Belmont by trainer Kenny McPeek. But because he had mystic Dan in there also, he didn't want to run them against each other.
She absolutely dominated the acorn and is so prominent in the three year old category right now. I actually voted for her number one in the top three year old thoroughbreds in the country in the weekly NTRA poll, and a lot of other people did, too. So she really stood out. And he would run her in the Travers if Mystic Dan. But if Mystic Dan, he'll be in the same situation if Mystic Dan is all ready to go for the Travers, running it. And she'll run in races like the coaching club, American Oaks, and the Alabama. But he's. I mean, he's probably going to nominate her to the Travers in case something happens in Miss McDan. And watch out. She could even be favored.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Dornock is going to be in the Travers.
[00:15:51] Speaker E: He will be in the Travers. I highly doubt we'll see him in the Jim dandy, which is the prep race early in the meet in July, because the week prior to that, or, I'm sorry, the week after that, is the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth park in New Jersey. That's a million dollar purse. It's a grade one. So it makes a lot of sense, is a lot of guys who want to run in the Travers will run their horse in the Jim dandy to find out if the horse even likes Saratoga racing surface. And Dornock has already checked that box because the Belmont, of course, was in Saratoga instead of Belmont this year. So they know he likes to track. So they don't need to use the Jim dandy to experiment with that. They already know that.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: And there was a record handle for the meet. How surprising was that?
[00:16:33] Speaker E: Yeah, not really. I mean, they've been. The Saratoga meet has pretty consistently been bumping up their number for all sources handle for the meet the last few years.
The Saratoga brand is so strong, the racing card we already mentioned was phenomenal. It was a great betting card.
So $125 million was all sources handled for Belmont Stakes day alone, of which 60 was just on the Belmont Stakes race itself. Not really surprising. People love to bet Saratoga, and there's a reason for that, because they get full field good horses, you know, not a lot of huge favorites because there's so many good horses in each race. So that's kind of a recipe for a big betting day for all three.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: I'll start with Shannon.
What need, what do you think needs to be improved upon when this Belmont Sega Saratoga is back next year?
[00:17:28] Speaker C: Well, that's a really good question.
I mean, I think they did so well, to be quite honest. I mean, I don't. I don't really foresee anything, really, at the track. I mean, they, you know, they've done this so many times that they're really good at it. As far as Belmont on Broadway, I mean, on Thursday, Stan Otelia, I saw the county administrator and immediately started blasting off ideas for Belmont on Broadway next year. The prime being just like a little bit more access for media, especially when it comes to taking photos of the acts that they're gonna have on stage and just some other ideas. And, I mean, if you guys followed up on our story that was in print and is online today regarding just everything, you know, tying up the week of Belmont, there are. They've already got ideas underway for next year, such as, you know, Broadway was closed down. Can we use that space a little bit better? A little bit more like a summer night in Schenectady where they kind of have a festival ahead of time and then the acts come on later. But as far as the track goes, I mean, we didn't really have any problems. A little bit of Internet issues towards the bigger race, but that, I guess, you know, when we look back on it was kind of expected. Everybody's trying to get on the app, everybody's trying to bet. Everybody's taking their phones out for photos and videos and things like that. So that wasn't really surprising. And at the end of the day, we got our work done and, you know, traffic is traffic, so, you know, that wasn't really unexpected either. And we were kind of willing to sit in the car and get work done if we needed to wait a little bit.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: So, yeah, I think stamp may have posed a picture of you working in a car.
[00:18:57] Speaker C: We found some, yeah, in the car on the side of the road. You know, just anywhere we could get work done. We were doing it a lot of, like, Stan walking in front of me going there. There are holes in the sidewalk. Shannon, please watch your step as I'm typing on my phone in the Google Doc to get things updated. You know, we. I was at our table at the track, too, working. So a lot of people would stop. I'd have to stop chit chat with them for, you know, gazette stuff and then go straight back to workings. But overall, I mean, we got what we needed to do done. And so that, I mean, I don't think there's too many changes that need to be made next year, Stan.
[00:19:36] Speaker D: Just, you know, kind of like for John Q. Public, one thing is, you know, let's. Let's make a hard, fast decision going in for the. For the fans, because I think if you come out and say, all right, Thursday, Friday, Sunday, Saratoga rules. Coolers, beer, no glass. Let's be done with this. Let's get that Thursday Friday, Sunday number up huge like we can at Saratoga, there was confusion of coolers. No coolers, no umbrellas, no beer. You know, this went back and forth with naira, and I think that was a miss on their part, because I think those. Those Thursday Friday numbers could have been better.
I think the bite of the apple, from naira to the food trucks. We talked about this with chip. It was 35% your food vendor. Part of, if there's any complaint about food at the track for the Belmont meat, the vendors are paying 35% off the top. So that's got to come down. That's not fair to the food vendors, because then that trans. That goes back to. To the public. So I think that number's got to come down.
And that. And that's really. I think you take care of those two things, I think you start getting some of that stuff in line, you know, I think the numbers go up a little bit.
You pick the date, you pray for weather. That's been, you know, my adage for years with. With photo assignments and weddings.
I think there was not a whole lot other than, again, those are really small things. Belmont on Broadway. Yeah, Broadway was really quiet right up until, as the axe came in, just like I said to Shannon about SPAC, she wanted Broadway. Belmont on Broadway, be like a five k. She just wanted people, like, throngs of people, like, coming up to the stage at, like noon, and that doesn't happen. It's like SPAC. First act, the fans are there. Second act, they kind of fill in the lower bowl and the balcony. And then third act, everybody's there. And that's what happened in Belmont on Broadway. But I think the city, the county, is going to be full on about having these community booths all throughout the day till 05:00. Pull them out, give that back, and go from there. And, you know, Mac and Eric are the ones who tell you if there's anything to be better on the track, it's going to come from them.
[00:21:35] Speaker E: Mike, the only complaint I heard was from trainer Chad Brown, who had Sierra Leone in the Belmont. He was complaining all day about how hard and fast. The, the main track was playing, which is to a disadvantage for his horse because he comes from off the pace and some front runners won early.
So I don't know if it was a widespread complaint or just very specific to Chad Brown. He can't complain too loudly because randomized in the Ogden Phipps upset idiomatic with a front running style. And in fact, after that race, I asked him, did the track play in her favor, the way, how hard and fast it is? And he said, maybe. But then he went on a rant about later, a couple hours later, when Sierra Leone was going to be trying to contend with that. So he was in full mini complaint. Where's the complaint department about this track mode? Pretty much all day. But if anything, he did benefit from it in one of the big races. And I asked Danny Gargan about that Sunday morning when I went to go see Dornock, you know, because Dornoch was on the front with Cesar Gray. And two things he pointed out. One, they always kind of soup up these tracks for the big days because you like to see fast times and things like that. Derby Preakness, it's usually similar circumstances.
But he also pointed out that in the Belmont, Dornach got to the front and kept going. But meanwhile, cease the gray got to the front and went backwards. So he, he kind of was counterpoint to what Chad was saying about whether the track was playing fair or not. And I don't know if they'll do anything different as far as harrowing or treating the surface next year, but probably not.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: So we get to do this again in about a month. Zaratoka seems to start. So, you guys ready?
[00:23:27] Speaker E: Yeah. I mean, it was kind of like you go through the same preparations and rhythms and everything leading into the Saratoga meet. I think this year was like one of those really warm days in March where the flowers get fooled and they kind of bloom ahead of schedule. But, yeah, I'm taking a bunch of time off. I'm going to go underground. You guys won't see me again until July.
[00:23:49] Speaker C: Stan and I will still be in the office working very hard. I don't know how Stan is still standing right now, but it's a lot of caffeine for us.
I mean, a month out, I'll be interested to see if the crowds stick around. I think that's going to be a big thing.
By all measures, a lot of the officials I talked to said they, they really showcased Saratoga for this reason, so that they could begin to stack up the numbers more and more and more for the summer meet, and Belmont really was going to help them do that. So it'll be interesting to see if that holds true. You know, opening day is July 11. Me and Stan will probably be there, probably coming at you with some more Facebook lives and some fun stuff. So we're excited to see if we get just mainly locals or are we going to get some more out of towners coming back? Because they just loved it. And, I mean, the biggest takeaway I had from this whole experience was a lot of the non local people really loved specific aspects of Saratoga race course. So I could see them coming back, you know, getting watched the horses come out, walk down to the paddock area. The jockey lane was a big hit with a lot of people and just being able to get autographs and stuff like that. So it'll be interesting.
[00:24:58] Speaker D: Yeah, it will be. It'll be interesting to see, you know, because when we did, we were at the job fair and we talked to people that were going to work Belmont. There were so many Saratoga retirees that were like, work in Belmont, then we're off for the, for the normal meet because we have family and things like that. We rent our house, stuff like that. So that was interesting. As far as staffing goes for, for Belmont versus the 40 day meet, again, the people that were first exposed, we had a lot of people, their first time in Saratoga was Belmont day. That was really interesting that they come back.
I don't know if it's going to be an expense account or doing a GoFundMe for Shannon and her fascinators, depending how many trips we have to make to Saratoga.
Her fashion was again part of that plan for coverage of what she was going to wear and when. So that's already been a conversation for what color she's matching up with for opening day in traverse and our plans for hats off and fashion. But our coverage is still strong. I mean, people are still looking in on.
We've got full photo galleries from just Erica Miller's award winning photos of just race day on Belmont Saturday. Fashion is still being out there. People are still looking at it. It doesn't go away. And I think that's the beauty of Saratoga. The quality of horse racing on the front, the amount of people and the stories behind, and then just the coverage that mack delivers, you know, race after race is just. It's impeccable. I could never do it. And I think as a team, we really crushed it. So we're gonna let the big guy take it out for me and shen to talk about what he's looking forward to for the big 40.
[00:26:32] Speaker E: Kudos to you guys. It was great being part of a team, and you guys really knocked it out of the park with your end of it.
As far as the meat coming up, you know, we're gonna see a lot of familiar faces in the horse colony. A lot of them are still up there right now getting ready for the Saratoga meet. So as much as the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was an end to itself, it was also a really interesting prelude to what we're going to see for a couple months during the Saratoga meeting.
[00:27:01] Speaker B: Well, Senator Brier, Mike Begatum, Stan Hooty, I appreciate you coming in and fantastic job, and take some time to breathe a little bit.
[00:27:10] Speaker E: Yeah, no, that is happening.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Well, I'm taking some time myself.
All right, thanks, guys. We're back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner in the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest in just a moment.
[00:27:46] Speaker F: If you really want to know what's going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle, and we're going to get to the truth. Our reporters and photographers are out in the field bringing you updates every minute with trust, accuracy, and integrity from the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on in the community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are. It's what we do.
[00:28:16] Speaker G: School sports are played by humans, coached by humans, and officiated by humans. So the next time you're sitting in the stands at a school athletic event, please remember this and maintain your humanity, especially when it comes to judging and critiquing athletes, coaches, and officials. Please show your fellow humans some respect. They'll appreciate your empathy.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: This message presented by NISFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators association.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Hi, this is Union college athletic director Jim McLaughlin. You're listening to the parting shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
Back to wrap up the podcast. The week 16 winner in the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest was Gloria Lockhart of Amsterdam with 45 points. Gloria wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Gloria. The vip winner was me with 40 points. Array of sunshine and an awful season for me. I've been in last place all year. But hey, get lucky once in a while. I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name, and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailyGazette.com and click on the auto racing contest banner.
Just because Covid-19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, and do it for your friends. That wraps up another edition of the party Shots podcast. I want to thank Mike McAdam, Shenandoah Brier and Stan Hoothe for coming on the show. There won't be a podcast next week as I'm taking some time off. I'll be back with a new podcast in two weeks. If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email until we at shot. That's sch o t tazette.com. follow me on x and threads at Slap Shots the views expressed on the parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shaw. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time from the party shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day.
[00:30:27] Speaker E: Good sports.
