The Trackside Grill - Saratoga — Restaurant in City of Saratoga Springs

I really must try a telephoto lens. The track photographers walk around with three cameras, each one long and conical, suitable to shoot long range shells. I'm hardly able to capture horses  neck and neck on the inner turf ring from the rail with a stock 55 milimeter.

However, the betting worked out, blowing a Trifecta with a horse in my box taking dead last,  a horse with a winning record too! But the win place show bet came in first for a redeeming amount of cash and a profit too.

So I stopped betting Trifectas for the day and focused on picking the horse. And the second time in a day, in the tenth race, my win place show crossed the line first. I pocketed a pure profit, regretting that my winnings from last time didn't go on parlay.

The final race became an odd one. Eleven green horses, a few with records of winning, all up for sale for forty thousand if the horse raced. And all but four horses scratched, making picking a Trifecta boxes pretty easy to pick out and win. Only one horse had odds greater than a fraction, number Ten with a track record against the newbies. So I bet win place and show on Ten. Better I should have parlayed because triple money that easy might be like taking apples off a schoolhouse tree.

So not bad for a punter.

There's an outdoor bar near the track entrance where the great horses have horseshoes embedded into a walk of fame. A group of men staying at the Holiday Inn have asked me three times what I would like to drink. And yet, a Budweiser has yet to show up. Maybe the man pack enjoyed a winning day and yet, these men look as if they can sustain a few loses.

I took shelter from a drenching rainstorm on the walk to the shuttle stop. The owner brought out a big tray of sliders to thank us for sitting under an awning, just out of reach of the rain.

Is that R.E.M. on the turntable?

The shuttle keeps running until late. I can see the shuttles arriving at the stop from this shack. Why rush? This summer night makes the minutes...

This place is awesome. I went to the track for a day and was looking all over for a burger. I went to shake shack and their prices were outrageous. I found this place on the way out and got a burger and a beer with my friends. The price of this was the price of a cheeseburger and fries at shake shack. The burger was delicous and then I went to the back and saw there was a band so I stayed and had great priced beers and listened to a great band. Awesome place and...

A huge thank you to the team at Trackside Grill for hosting our group and providing a fantastic space to eat right near the track. You made our day so much easier, and the abundance of delicious food was the perfect fuel for our athletes.

We really appreciated the hospitality and how welcoming everyone was. It was a great atmosphere, and your staff made sure everything went smoothly from start to finish.

Thanks again for everything!

—The...