Column: Spa City's long Belmont Stakes weekend tests even the most accomplished revelers
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — So, the four-day Belmont "weekend" at Saratoga Springs ...
The Belmont Stakes, the last jewel of the Triple Crown, is a big, big race for this cute little town, which swelled like a September tick with the influx of race fans.
For the owners, breeders, trainers and other horsey folk, it was one party after another.
Their weekend kicked off Thursday night, when the Racing Museum and Hall of Fame ― where Palm Beach rez John Hendrickson serves as chairman of the board ― celebrated the Belmont Stakes with a black-tie dinner dance at the Canfield Casino, made famous by our beloved Marylou Whitney as the site of her annual summer party.
The evening began with a reception featuring a signature bourbon-based cocktail ― and boy, do those hippophiles love their 'bourb ― and ended with a black-tied conga line snaking around the ballroom to the O'Jays' "Love Train."
On Friday night, Katy and Jeff Amling hosted a post-track dinner for 40 or so at the Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, where the talk was all about Derby placer Sierra Leone ― bred by Palm Beacher Debbie Oxley and owned by Palm Beacher Peter Brant and partners.
Debbie and her husband Jack had their own Kentucky Derby winner, Monarchos, in 2001. And Debbie, as a breeder, pulled down a record-breaking $2.3 million in 2022 when she sold the bay colt that would become Sierra Leone to Brant.
So, yep, they have that thoroughbred air about them. It smells like money.
During the night's chatter we learned that, for the locals "We beat the traffic" is akin to saying "We won the Breeder's Cup," which then sparked an animated conversation about local shortcuts. We also learned what a "lugger" is, and it has nothing to do with suitcases.
It's horse that pulls to the left. Sierra Leone is a lugger. That's a problem.
You're welcome.
On Saturday, when the 'bourb cobwebs hadn't quite cleared, it was rise-and-shine for a breakfast with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at the Hall of Fame, sponsored by a trade group of New York growers and purveyors. Apparently we missed the memo about bagel bakers fleeing the state, because there wasn't one in sight.
Or, for that matter, any hair of the dog. But there was bottled Concord grape juice, which we grabbed because really, what is grape juice but fine wine born prematurely?
It's all about perspective.
Then it was time for a pre-track lunch at The Reading Room, which was jammed with chapeaux and single-breasted blue blazers and club ties. After dining on lobster and filet, everyone headed to their private box at the track to put a dent in their kids' inheritance, and eat the same popcorn and hot dogs as the T-shirt-wearing fans in the grandstand.
America. What a country.
After the day of racing was over, the Amlings opened their home for a "Stakes Dinner" and yes, they served steak. They also served up a fine happy hour and fabulous conversation, including riveting tales about Greentree, the Payne Whitney estate on Long Island and its legendary wines, and Jack Oxley's polo career, which awarded him five concussions by the time he was 40. "I remember every single one," he said and proceeded to recount four.
Number five was a blur. No puzzle there.
Also spotted over the weekend: Tracy and Carol Farmer, Earle and Carol Mack with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Ande Phipps and former NFL-er Tucker Frederickson, Grace and Chris Meigher, Lev Miller with daughter Whitney Douglass and grandson Royal Douglass, and Brant, whose Sierra Leone lugged him out of a win.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Column: Shannon reports on a spirited weekend with the horsey set
