Applause
An Albany number popped on my phone Monday afternoon. Hey, were in Saratoga, a 518 number could mean anything – a new advertiser, a renewing Reader’s Club member, a free round at Fidens, a last-minute Heavy Heavy show at Lark Hall.
I answered it on one ring.
And, in a way, I got anything. And everything.
It was Valerie Wasial.
She introduced herself, said something about working with retired horses, maybe therapeutic riding, apologized for calling and then explained why she was calling. In a word, the horses. OK, two words. We talked for three minutes, she made some impassioned points, and she thanked me for being polite. I’ll take it.
Then she sent me a letter. Yeah, we still get letters.
I think she said she had sent the letter to customer service at the track and wondered if we could help her with her cause. Smack in the middle of sales week, with a column still to fill, I quickly read the letter with, admittedly, an ulterior motive. Either way, here goes (with a little bit of style editing).
Dear Patrons of Saratoga Race Course,
For the last 60 years, the historic Saratoga Race Course has been my happy place. After the Grade I Diana, I was very disheartened. In the years before, horses would enter the winner’s circle to a mountain of applause. As they were hosed off and draped with their champion sheet to be led back to their barn more applause was heard filling the stands with appreciation, celebration and respect for the horses running for us.
It is our tradition that our champions get applauded all the way down the rail. The last few years this tradition has been diminished to dull anticlimactic recognition for our champions. This year I was led to tears and action when Whitebeam, a two-time winner of the Diana was barely celebrated. I was so upset for her. After her magnificent run no one applauded her as she walked down the rail. I couldn’t watch this happen again. I went to the fence and walked up and down, shouting and clapping, “This is a two-time champion, show your appreciation.”
I was determined to show them how it was done, encouraging the crowd into clapping for her the best I could. Some lowered their heads in shame and then clapped. What is happening to my track and the respect for our champions? The horses know when they win. I’ve been around them all my life. What is happening to the traditions I hold so dear? Hearing the applause all the way down the rail past the grandstand is a part of the life force that is The Saratoga Race Course experience. Have we forgotten who really did the work? It’s the horses.
Tom Durkin use to say “Let’s hear it for your winner.” So much is changing but some things should not, tradition needs to be upheld, they need to hear and feel our love. My heart breaks for the winners, Grade 1, 2 and 3, they need to hear our appreciation.
In my humble opinion I think even the undercards deserve it as well. But especially the champions!!! We need to teach the new generation it’s not just about cashing a ticket or losing a bet, it’s about enjoying the game and the horses that are a part of it with respect.
We want to hear the people in the boxes, too!
Please help me fix this, it’s not the Saratoga I grew to cherish with all my heart.
Valerie Wasial, fan of all horses at Saratoga
I had to admit, she had a point.
It should always be about the horses. And we should always appreciate the horses. And, yeah, I remember when we clapped for the winners as they galloped back and walked home.
Fourstardave for eight straight seasons, each year, getting louder and deeper. Personal Ensign when she reeled in Gulch in the slop of a three-horse Whitney. Holy Bull when he slung and clung in the Travers. And even when Hokan upset the New York Turf Writers Cup in 1998. It was the ninth race of a 10-race card, 5:19 p.m. post time, the feature, jogging back I looked up in the stands, those stands where I had applauded Fourstardave, Personal Ensign, Holy Bull and all the others, and felt for a moment, like I belonged. I’m sure you don’t remember clapping but I do. Imagine, a jumper receiving an ovation after the ninth-race feature. Imagine.
Like the white circle for the winners, boutique stables, stealing the Travers Canoe, straw pillows deep enough for a nap and two turns around the paddock for the feature, the applause for the winners has waned and nearly disappeared. Another tradition wavering, another standard fading.
I remember clapping for a winner as they galloped back to the winner’s circle earlier in the meet. I can’t remember which one. Maybe it was Whitebeam. Or maybe not. I stood along the top row and heard my own hands, a hollow, solo sound. I guess Valerie felt the same way.
See you Wednesday for the Jonathan Kiser, the Johnstone Mile and seven other races. Valerie will be clapping. Join her.
