Saratoga Race Course

Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the U.S. It is the fourth oldest racetrack after Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack (1858), Freehold Raceway (1854) and Fair Grounds Race Course (1852).

The racetrack is operated by the New York Racing Association.

The Saratoga meet originally lasted only four days. The meet has been lengthened gradually since that time. From 1962 to 1990, the meet lasted four weeks and began in late July or early August. In 2010, the meet expanded to 40 racing days, with races held five days per week. It lasts from mid-July through Labor Day in early September.

Saratoga Springs was the site of "trials of speed and exhibition of horses" at county fairs as early as 1822. In 1847, in anticipation of the New York State Fair being held in Saratoga that September, the Saratoga Trotting Course was built, and hosted its first harness race on August 14. The old harness racing track was located just south of the current Oklahoma Track, and today the area is called Horse Haven.

In 1857 the Empire Race Course was opened on an island in the Hudson River near Albany, but was in operation only a short time.

On August 3, 1863, casino operator and future congressman John Morrissey organized the first thoroughbred race card on the Oklahoma Track. After the successful meet ended, Morrissey purchased 125 acres of land across the street from the old standardbred track, built a new grandstand, and dubbed the venue Saratoga Race Course. Among those instrumental to the creation of the new course were John Hunter (later the first chairman of The Jockey Club), William R. Travers, John Morrissey, and Leonard Jerome.

Saratoga Race Course has been in use almost every year since 1864, with only a handful of exceptions. The course was closed in 1896 due to increasing competition among thoroughbred tracks, making the meet at Saratoga not viable that season. Anti-gambling legislation, which had passed in New York, resulted in a cessation in all thoroughbred racing in that state during 1911 and 1912. From 1943 to 1945, racing was curtailed at Saratoga due to travel restrictions during World War II. During those years, the stakes races usually held at Saratoga Race Course were instead contested at Belmont Park.

The late 1800s were a period of decline for the Race Course. In 1892 it was purchased by notorious gambler Gottfried "Dutch Fred" Waldbaum, the operator of the notorious Guttenberg racetrack in North Bergen, New Jersey. In 1901, it was purchased by a group of investors led by William Collins Whitney, who made major improvements and restored its reputation.