Saratoga Springs

This morning, after having my blood platelets level checked at MSK to see how I am reacting to the daily injections of blood thinner, Susan and I drove up to Saratoga Springs, New York. The racing starts Wednesday and continues through the Labor Day weekend.  I have been coming to Saratoga for the racing since 1963, and Susan started coming here with me a few years later. There are more important races at Saratoga than there are at any other race meet of comparable duration. Saratoga also features races for two-year-olds. I particularly enjoy going to the walking ring before the maiden races (i.e., races for horses which have never won a race) for two-year-olds to try to identify future stars among the horses that have not yet raced and to study the characteristics of the progeny of young stallions.

Just before I got my cancer diagnosis, we had rented an apartment in Saratoga for the entire racing season. One of the things that we had wanted to do when I retired was to spend as much of the racing season up here as we pleased. In addition to the horse-related activities, there is plenty to occupy one's time in Saratoga. When I was working, we drove back and forth between New York City and Saratoga on weekends. If possible, I also took a vacation for the entire week during which the Saratoga yearling auctions are conducted. Often, I bid on several yearlings and bought one or two. 

This year, we can stay in Saratoga only through August 1, as I have to get back to New York City for my surgery on August 3.  Although I am still limited in my activities by back spasms, and dopey from the medicine that I am taking for the back spasms,  we will just make the best of these next few days.