Oklahoma Training Track

The Whitney Viewing Stand at Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track will open to the public beginning Thursday, Apr. 25, the New York Racing Association said in a release Wednesday afternoon. Prior to the start of the summer meet, the site will be open free of charge from Thursday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET. The Oklahoma Training Track is accessible to pedestrians through Gate 21 on East Avenue. Parking is not currently available within the Oklahoma grounds. The opening of the Whitney Viewing Stand also coincides with the...

The Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course will open Thursday, Apr. 18, officials at the New York Racing Association (NYRA), with the barn area opening to licensed trainers and staff from Monday, Apr. 15. As Saratoga prepares to host the 2024 Belmont Stakes Fesitval June 6-9, the main track will open one month earlier than customary on Monday, May 6. Due to the ongoing construction at Belmont Park, there will be significant changes to the usual NYRA training schedule. The Belmont main track will remain closed for training through...

Cindy Hutter, who continues her inspiring recovery from a severe brain injury sustained in a training accident in July 2022, has been named the 2023 winner of the Bill Mooney Award for displaying courage in the face of tremendous adversity by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. Hutter started riding at a young age before going to work for trainer Bruce Miller after she turned 16. Hutter later worked for D. Wayne Lukas, galloping such stars as Winning Colors, Thunder Gulch, Open Mind and Flanders, and later for Todd Pletcher,...

"What's in a name?" Spurning Master Shakespeare and embracing anecdotal evidence, consider the tale of how Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track got its name. Horsemen complained that the distance across Union Avenue to the main course was such a hike that it might as well be in Boomer Sooner land. Another piece from the past concerns the name of the Alabama S. Dating to 1872, the race was given that moniker after the Derby-winning owner William Cottrell of Mobile asked if it could be dubbed after his home state, instead of...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Four days after his second-place finish in the GI Haskell S., GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) took some small, easy steps toward the GI Travers on Aug. 26, jogging Wednesday on the Oklahoma training track. Mage shipped from Monmouth Park in New Jersey to Saratoga on Monday and was given another day off on Tuesday. He made his first visit to the track on a cool, foggy morning under his regular exercise rider J.J. Delgado. Assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado held the colt while he...

Godolphin homebred Cody's Wish (Curlin) tuned up for the Aug. 5 GI Whitney S. with a five-furlong work over the Oklahoma dirt training track in 1:02.81 (10/12) Sunday in Saratoga. Trained by Bill Mott, the 5-year-old was piloted through his breeze by assistant trainer Neil Poznansky, who guided the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner through splits of :26 2/5 and :38 2/5 before galloping out in 1:15 1/5, 1:27 1/5 and 1:41 3/5. "He just let him off the bridle and he picked it right up," said Mott. Cody's...

Nest (Curlin), last year's Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly, tuned up for her expected seasonal debut in the July 23 GII Shuvee S. with a four-furlong work in :50.00 (13/38) in company with unraced stablemate Onlooker (Street Sense) over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Sunday. "It was a good work and a nice, strong gallop out. She seemed to keep going," trainer Todd Pletcher said. Owned by Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, Nest has been off since finishing fourth in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. During...

The Oklahoma Training Track at historic Saratoga Race Course will open for the 2023 season on Monday, Apr. 17, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Wednesday. The Oklahoma barn area will open to licensed trainers and staff beginning Saturday, Apr. 15. Prior to the start of the 2023 summer meet, the Whitney Viewing Stand, which overlooks the Oklahoma track, will be open to the public free of charge on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Friday, Apr. 21 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Highlighted by the GI Travers...

The Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga will open for training Saturday, Apr. 16, NYRA announced Thursday. The barn area at the Oklahoma will open to licensed trainers and staff beginning Friday, Apr. 15. Prior to the opening of the 2022 summer meet July 14, the Whitney Viewing Stand will be open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Friday, Apr. 29 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Whitney Viewing Stand is accessible through Gate 21 on East Avenue and is free of charge.

The Whitney Viewing Stand will remain open this fall for spectators to enjoy morning workouts at the Oklahoma Training Track. Beginning Friday, Sept. 10, the public will be invited to view training at Oklahoma from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Whitney Viewing Stand will remain open during the same hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the conclusion of training for the year in November.

The renovation of the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course has been completed, according to a press release from the New York Racing Association, Inc. Horses and riders, who were welcomed to jog and gallop over the surface beginning Wednesday morning, were met with a completely reconstructed Oklahoma track featuring a limestone base, renovated surface layer and modernized drainage systems. The training track has been widened by 10-to-14 feet in most areas to address the increasing population of horses training over the Oklahoma annually from April to October. Additionally,...

Saratoga Race Course will open for spring training at 6 a.m. Saturday, Apr. 17, the New York Racing Association announced Friday. The barn area at the Oklahoma Training Track will open to horsemen  Thursday, Apr. 15. To accommodate the completion of a major renovation of the Oklahoma Training Track facility, training will begin on the main track at Saratoga Race Course. When training resumes at the Oklahoma in early May, horses and riders will be met with a completely reconstructed track featuring a limestone base, renovated surface layer and modernized...