The National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, NY

Jane Murray, Director of Services for TRA, rides like a jockey on the mechanical horse at the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

A highlight of my recent trip to Saratoga was a visit to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Along with other participants at the International Simulcast Conference held in Saratoga Springs, I attended a special reception and tour of the museum. I felt like a kid in a candy shop for the two hours I was there and could have spent an entire day wandering through the many exhibits and galleries. Of special interest were the life-size replications of a jockeys room, jockey scale, and racing office.

Life-size jocks room exhibit, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Life-size jockey scale exhibit, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

According to the official museum guide, the National Museum of Racing was established in 1950 by a group of prominent racing people led by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. The museum first opened in 1951 in a temporary location at the Canfield Casino in Congress Park. Four years later, the museum moved to a newly constructed facility at 191 Union Avenue, directly across the street from the racecourse. The location for the new museum was a section of a lot first developed in 1894 by Joseph J. Gleason, a famous bookmaker of the time known as "one, two, three Gleason."

Jennifer L. Rickman, Operations Manager, welcomes guests
to the National Museum of Racing.

The National Museum of Racing opened to the public on June 2, 1956. In 1979, the Hall of Fame wing was added. Today, the museum runs a formal outreach program with traveling Hall of Fame kiosks, an interractive traveling exhibit for children, curriculum and educational materials for schools, and a website. The unique horse racing simulator was developed and opened to the public in 2006.

The National Museum of Racing is definitely an attraction not to be missed when visiting Saratoga!