The Latest on Fans at Saratoga

If 20 percent of fans are going to be allowed to watch horse racing at Belmont Park starting on April 23^rd, that percentage has to grow before Saratoga opens in the second week of July. Capacity at Saratoga is between 50-60 thousand, and that should mean 10-15 thousand fans on the ground for opening day. If they only count grand stand seating, then the number will change drastically. No matter what, having fans in the house at Saratoga will be a welcome site.

In the above segment I expand on my thoughts on the fans announcement as well as preview today's unveiling of the new Lacrosse team name. Here are some highlights:

• By July so many people will be able to be vaccinated and the hope is the infection rate will be even better. So that 20% should go up by the time the Saratoga meet begins.
• NYRA is currently thinking about Belmont and how many fans will be able to go the Belmont Stakes in June and the capacity of Belmont Park is 90,000 but you only get 20% of the reserved seating at Belmont and therefore the number of fans in attendance will be much lower.
•  If we end up with just 20% at Saratoga though I really do hope it is 20& of capacity and not reserved seating like at Belmont. We will see.
• Lastly for the team name unveiling today, the Albany Attack seems like the favorite but the Albany Black Arrows or Albany FireWolves could sneak in a victory. I have no idea what my partner, Eric Hannmann, was talking about above so make sure to listen to some reference he has on why he likes a particular name in the segment at the top.