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Best weekend events & Belmont Stakes brings the glam to Saratoga
Plus, music listings, own a racehorse (yes, really) & Deep Thoughts
Phat Chiem
June 07, 2024
Happy Friday, Capital District! Today, we’re taking a look at everything you wanted to know about the first Belmont Stakes in Saratoga 🏇 Plus, see our huge list of weekend events and a way to own a thoroughbred racehorse (yes, really).
Let’s 🛼, gang!
—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan
In Partnership With
Today in The 518
Belmont Stakes brings the glitz & glam to Saratoga 🏇
ShopRite Price Chopper / Market 32 stores opening next week
Plus, your best bets this weekend, Feel Good Friday & Deep Thoughts 🧠
📣 TALK OF THE TOWN
And we’re off to the races! 📷️ NYRA
Belmont Stakes brings prized ponies & glam to Saratoga
It’s Saratoga’s moment to shine in front of a national audience.
Although crowds were thinner than expected on Thursday, the frenzy will reach a crescendo on Saturday when the final jewel of the Triple Crown—the $2 million Belmont Stakes—runs at Saratoga Race Course for the first time. The festivities began Wednesday night, when 15-20K people packed Broadway to see Blues Traveler.
The NYRA has poured more than $100 million into renovations for the world-class race course. The venue now sports a new lower clubhouse area and the elegant Jim Dandy Bar, complete with historical images of the race course. Both are open to anyone with a ticket for the four-day Belmont festival or regular 40-day meet, starting July 11.
Admittedly, we know next to nothing about betting on horses. NBC Sports tells us that Sierra Leone is the favorite, followed by Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey. Fun fact: Sierra Leone’s trainer, Chad Brown, is a Mechanicville native who grew up around the racetrack. We’re rooting for you, Chad!
The NY Times shows us “how to pick the winner of the Belmont.” Btw, NYRA Bets is offering a free $25 bet and a $200 deposit match for new members. If you’re going, be sure to check the dress code so you and your Bermudas 🩳 don’t get turned away.
Not hot to trot? There are plenty of other activities around the racetrack, and great food to boot. Many will prefer to sprint away from the madness in Saratoga this weekend, or just watch the race on Fox instead.
Price Chopper to open 4 former ShopRite stores
For the first time in 90 years, the Price Chopper chain will open four new stores on the same day—June 14 at 8 am sharp (with ribbon-cutting ceremonies at 9:30 am.) The stores were bought from ShopRite, after the grocery bailed on the Capital Region. Wrong move, ShopRite.
The new Market 32 stores are located at 709 and 1730 Central Ave in Albany and Colonie; 2333 Nott Street East in Niskayuna, and 102 Van Rensselaer Square in North Greenbush.
Btw, on June 14-15 only, customers at all four locations will get a 5% discount on their grocery bill 👏
🌞 WEATHER WATCH
“When it is hottest in June, it will be coldest in the correlating days of the following February." —Farmer’s Almanac
Time to break out your fancy rain boots. Looks like a 💦 weekend for ponies and Pride 🏳️🌈
⛈️ Friday 79°/57° 💧 84%
🌦️ Saturday 74°/56° 💧 70%
⛈️ Sunday 73°/55° 💧 82%
A message from our partner
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🗞️ CAPITAL DISTRICT DIGEST
DeFazio’s is expanding in Troy
DeFazio's Pizza moves ahead with $2 million expansion
Troy’s beloved pizza joint, DeFazio’s, will soon open a new location in Little Italy with a full-service eatery, event space and commercial kitchen. The third-generation family business received $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to support the expansion. Btw, you can now get DeFazio’s pies at Indian Ladder Farms and Albany Distilling Company.
Restaurant roundup: Openings & closings in 2024
It’s been a busy time for restaurateurs around the Capital Region. Her’es a list of every major opening and closing so far this year. Notables include TikTok star Dylan Longton’s Pretty Alright Breakfast Club Cafe in Voorheesville; Hattie’s in Albany; and Tacos Diablo in Guilderland’s Hamilton Square. Still hungry? Check out News10’s list of upcoming openings around the region.
Trouble brewing at Schenectady’s Union College
Union College needs to attract more applicants and cut its budget deficit, but proposals to change its academic programs are being met with fierce opposition from faculty members. Founded in 1795, the private liberal arts college is facing some of the same challenges that led to the closure of Albany’s College of Saint Rose and Wells College in the Finger Lakes. The Times Union has the full story.
🎟️ FULL WEEKEND ROUNDUP
📸 Zachary-Hatgimisios for Capital Pride
⭐ = The 518 Staff Picks
⭐ Albany First Friday | 5-9p, Friday, free. Kick off your busy weekend around the Capital Region with an evening stroll along Lark Street and visit with a variety of vendors. Other events happening around the city as well, including City Hall, Albany Elks Lodge, First Presbyterian Church and the Capitol Building.
Movies Under the Stars: Elemental | Preshow at 7:30p, movie at 8:30p, Fri, free. Arbor Hill Elementary School, Albany. Bring a lawn chair and watch the Disney/Pixar flick (hopefully sans rain).
⭐️ 22nd Annual Cambridge Valley Balloon Festival | See hot air balloons, enjoy carnival rides and food vendors, plus a fireworks show. Tethered rides available for purchase this year! Starting Friday night through Sunday. Btw, check out this guide for what to do and where to eat in the Village of Cambridge.
State Street Yoga | Join friends and neighbors for a free, all-levels yoga class on the beautiful lawn at SUNY Plaza, led by instructors from Hot Yoga Spot. Every Saturday in June and July. 10-11a, SUNY Plaza, Albany.
⭐️ Belmont Stakes and Belmont on Broadway Festival | All weekend. The first-ever running of the Belmont Stakes in Saratoga is something special. The Daily Gazette has the full guide to the event, and check out other events at the Belmont on Broadway fest.
All-Ages Belmont Stakes Viewing Party | 4-6:30p, Sat. Tix: $17.85-$33.85. Saratoga Living and the Children's Museum at Saratoga are teaming up to host a family-friendly Belmont viewing party. Paper hat-making and other horse-related activities for the kiddies, cash bar for the grownups.
American Music Festival | 7:30-9:30p, Sat, EMPAC at RPI. Ticket prices vary. With Grammy-winning flutist Brandon Patrick George and the Albany High School Chamber Choir.
⭐️ Capital District Renaissance Festival | 11a–6p, Sat-Sun. Tickets: $20-$25 for adults, $5 for children. Take yourself back to the 15th century for a weekend of magic and wonder at Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont.
Albany Twilight Market | 5-9p, Sat, free. Quackenbush Square, Albany. A night market for the strange and unusual. Note: No tickets are required for this event; just show up!
NatureBus Walks: An Introduction to Tivoli Lake Preserve | Noon-1:30p, Sat, free. Tivoli Lake Preserve, Livingston and Judson parking lot, Albany. Join a guided tour of the second largest urban preserve in NYS. Walk will be 1.5 miles with two steep (but short) sections.
⭐️ Summer Craft Fair at Shaker Heritage Society | 10a-4p, Sat-Sun. Admission is ‘pay what you want.’ Shaker Heritage Society, 25 Meeting House Rd, Albany. 60+ regional artisans selling Shaker-themed crafts, plus a petting zoo, sheep shearing, local treats and live music.
Cars and Coffee | 9a-12p, Sat. Donations accepted. Old Stone Fort, 145 Fort Rd, Schoharie. Automotive enthusiasts and history buffs come together for a memorable morning at the historic Old Stone Fort.
⭐️ Capital PRIDE Parade & Festival | Join thousands of out-and-proud festival goers for one of the biggest Pride parades in upstate NY. 11:30a, Sun, free. Washington Park, Albany. And look for other Pride events across the Capital Region here.
Albany Comic Con | 10a-4p, Sun, $10 (plus ticket fees). Over 75 tables of vendors, artists and writers of comics and collectibles. Bonus points for showing up in full cosplay 🦸
Antique Fair at Clifton Park Center Mall | 9a-3p, Sun, free. 22 Clifton Country Rd, Clifton Park. Over 60 vendors, featuring antique fixtures, furniture, toys, vintage clothing and other collectibles.
🏇 FEEL GOOD FRIDAY
Will Seize the Grey seize the day? 📷️ Kentucky Derby
Yes, you too can own a thoroughbred racehorse
Did you know that Seize the Grey, the Preakness Stakes winner, has more than 2,500 owners? The crowd favorite is redefining racehorse ownership with a unique model that allows for 5,000 shares in the 3-year-old colt. When he was sold two years ago at the Fasig-Tipton fairgrounds, blocks from the Saratoga Race Course, shares were going for just $127 🤯
So you don’t need to be in the top 1% to own a Preakness (and maybe Belmont) winning thoroughbred. You do need to be early and a bit lucky. Sadly, shares in Seize the Grey are sold out. But you can find shares in other horses (starting at just $100), including one trained by Jena Antonucci, winner of last year’s Belmont. Go to myracehorse.com to see how it works.
🧠 DEEP THOUGHTS FOR THE CAPITAL DISTRICT
🤔 If the Belmont Stakes doesn’t run at Belmont Park, can you still call it the Belmont Stakes? Should it be Saratoga Stakes this year?
🤔 If they’re making the NY Thruway restrooms smaller, why are we making the Stewart’s Shops larger? (h/t Inevitable-Careerist)
🤔 Saratoga Springs is also called Saratoga, which is different from the town of Saratoga. But residents of both call their city “Toga”?
🤔 Why is nothing on Pearl Street open past 3 PM? Don't they like money and want more people to go out? Answer: Because Albany nightlife desperately needs help. (h/t BigBlueCase)
🤔 It’s hot outside. Why not open the Central Warehouse to cool things down? Answer: Probably because the building’s been abandoned since the 1990s. Please let’s tear it down already. (h/t ZucchiniPleasant376)
🎸 LIVE MUSIC ROUNDUP
Friday 6/7 | Kathy Mattea Close Up | Cohoes Music Hall Live & Local at The Linda | WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio Glass Pony | Palace Theatre (free show!) Albany Symphony’s Dogs of Desire | EMPAC Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams | Caffe Lena (Fri-Sat) |
Saturday 6/8 | Deveria | Empire Live Fat Joe | Empire Live An Evening with Amy Speace | The Linda / WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio Casket / Flatwounds / King Mob | No Fun |
Sunday 6/9 | Folk Heritage Series: Steve Forbert Duo | Caffe Lena (sold out) |
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