IT felt free. Arriving in Saratoga this summer, it felt free. Almost like the old days when I threw a tack bag in the trunk of my car, a couple of sport coats hanging behind the seat, a wad of cash and a credit card in my pocket and headed north, the only thing guaranteed to lose was a security deposit on a summer rental.

Yes, it was free. Saratoga always felt free. Early mornings. Late nights. And epic afternoons of the sport’s best.

Back then, it was 24 days. It’s stretched to 40 days over two months nowadays. Yes, our version of the five days of Royal Ascot and the pending five days of Cheltenham. Our festival goes 40 days. As Hall of Fame trainer Woody Stephens once said: “It’s the not the 24 days that get you but the 24 nights.”

Now, our nights are spent on deadline, pounding out The Saratoga Special. This is our 21st year, or as we like to say our 20.5th after going virtual/digital last year.

I started to make the trek to Saratoga a few times last year. The meet was restricted to essential people and I qualified but every time I started to go, something stopped me. A jock’s agent friend who was here put it best, or worst: “You don’t want to see her like this.”

No, I didn’t want to see her like that – empty, cavernous, lonely – racing for the money and nothing else, the place echoing with only by-gone ghosts. I stayed home, yearning for the Saratoga I knew but not interested in the Saratoga no one knew.

I don’t think I ever took it for granted but missing last year has certainly added to the respect and appreciation I have for the best race meet this country has to offer. Like so many others, Saratoga is in my soul, burrowed deep from the first day, back in 1973, when I stood on a green park bench, binoculars backward, watching Secretariat fall to Onion in the Whitney.

The wins and losses have continued, each win giving and each loss taking, a constant tug of war. And, again, after missing last year, we are thankful for that tug of war.

Open

It began with the tug to be here. As Covid numbers fell, the prospects of an open Saratoga became reality. On July 15th, we were back. No masks. No social distancing. No sanitizing stations. Fans lined up along Union Avenue in the morning, or some at night, and bolted through the gates, 27,760 to be exact.

The horses broke for the first and everything seemed right in the world.

Golden Pal won the Grade 3 Quick Call for Wesley Ward and Coolmore

“He’s the best I’ve ever had,” Ward said. “No doubt. No doubt about it. No doubt about it.”

Pretty Birdie won the Grade 3 Schuylerville for the iconic Marylou Whitney Stable. Whitney died two summers ago, there was nothing more poignant than seeing a length-of-the-page homebred win in her eton blue and brown silks.

“I wish she was here; she would love this,” Whitney’s husband John Hendrickson said. “Saratoga is open, she won a race, things are the way they should be. The only thing missing is her. She would be so happy and so proud.”

Two days later, favorite Wit dominated the Grade 3 Sanford for two-year-olds.

Owned by Repole Stable, Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable and Gainesway Stable, the son of Practical Joke broke leisurely, gradually moved up and gradually took over, storming to an eight-length win for Todd Pletcher and Irad Ortiz Jr.

“He ran the way he looked. He breaks, he gathers himself…” Viola said. “It was an elite performance.”

I’ve learned to temper my enthusiasm for juvenile winners at Saratoga, but this was as good as any.

Godolphin

A race later, Godolphin continued their prolific year, going one-two in the Grade 1 Diana with Althiqa and Summer Romance. First and second in the Just A Game at Belmont Park on June 5th, the British-based duo came back and did it again. European-breds swept the first three places and five of the first six spots. Yes, it’s humbling to the American-breds.

Caravel, bred, owned and trained by Lizzie Merryman won the Grade 3 Caress for all the little people out there. There were tears in the winner’s circle that day.

Rain decimated the Sunday card. OK, it’s not always perfect in Saratoga.

Maracuja shocked the world with an up-back-and-up-again rally to nail the previously undefeated Malathaat in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. Sent off 14/1 in the field of four, the daughter of Honor Code reminded us that this was the place where Upset beat Man o’ War. The bygone ghosts were making noise again.

Rain wiped out another card, or maybe two cards, they were starting to run together.

Dynamic One won the restricted Curlin Stakes to throw his hat into the Travers ring for the realistic Pletcher.

“Look, the Curlin is different than the Travers and tomorrow there are some nice horses running who will show up in the Travers,” Pletcher said. “It won’t get easier, but I think at the same time, he’s getting better.”

Tomorrow came and Essential Quality narrowed the ring, winning the Jim Dandy with aplomb. Bred and owned by Godolphin, the son of Tapit circled the field to win by a half-length. Trained by Brad Cox, Essential Quality is now seven-for-eight. His only loss coming in a rough-and-tumble Kentucky Derby.

“I’d say he’s the most accomplished three-year-old in the country,” Cox said. “I’m not one to brag on my own horse but he’s a very good colt. He ran a winning race in the Kentucky Derby, the only defeat in his career. He’s a damn good colt.”

Brag away.

A race before the Jim Dandy, Lexitonian upset the Grade 1 Vanderbilt for Calumet and Jack Sisterson. Sent off 34/1, the five-year-old fought like the first dog on the last bone to roust a half-length win over Special Reserve and a gallant Whitmore.

“He deserves a Grade 1,” Sisterson said.

Sunday, Jackie’s Warrior ripped the first quarter in 21.46s and a half in 43.85s and six and a half furlongs in 1:15.46 to win the Grade 2 Amsterdam for trainer Steve Asmussen, who inched ever closer to the all-time win record.

Sixteen days down, sales week looms. And, sadly, Covid numbers rise. Each day, more masks, more mandates, more concerns and more conversation about vaccines and the variant. Saratoga doesn’t seem as free as a few weeks ago.