Jenny Kellner
NYRA/Saratoga Race Course

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When the noted British architect, John Carr, designed and built the first grandstand at York race course in 1754, little did anyone know that it would be an enduring prototype for racetrack grandstands around the world for the next 250 years.

On Thursday, Aug. 5, in the first event open to the public at Fasig-Tipton’s newly renovated sales pavilion, Paul Roberts of the London-based Turnberry Consulting will trace the development of race courses from ancient Rome and Lebanon and their formal beginnings in England, through the construction of Saratoga Race Course and the completion of Meydan in Dubai.
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NYRA photo
Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion.
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“England to Dubai: A World Race Course Tour” begins at 7 p.m. and will be introduced by Charles Hayward, president and CEO of The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA).

“This is an example of how both NYRA and Fasig-Tipton are working together to give back to the community,” said Charles W. Wheeler, NYRA’s Manager of Planning and Community Relations. “During sales week, NYRA and Fasig-Tipton want to provide a total racing experience for those who come to Saratoga from all over the world to attend the sale.”

The presentation is part of Sales Week at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion, with Fasig-Tipton’s 90th annual selected yearling sale set to take place on August 2-3 and the New York-bred preferred yearlings sale on August 7-8.

Additionally, fans can bid on saddlecloths from NYRA, Ascot, Melbourne in Flemington, Australia, the Curragh in Waterford, Ireland and a jacket from York in a silent auction to benefit Preservation Foundation.

Tickets for the event, presented by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and co-sponsored by the Fasig-Tipton Company and NYRA, are $10 and will be available that evening at the door.

Roberts, an international expert on race courses and their history, is an advisor to Ascot and York in England and currently serves as an advisor to NYRA on plans for improvements to Aqueduct Racetrack, BelmontPark, and Saratoga Race Course. He also works with the Saratoga Race Course Coalition to pursue a balanced approach to the preservation and modernization at Saratoga.

The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, founded in 1977, has been actively involved in working with community leaders and developers and citizenry to promote, preserve and enhance  the architectural  cultural and landscape heritage of the city.

Fasig-Tipton is North America’s oldest Thoroughbred auction company and its Saratoga sale of selected yearlings is one of the premier horse auctions in the world, boasting among its graduates the great Man o’War.