The New York Racing Association and FOX Sports announced Wednesday the return of Saratoga Live, the critically-acclaimed and award-winning television show providing in-depth coverage and analysis of the 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course.
Saratoga Live will provide full card coverage of nearly every race day to a national audience on the FOX Sports family of networks beginning Thursday, July 15th.
The 2021 summer meet, which will mark the return of fans to Saratoga following the lifting of COVID-19 protocols in New York State, will feature 76 Stakes worth $21.5 million in total purses, highlighted by the 152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million dollar Travers on Saturday, August 28th.
Season six of Saratoga Live will offer fans the most extensive and comprehensive coverage yet with more than 220 hours of live programming during the 2021 summer meet, which runs from Thursday, July 15th through Labor Day, Monday, September 6th.
Saratoga Live will begin at 1:00, with the exception of both Whitney and Travers day which feature first Post Times of 12:30.
NYRA and FOX Sports began their collaboration in 2016 during the first season of Saratoga Live, when FS2 aired 80 hours of live coverage of the summer meet.
Since then, coverage of horse racing on FOX Sports has grown considerably each year. In 2020, FOX Sports aired more than 700 hours of horse racing coverage and analysis on its family of networks.
In March, FOX Sports and NYRA announced an expanded partnership agreement that established FOX Sports as the official wagering partner of NYRA Bets and extends FOX Sports‘ television rights agreement with NYRA through 2030.
In yet another expansion to the Saratoga Live schedule, 2021 will see the addition of Saratoga’s weekly steeplechase events to the coverage, generally held as the first race of the card on Wednesday or Thursday.
“The continued growth and expanded reach of Saratoga Live reflects the sustained excellence of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course,” said Tony Allevato, Chief Revenue Officer at NYRA. “It’s our privilege to present the most extensive and comprehensive racing coverage in the country and we are looking forward to a spectacular summer at the Spa.”
Yes indeed Tony, let us all have a $pectactular $ummer at $aratoga.
