NYRA’s ‘Saratoga Live’ Launches With New Twists

The beginning of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet means the beginning of NYRA’s special “Saratoga Live” broadcasting to racing fans across the country. The show, which partners with FOX Sports Network, welcomes a handful of new changes and segments to the popular broadcast.

“Every year we are looking to raise awareness for racing, grow handle, grow viewership and I think we have a great team behind and in front of the camera to do that,” said Eric Donovan, NYRA’s senior director of TV Broadcast Operations. “We’re lucky to do a few new things this year.”

From the production side, the show is launching two new segments centered on wagering. The first, “Beat the Favorite, Bet the Favorite,” involves identifying race favorites with the analysts’ conclusions on whether playing the race favorite is a key to the race or the favorite is a horse they can toss from their tickets. A second gambling-focused segment will feature a race day bankroll competition between Saratoga Live’s three renowned handicappers Andy Serling, Paul Lo Duca, and Jonathan Kinchen.

Donovan noted that if these segments are successful, they would likely continue when the show returns to “America’s Day at the Races” at Aqueduct Racetrack in the fall.

Every Saturday from July 20 to Aug. 24, FOX Sports will partner in race day production. Donovan said the Saratoga Live crew in front and behind the camera will likely remain the same, but that production will be amplified on major stakes Saturdays.

“There’s more features, more interviews. There’s more close-up shots of the horses—shots of them walking, bathing, in their stall,” Donovan said. “We’re trying to get those horse shots out as much as possible. Everyone can see them racing in the afternoon or in the paddock but we want the viewer to know what their morning is like, and what their daily routine is like outside of race day.”

Donovan said the production team will also utilize drones during Fox Saturday coverage to provide viewers with an enhanced visual display of the day’s racing action.

“We used drone coverage on Belmont Stakes Day, which was a big success,” Donovan said. “In the past, we used helicopters and airplanes and those were great, but you can’t get as low as you can with a drone.”

The Saratoga Live broadcast is available on the FS1 and FS2 television networks in addition to the Fox Sports app throughout the meet. Viewers can also access coverage through NYRA’s YouTube page. A new live stream appears on the YouTube every day before first post.

“We’re just trying to sell the Saratoga experience,” Donovan said. “There’s so many people that have been up here and return year after year but there’s still a lot of people across the country that haven’t gotten the chance to come to Saratoga. I think one of the best ways to sell racing is to sell an experience like Saratoga.”