Saratoga Springs is festooned with all manner of racing regalia, as you’d expect of the biggest game in town. We’ve got multi-coloured horse statues, signs, flags, red and white 1/8 mile posts and, naturally, lawn jockeys grace hundreds of homes. An up-market hotel boozer features not one, but two life-size horse heads poking out the backbar. This is down to a couple of factors. A lot of people here really love thoroughbred horse racing and a lot of people here make a lot of money from it. Sometimes both. Racing is America’s oldest national sport and it began well before we were a nation. I have many vices though betting on the nags isn’t one - but I do have a wealth of knowledge about the sport’s history. Consider the humble lawn jockey.
© 2024 John Oliver
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