Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Stan.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: And I'm Shen.
[00:00:03] Speaker A: And each week we bring you the Stan and Shen Show.
And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the capital region. We touch on food, we touch on news, try to touch heavily on good news. And Shen's always available with hot takes.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So if you could follow along and listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms, we'd love to have you join us.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Stan.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: And I'm Shen.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: And we are here in the Discover Saratoga offices with Daryl Legieri. And we are here to talk all things Belmont.
2025.
[00:00:43] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: With a question mark on 2026.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: With personal hopes and dreams and angst for my co host for 2026.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: So thank you for taking the time.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: Glad to be here.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: And just from your point of view.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Well, hold on. First question. Did he butcher your last name?
[00:01:03] Speaker C: No, he nailed it.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Look, see, there you go. You're a great start.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: I put that out there.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: So from your point of view and your staff, which we've had conversations several times of how much I appreciate the work of your staff and everything they do, setting the bar high regarding social media, but for Saratoga as a whole, just doing a bang up job, how we know how much work, we can't imagine how much work went in, but how did everything go as we look back Monday morning quarterbacking this.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And thanks for pointing out the staff, they do work hard. They put a lot of time, effort and creativity into the whole product and it's nice to hear you say that. Belmont this year, huge success. We are so happy as a community.
You know, we had last year as kind of a road map. Last year we didn't know what to expect. There was a lot going on, there was a lot of things being said. The hundreds of thousands of people were coming and, but this year we had a roadmap. We had a year of experience under our belt and we knew what to expect. Our small businesses, our lodging partners, they had a plan and, and I think adding the extra day of racing was very helpful for our community, for our small businesses. And we, we started the Belmont on Broadway a little later. We started at 7pm to give downtown a chance to fill up and, and, and the first turn for our restaurants. So we learned a little bit from, from the previous year and we continue to grow. So all accounts, the, the whole racing festival itself was a huge success.
And anytime we get an opportunity like this, we know it's temporary. We're going to take advantage of it and. And to have these kind of activations like Belmont on Broadway and storefront decorating and, you know, themed menus, things like that. We. We took advantage of it and it really paid off big time.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: The bands.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: My wife can't say enough about the band. She made it this year to Belmont. She was not working last year as she was last year. She loved it, adored it. Right in their wheelhouse.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: Where are my Gen X people, man? Where are they?
[00:03:25] Speaker A: My.
My co host was like, who?
[00:03:28] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, that hurts.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: So that hurts. That's like. That's a. That's the stand in Chen.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: I did enjoy. I enjoyed this year. And I don't know if you noticed that this year. The crowd was.
Not to say that they weren't fun last year, but I think they brought an extra level of fun because they had, like, balloons and beach balls that they're tossing around.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: We were on the stage. I'm like, oh, boy, I got to keep an eye on these balls here. They're coming at me.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: When we were down below in sort of the. The little section, they let media in for five minutes to take photos and stuff. The security guards are all like, we're not tossing these back. So I'm over there going, yeah, there you go.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Good for you.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: Back out for you. Because I was like, this is. This is just so much fun.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: How are the bands for you and did you have any say or recommendations?
[00:04:13] Speaker C: Yeah, we. We work with Live Nation to kind of create a. A short list of opportunities. You know, bands that are touring, bands that are in our range of affordability because it all depends on sponsorship.
So. And, you know, you want a band that's going to check all the boxes in terms of the vibe, too.
You know, they are just uprooted. Was Rusted Root. You know, the remaining musicians from the Rusted Root and also the Gin Blossoms, they.
They're just in that genre that is nostalgic. The music is. Is.
Is chill. It's uplifting. It's. It's community. I mean, people were just, like, in a good mood around each other in downtown, and that's what we wanted. And. And I thought they had a great energy about them. They were very positive. I remember one, at one point, the Gin Blossom said, y were told, this is a really big show. And he's like, you know what? This is a really big show. This is a big event, man. We're excited to be here. So that was really cool. We had a great time with them, and they were easy to work with. And again, you know, the 90s genre. We had Blues Traveler last year. They did a great job. And, and I think that's kind of the sweet spot for us as we look to. To next year, if there is a next year. Right.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Well, that, that's kind of. As we're recording this, we have no official.
We have, we have speculation that I've had since day one.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: I think we've had speculation since last year made very prominent by Mike McAdams article, I think, in February about the timing of things downstate for Belmont Park.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: It appears it's going to be. But again, there's nothing official. So that's a tough one. But if there was anything to develop officially, if we're putting that up, big.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Capital letters, bold italics.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: We know nothing. We're a Schultz from Hogan's Heroes. We know nothing. We know nothing. Shannon, you can Google that.
So if you were to get a third bite of the apple, do you change anything?
[00:06:20] Speaker C: Well, if we got a third bite of the apple, that would be Saratoga's Triple Crown. Right. I mean, that would be amazing.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: It's might steal that as a headline when they make that.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Just letting you know that down the.
[00:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. It's going to be amazing for us. I mean, these two years have been a gift and from a, from economic impact perspective, but also from a PR perspective. I mean, if you had a chance to look, listen to Fox Sports talk about Saratoga. Terry Bradshaw was talking about Saratoga this weekend and how much he loved it. And this is national exposure for our, our town and our county.
That's pretty special. You can't buy that kind of pr. So to have that is in, in one year, two years, or potentially three years, we're going to take it. We're going to run with it and, and make sure we have a good time and capitalize.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: 3.8 billion, or. Excuse me, 3.18 million on the View for the Belmont Stakes is what Fox was.
[00:07:20] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't hear that. Wow.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: Which was. Which is an increase from the previous year again, because we could. We basically almost had that match race.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Between journalism, sovereignty.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Now imagine it comes back for a third year a Belmont on Broadway. Triple Crown. But one more chance at an actual Triple Crown. Junipagine. I mean, the first year, I be totally honest, I think I've said this before on the podcast, I was rooting for not a Triple Crown my first year. I think you just needed to survive.
[00:07:48] Speaker C: Bite your tongue.
[00:07:49] Speaker B: This year, I was a little more like, if we have one, it'd be kind of cool. And then.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: So now she's all, now you're all in.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: So now next year I kind of am. I'm just like, I think we got to have every year, like, we need something different.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: If you're going to go down.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Yeah. If it's going to be the last one, potentially, we tell you, we don't know.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: I think we need game winning shot.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: If someone could just make it happen. Okay, listen, horse owner.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: So.
So we're going to. We're going to. We're going to shine up the crystal ball and we're going to say when there is not a Belmont festival at Saratoga.
There was a conversation that David o' Rourke was more than happy to get behind that, continuing that tradition of that street festival with a Belmont on Broadway theme feel vibe, with a free concert on Broadway. He was all in for something around Traverse.
So has that been.
Has that been. Is there a pin in it? Like, was this discussed before? Like, hey, you know, maybe we should do this? And then all of a sudden, it became, boom, oh, we're getting Belmont. So we're gonna, you know, we're gonna. We're gonna light the match and send this thing off. But now that you have the experience, right, the vibe, the numbers, I mean, you've got two years of data, possibly three years of data, but you have two years of data at your fingertips right now to say.
To make that educated financial decision, to say, we could do this again around something. Whitney Travers, opening day. There's three big days you could pick from.
Has there been casual conversations about this?
[00:09:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think getting this year under our belt. So now we got two years of history.
There is a lot of planning, There's a lot of effort that goes into it. It's a team effort from local leadership, elected the county naira. I mean, there's a. There's a lot of people at the. At the table when we're having.
When we're making these decisions. So we've got to make sure that everybody's back on board from a sponsorship perspective, from, you know, the willingness to make it happen. But the model seemed to work. I mean, we had, you know, 15, 20,000 plus people in downtown, and everybody was in a great mood. And, you know, we've looked at what the makeup of those folks are, and a lot of them are locals, and that's great. You know, we're catering to folks that have never been here before, but we're also celebrating with the locals because it Brings a sense of pride, community pride. And I think that's really important.
It's all about our community. From the city to the county, it. It brings people together and, and you could see people like seeing each other. Oh my God, I haven't seen you in forever. Or they're bringing their kids, they're bringing their family, friends, co workers.
It was, it was super special.
And I think that's a successful model. And it brought people downtown so they could shop, they could go to restaurants, or they could discover downtown for the very first time. So I think we want to continue to have those conversations and celebrate once the Belmont's back at the Belmont, because that's where it belongs. Right?
We want to figure out another way to celebrate. And that could be one of the, One of the ways in which we do it. We just can't call it Belmont on Broadway anymore. We got to come up with another name. If we do that, maybe a contest.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Discover. Saratoga sponsors a contest.
[00:11:30] Speaker C: There you go. There you go.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: So if we get it, if you get another gig on Broadway.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Whether it be a Belmont on Broadway or a Traverse Festival, you know, racing down Broadway type of thing.
We asked this to Todd. So this is the hot seat question.
[00:11:51] Speaker C: What did he say?
Ask the question. Go ahead.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: What are your two bands?
[00:11:57] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
Well, I mean, how about the Rolling Stones? Right? But you can't have the Rolling Stones. Right, Exactly.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: This book.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: If there was no budget that existed that he's doing Rolling Stones.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:09] Speaker C: Stones. The chief of police would. Would have. Have my, My, my hide if we brought a high profile band like that.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: And I don't know, it depends on if he likes them or not.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: Right. Exactly. Exactly. No, I mean, yeah, it's. That's a great. Did Todd give you a name? I. I'm not.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: I can't.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: We haven't really.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: The top of my head.
[00:12:28] Speaker C: He doesn't know.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: Todd was tough. Todd was tough. I, I mean, I was.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: I think he might have given us one if he could. If he could get them one, but I can't.
[00:12:36] Speaker A: I'll help you out. I'll help you out.
So this was a front runner on my research and putting out feelers to try to get a heads up of who is coming just for research purposes.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: We are really good. So we knew.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: You knew. And fully embargoed we were. We just had to push the button and fortunately, kind of, you know, the band put it out. But from my research, and I was all in on this. And the bride was all in on this.
Was it just happened again. Touring Bare Naked Ladies.
So that was.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: That's actually one I've heard of.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: You have?
[00:13:13] Speaker B: I have.
[00:13:14] Speaker C: Because they're in the same genre.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: That's the sole reason.
[00:13:18] Speaker C: Cause why?
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Big Bang Theory.
[00:13:21] Speaker C: Jesus.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: It's a great show.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Well, welcome to my widow.
[00:13:25] Speaker C: Oh, I know.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: Who is that?
[00:13:27] Speaker C: I know.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: What is that?
It's through the whole office. I have to wait for some of the veterans to come in just to mention like Hogan's Heroes or mash.
[00:13:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Or anything. And then the rest of it's like just that blank stare.
Who is that? But then I get the same thing. It's on occasion, but I'm not as blatant about the age difference.
[00:13:48] Speaker C: All right, I'm gonna write down Barenaked Ladies and we're gonna, we're gonna check that out.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Check that out. Yeah, but. But again, you think the two band version works with that time?
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, as much as we loved having all three bands last year, it just kind of shortened the window a little bit to give f to get here after the track because we did have that extra day of racing. We didn't have the racing last year, so. But this year we did. So I think it really made sense to condense that a little bit and give people more time.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Just going to throw it out there again in case it does come back one more year. Just saying part of Broadway is closed down. We've really been pushing for like a little festival, like get the vendors out, put them on the sidewalk.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: So what we pitched. We pitched the Todd when we did this in February, I think. Yeah, I think we did.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: It was pre.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: So the only thing Shannon I thought of.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: It's empty.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: It is empty.
[00:14:41] Speaker C: What's empty? What are you talking about?
[00:14:42] Speaker A: Broadway, when you start closing. Oh, there's her Broadway portion. So again, obviously the first portion has to be closed immediately because the stage setup and things like that, pretty extensive vendor. So when you get further down. When you go further down Broadway and you're for safety, again, all safety purposes, but open that up to your community partners.
Wellspring, you know, other sponsors, State Farm. So they're doing. They're being. I guess we call it tabling I think is the term.
So that type of girls, Northeastern Girl Scouts, you know, cookie sales, inside the barrier. You know, keeping your walkways free, putting them inside the barrier from 12 to 4.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: And then they're out. Okay. So they're out at. Maybe they're out at five.
[00:15:29] Speaker C: Well, that's. That's something certainly can consider. I thought you were talking about, like, food trucks and stuff like that because. Or. Or retail vendors. I mean, just. I feel like downtown. Yeah, Downtown stands on its own.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:15:42] Speaker C: We want.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: This is all the IVD partners.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: This is the business the Gazette could totally table, too, so.
[00:15:48] Speaker C: Oh, there it is.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Bring Newsy, our mascot. Our lone mascot.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Everybody, you know, the chamber, you know, yourselves, you know, everybody. The stakeholders within Saratoga County.
[00:15:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: You know, out there to let people know they're here.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: And I think part of the thing was, like, we also just noticed, like, I love seeing the guys play phrase B down the middle of Broadway, but, like, there's also just. There's other businesses, and it's still in that area.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: So many businesses went. This went on the sidewalk.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: You know, they did. But maybe this is the opportunity to encourage them to extend their storefronts out. And obviously, they get first dibs on those vendor space.
You know, impressions, you know, carries on. Dark horse, carries out.
[00:16:28] Speaker C: I'm writing this all down. I'm writing this all down.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: It's on the podcast. You can review it anytime you could. You could forward it, you know, to Arus Bacon Suggestions. You know, we're doing this, so we're not taking time in a city council meeting.
[00:16:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Is what we're doing. We're making this on demand for. For everyone.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: We figured tell. Tell two of the most important people, you and Todd.
[00:16:47] Speaker A: That's not as do. And then we just carry it on and things like that.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: You need me to talk to Phil Barrett?
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Because Phil, Sarah took me. You know, again, this is a Saratoga county event, so we've got a lot of. A lot of partners in Saratoga. He's been a great part, you know, whether it be the barn tours, you know, upcoming, which I think is going to be wonderful. I saw some of the date changes on that. Huge fan.
Somebody's going to go on a barn tour with me this year.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: Apparently, I'm going.
[00:17:13] Speaker C: All right.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: A barn tour this year.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: All right. Have fun.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:16] Speaker C: That sounds exciting.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: We'll wear different shoes.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. Dress appropriately.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: So before she goes, I don't know about the barn tour.
It starts with breakfast at the track. Okay, she's it.
[00:17:26] Speaker C: You got to get up early, though.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: As long as it's free food.
[00:17:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: As long as there's breakfast. As long as John's signing for it.
[00:17:32] Speaker C: Some motivation.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Yep. We'll return that one in. How is it for your staff? I mean, again, are you. And again, doing this for as long as we have.
So often you're in the middle of it, you know, you're. You're oiling the gears. You're keep. You're keeping the gears aligned.
You're putting out proverbial fires.
Did you and your staff have moments where you were like, yes, we did it again? Cause you did.
We're time.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: I mean, did you throw yourself pizza party?
[00:18:05] Speaker A: 18,000 people that are gonna say, just.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Saying, after last year's Belmont, you kick butt. We had a pizza party in our office. Ours has been out, but I'm still.
I'm just kind of like, eh, we kind of deserve one again.
[00:18:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we were all a little more stressed out last year because we just didn't know what to expect. I rem. Remember when we were thanking sponsors, introducing the first band at six o' clock, and we're all up there saying, hello, Saratoga. And there was probably like 50 people down there. We're like, oh, my God, where is everybody? What's going on? And then as the music started, you know, people came, so. And then it was obviously the big crowds that we all have seen. But this year we're like, okay, we know they're coming. We know they're getting what they're going to do. It's. So we weren't as stressed out, but it is. It is a heavy lift, but, man, it's. How lucky are we to live in this community and be able to have all of these amazing assets right in our backyard? And downtown Saratoga Springs is one of them. So to just be able to work hard to bring people to our destination, it's a labor of love. It's very rewarding. Our team worked really hard. They did a great job, as did the other teams of, you know, the dba, the Chamber, sedc, the Saratoga Springs City center, the City hall, the Police department, dpw. I mean, we all came together, everybody had a seat at the table, and we're like, how do we make this work? Department of Accounts can't forget them either. The mayor's office, I mean, everybody just really said, let's make this happen. And it's a. It's. It's a. It's a rewarding thing. I just. I can't.
I can't say how special it is to me. I mean, this is something I'm always going to remember.
And this week, when I think we took a nice sigh of relief was Belmont Saturday, when the weather broke and the sun came out and we saw the crowds, we had a great race, right? I mean, it was. It was exciting.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: It was a good race.
[00:20:08] Speaker C: It was a good race.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: It was our horse didn't win.
[00:20:11] Speaker C: Oh, is that what it is? I'm like, what?
Sovereignty?
[00:20:16] Speaker A: Sovereignty was looking strong.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: We had a root for journalism.
[00:20:20] Speaker C: I, I understand that.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: And again, if you've heard me say it, you know, and I'll say it to the end of time, was, you know, I wanted every newspaper across the nation to just have that 100 point headline. Journalism wins.
[00:20:31] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: You know, let's frame that bad.
[00:20:34] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: We got the presidential wins. We got, you know, big moments in history and things like that.
But journalism wins. I would personally tell the publisher for an extra 100 copies for me and I'll take every.
And frame that from Springfield.
So again, part of the Stan and Shen show is fun and excitement.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: Oh, wait, do you have a fun question? Because I have a fun question.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: I've got a hard hitting question.
[00:20:57] Speaker C: Oh, oh. I was not briefed prior.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: Okay.
How'd you do Saturday at the track?
Naira Betts win.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: Or did Daryl win? Darrell was a family. Did the estate win?
[00:21:12] Speaker C: So, so Daryl won, but I can. But Naira Bets also won because I can never figure out how to get my money out of the account when I win.
I think they do that by design and good for them because then I'll just keep using it for the, for the. When July 4th festival and then the regular meet.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: So for the regular meet, there will be a contest. A Stan and Shen handicapping contest.
[00:21:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:36] Speaker A: Will we be breaking down a day? So I guess you have to go for a day.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: I know nothing about horse racing, but that's how it be based off of cute names.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: What's, what's your.
What's your go to when you, when you look at your racing form in your program, what's, what's your go to strategy, if you're willing to share.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: Well, when I, when I'm going to the track and I know I'm going to play some bets, I text my dad because my dad loves the horses and he's always following it.
And so he gives me what he's thinking and he's got some resources that he uses. And between all of us, we figure out a game plan and we usually have some fun.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: It's a family plan.
[00:22:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: Okay. See, my dad loves racing, but not horses.
This was nascar. It was nascar. I think I probably win.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: We should get him in the NASCAR next year. We gotta get him in our NASCAR pool.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: So me and my dad used to drive. He used to race cars. Oh, yeah. Down at Fulton Speed.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: So.
[00:22:33] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:22:34] Speaker A: I'll. I'll repeat this when we do our handicapping, but I love to tell this story is my father was. Was a handicapper, but we lived in Hancock, New York, so it was harness racing. It was not a seller or Yonkers.
[00:22:46] Speaker B: Feel like you're at an advantage for this?
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Well, it's a different form of horse racing. So my father would have. Then he had the racing form. Chili be the racing form. So my dad would be at the local watering hole and he'd be there marking the whole thing up. You know, big strike through this horse. Big strike through that horse. And they make notations on the jockeys.
So he'd have jockeys he absolutely hated. Like he was the. He was that better. Who would be at the winner's circle yelling at a jockey because they won this race, but they didn't win the previous two and screwed up a trifecta or a quinella or something cost him money.
So as my father would mark things up, he would make a note next to the jockey's name. So he would cross out the jockey's name and he would write down Kroll.
[00:23:24] Speaker C: Ooh, damn.
[00:23:27] Speaker A: So dad would take a phone call or go do something, taking it personally. And the bartender, a true friend of the family, would look, said, dave, let me leave your racing for him. He goes, oh, go ahead. So he's there one day and he's like, dave, I've never heard of this jockey who's this crunk.
That's great. And that was my father's. He goes, oh, that's. You know, he would just. He would just. So that was my introduction to harness racing and racing and Monticello all the time. And go to Burning Downs.
[00:23:57] Speaker C: Love it.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: You know, go to the Vernon, go to Verona Beach. Verona Beach, Beach. And then off to Verona at night and things like that. So read it. Read his reader's format of betting is anyone out of the New York bread Sire Freud wife being a psychology major undergrad and psych master in social welfare.
[00:24:18] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: So the New York Brad Freud has. Has sired so many winners. And then the names then go Freud's me.
[00:24:25] Speaker C: I stick with that same theme.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: So she sees a cat, she circled it. Or out of. Out of the eight post position is Pink. That's Rita's go to. So we'll have her on.
[00:24:36] Speaker C: And that's works well for her, I guess.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: It's. My account is still flush.
[00:24:40] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: You know, a dollar to show just so I can stay in the game for all. For all season long.
But she's. She was all over Belmont and Patch Adams won. She was tickled pink. And. Yeah, paid off well. And we. We lost a couple cents because I bet journalism across the board. So we took the two and three spot, so it was not so bad.
[00:25:00] Speaker C: Well, I think the real winner was Saratoga Springs and Saratoga county this year.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: Man, you can't. You can't. It was absolutely amazing. I. I truly believe that if you came away unhappy, I think the only thing you can get mad at might be the rain, which we can't control. So it's like, get over it. But, I mean, you look at.
Again, it was.
You can't plan it. And I say this all the time, being a weekend photographer, is that when I go to events and I see people. I said, as a photographer, you pick the date. It's like a wedding. You pick the date. You pray for weather, you know, and we had some rain and some things like that, but it was. I think it was spectacular. We very much hope it comes back again.
We'd like to see that. Triple Crown Belmont. I'm brilliant.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: This podcast. I have a fun question.
[00:25:47] Speaker A: Oh, okay. We have a fun question from Chuck.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: Okay. If you can say you don't have to name who or what band between last year and this year.
Really crazy as a rider. Like, what. What they wanted. Like, can you say why?
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Are you aware of the writers? Is that a Ryan question or.
[00:26:09] Speaker C: Well, Ryan. Ryan did deal with the. With the riders, but, you know, like, Blues Traveler was just super cool. They. They were like, yeah, whatever. The only thing that they needed was a cart, a golf cart to get from the city center to the stage.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Is that Ryan's golf cart now?
[00:26:29] Speaker C: Yes. So we had to get that.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: John.
[00:26:31] Speaker C: We had to get that. Yeah. For John Popper. And we're like, it's like 20 yards. And it's like. But they don't know that. They just put that in there.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: In the rider have no idea.
[00:26:40] Speaker C: And then when he got here, he's like, oh, I don't need. Don't need the car for him.
Yeah, but now Ryan has a golf cart. Yeah.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: So Saratoga, the other Saratoga special.
[00:26:50] Speaker C: Yes, exactly, exactly. But, you know, I. I think these.
These bands that we've been dealing with have been doing it for decades, and. And they're pretty low key, so.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:27:00] Speaker C: Yeah, they were. They were very.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: We'll get the very good. I should say interview Teddy, and I think Teddy's. Teddy would. Stories.
[00:27:06] Speaker C: Teddy's.
[00:27:06] Speaker A: Teddy had some stories at the panel you were at again. You're wonderful again. We saw you at that chamber panel.
[00:27:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: And you Talked about, you know, things Saratoga can do as a county, not just city.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: Right.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: You know, which oftentimes good news, bad news gets forgotten.
[00:27:22] Speaker C: Right.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: How much our county offers.
[00:27:24] Speaker C: Oh, so much.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: And the. The last. Tough question.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: I was trying to get the last.
[00:27:30] Speaker C: I know. I keep thinking.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: Keep bearing.
[00:27:31] Speaker C: This is the last question.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: All right, I'll be done. I'm gonna ask this and be done.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: All right.
[00:27:36] Speaker A: What's next for Discover Saratoga and this year? Well, things we know.
[00:27:42] Speaker C: Yeah. We're talking with our gang now about just what we're going to do for the July 4th Racing Festival. What activations are we going to have in the community to make it special, so not only for visitors, but for.
For the locals as well.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: Because you mentioned that. Because I was thinking just the race in the morning, everybody goes to the track and we're done for the day. But apparently we have some things in the work.
[00:28:06] Speaker C: We've got. We've still got some work to do. We want to. We still want to shine. Absolutely.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: So we'll be touching base again.
[00:28:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: And for the. For the record, Stan and Friends wardrobe is locked.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Mine's up in the air. It's going to be. Probably going to be red if I'm not sunburned.
So we'll see.
Because we have two back to back Fridays where I have to wear red, white and blue somehow. So.
[00:28:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: Well, the 27th is covered.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: I did see a really nice.
[00:28:33] Speaker A: I have the alternate jerseys on order.
[00:28:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: Don't tell me.
[00:28:35] Speaker C: Can you expense the outfits? I mean, this is.
[00:28:37] Speaker A: Oh, this is a big bank of Rita, my wife. The bank of Rita is a underwriter of the Stan and Shen podcast and has been for almost a full year.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Let's just say that Amazon really loves me.
[00:28:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:50] Speaker B: Amazon has seen a lot of me lately. Amazon has also had to reimburse me a lot lately. So.
Yeah. Okay. Amazon and I, we're tight knit.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: All right, last question.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: No, no, I have no other questions. I am good. Darryl's ready for us to leave.
[00:29:07] Speaker A: You have an upcoming. You do have. I know you do have an upcoming meeting, so thank you so much. Oh, my God. Bringing your offices.
[00:29:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: And having us be a part of your day.
[00:29:16] Speaker C: Now you know where we live.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: And again, again, you don't get lost. I still think I started with it. I'm going to end with it. Is that I just can't thank you and everything that you do and your staff and for anything. Saratoga. I think it starts with Discover Saratoga throughout social media. Not only Discover Saratoga, you know, website but also your. Your Instagram, your TikTok, your own podcast.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: And next year, should there be a next year with the Giant. If emboldened and italics.
We must get Daryl on the roof.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: So I have two goals for next year. One is Daryl on the roof, which I think will lead into our second ask.
Which is. The second ask is we'd like the Stan and Shen show to introduce one of the bands, if there is an extra. Or the first Travers festival.
That's our ask.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: He's just throwing it right out there. I was gonna lead into that off.
[00:30:12] Speaker C: I'll put a note in the file.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: I'm putting it out there that I know she's a huge yes on this. I'm just saying she doesn't even know.
[00:30:20] Speaker C: Who the bands are.
[00:30:21] Speaker B: Pick it on our friends at the radio station, Just a touch. We will remember to pronounce Saratoga.
[00:30:27] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
And on that note, we got how.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: Little because we know it's not S. Pac.
[00:30:36] Speaker C: Right?
[00:30:37] Speaker B: Right.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: All right. Get us out of here.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: All right.
I'm Shen.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: I'm Stan.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: This is a Stan and Shen Joe.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: You got it.
[00:30:45] Speaker B: We'll see you guys next week.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: You got it. Gotta say goodbye Goodbye all right. Love your life it's the only one you've got.
[00:30:55] Speaker C: Boom.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: This has become his new slowly at the end yeah.
