Saratoga 150 includes kids’ contests

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Saratoga County supervisors will be sponsoring two children’s contests and a horse farm tour in connection with this summer’s Saratoga 150 celebration.

The Board of Supervisors Special Events Committee announced there will be contests to design jockey silks for each town in the county and a horseshoe painting contest.

A horse farm tour to be followed by a picnic are being planned for Sunday, July 28.

The activities are tied to the celebration of the anniversary of horse racing at Saratoga Springs, which started in the summer of 1863.

The kickoff celebration at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center was postponed from Friday until this Saturday because of rain.

In the jockey silks contest, coloring sheets of a jockey’s silk will be distributed during the first week in June to all elementary schools in the county.

Students can draw a silk for their town, with a winner to be picked by the town supervisor and the winning entries to be displayed at the July county board meeting.

Committee Co-Chairwoman Anita M. Daly, R-Clifton Park, said there will also be a horseshoe painting contest.

Children who attend the June 16 Sundae on the Farm at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs or the Saratoga County Fair July 16-21 may paint or decorate real horseshoes and enter them in a contest.

Then, on July 28, the county will sponsor a “Meet the Horses of Saratoga County” farm tour, with four or five farms expected to open for public tours from noon to 4 p.m. The farms haven’t yet been chosen.

After the tour, the county will host a picnic from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Saratoga County Fairground. Admission will be free.

Committee Co-Chairman Arthur Johnson, R-Wilton, said other details of the activities are still being worked out.