Saratogians are tired of the jokes – just ask our Tom Law – but the snow melted months ago and people really are thinking about the racing season at Saratoga Race Course. Back in March, the New York Racing Association released its stakes schedule, and The Saratoga Special publishing calendar followed right along.
Just as the racing does, the newspaper starts Thursday, July 14 with its Opening Day edition. We’ll preview the meet, look at the featured Schuylerville Stakes for 2-year-old fillies and the inaugural Wilton Stakes for 3-year-old fillies all while catching up with the trainers, jockeys, horses and people who make Saratoga special.
You can find all the advertising/publishing details here.
Launched in 2001, The Saratoga Special gallops into its 22nd season with 20 editions distributed in print and online as a digital edition. From there, The Special will publish every Wednesday and Saturday of the meet – with a full run of six consecutive editions during the Fasig-Tipton Sales Week Aug. 5-10. In between publishing days, we will follow along with handicapping and other coverage on thisishorseracing.com.
As always, readers can expect unmatched on-the-ground coverage of North America’s best race meeting which runs from July 14 through Labor Day, Sept. 5. The Special offers stakes previews and recaps, timely features, the best handicappers on the circuit (look it up), meaningful columns from our team, plus the Special-only inclusions Here and There, Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour and more.
Nobody covers Saratoga the way The Special does. Readers can find free copies in Saratoga Springs – in hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, convenience stores and all over the track’s backside and frontside – and beyond via our digital edition available online at thisishorseracing.com or thesaratogaspecial.com.
Returning from a Covid-19 pandemic reset in 2020, where we produced an online edition only, The Special continues to grow in terms of readership. Each print edition reaches 5,000 readers on the track and all over town. The Special commonly turns up in tack rooms and hotel rooms, breakfast tables and picnic tables, paddock rails and bar rails. Online editions continue to attract more readers via free downloads/links. In 2021, readers downloaded an edition of The Special 45,000 times – reading on computers, tablets and phones.
Combined, each edition reaches at least 7,000 people. Editions are free for readers, but The Special continues to expand on its paid Readers Club membership group – up 55 percent since its creation in 2020.
All that editorial coverage and readership growth means one thing – value for advertisers. The Special offers businesses of all sizes, shapes and specialties a unique, timely and lively way to reach Thoroughbred enthusiasts. Our readers are Thoroughbred owners, trainers, buyers, sellers, bettors and leaders. They own horses, and support them with purchases of feed, supplements, veterinary care, transportation and expertise.
The Special is THE place to advertise stallions, training centers, equine services, horses for sale and more – especially those with racetrack results to tout. It’s also a spot to recruit potential new owners, find supporters for a worthy cause, raise awareness for a new product and attract clients to a new Thoroughbred venture. Our 2021 advertiser list included everything from a five-star hotel to major Thoroughbred stallions, sales companies, horse transport companies, a local brewery and even a jockeys’ agent.
Beyond their direct involvement in Thoroughbred horses, readers of The Special are consumers who support area hotels, restaurants, bars, stores, shops, salons and more.
You name the business, The Special can help it grow.
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Questions? Ask your advertising planner about The Special, email a Special staffer or call (410) 392-5867.
Editor/Publisher Joe Clancy: [email protected]
Editor/Publisher Sean Clancy: [email protected]
Managing Editor Tom Law: [email protected]
Advertising representative Kevin O’Keeffe: [email protected]
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