National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

09/04/2026

Don’t forget about our final Saturday Morning Social tomorrow! Free admission for all visitors from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 🐴

Join us for our final Saturday Morning Social of 2026!

The morning's programming will include a handicapping seminar with Tom Amello at 10 a.m., analyzing the day’s Saratoga Race Course card, including the featured Spinaway Stakes.

The program will also include several children's activities, including:

-Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga will be outside the Museum from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

-Lauren Magina will be doing a book reading of her book Saratoga ABCs, as well as a kid's craft activity from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

-Book reading of Find Me in Saratoga with author Patrice Mastrianni and historical Saratoga children's activities

-Equine Eyes Demonstrations from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Museum will offer free admission and there will be complimentary coffee and doughnuts courtesy of Stewart’s Shops and water courtesy of Saratoga Spring Water. Thank you to Discover Saratoga for supporting our Saturday Morning Socials!

09/03/2026

Get a behind-the-scenes look at Barbara Livingston's exhibit at the Museum!

On Wednesday, September 23 at 5:30 p.m., co-curator, iconic horse racing photographer, and six-time Eclipse Award winner Barbara Livingston will lead a tour of her exhibit "𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴: 𝘈 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘋. 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 Daily Racing Form)".

Tickets are free for museum members (registration still required) and admission is included in the non-museum member ticket price!

Register here: https://1049a.blackbaudhosting.com/1049a/Curators-Tour-A-Lifes-Passion

09/02/2026

Join us for our final Saturday Morning Social of 2026!

The morning's programming will include a handicapping seminar with Tom Amello at 10 a.m., analyzing the day’s Saratoga Race Course card, including the featured Spinaway Stakes.

The program will also include several children's activities, including:

-Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga will be outside the Museum from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

-Lauren Magina will be doing a book reading of her book Saratoga ABCs, as well as a kid's craft activity from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

-Book reading of Find Me in Saratoga with author Patrice Mastrianni and historical Saratoga children's activities

-Equine Eyes Demonstrations from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Museum will offer free admission and there will be complimentary coffee and doughnuts courtesy of Stewart’s Shops and water courtesy of Saratoga Spring Water. Thank you to Discover Saratoga for supporting our Saturday Morning Socials!

09/02/2026

On a racehorse, fear never disappeared. It made me pay attention.

Peter Hillary understands that better than most. On Everest, fear is not something to be ashamed of. When controlled, it sharpens your focus and helps you make the right decision when the margin for error is small.

A powerful conversation about preparation, courage, and the mind of a champion.

💬 Link in comments ↓

09/01/2026

Our final Hall of Fame tour of the year!

Tomorrow at 11 a.m., Angel Cordero, Jr. will lead an exclusive tour at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. On this tour, Cordero will discuss some of his career highlights and guests will get a chance to ask him questions throughout the experience. These one-of-a-kind tours last one hour and include a showing of the Museum’s signature film, What it takes: Journey to the Hall of Fame.

Angel Cordero, Jr. finished his career with more than 7,000 victories, including three editions of the Kentucky Derby, and was a three-time Eclipse Award winner and 14-time leading rider at Saratoga Race Course.

Purchase your tickets here: https://1049a.blackbaudhosting.com/1049a/Hall-of-Fame-Tour-02Sep2026

Credit: NYRA photo

08/31/2026

Thank you to everyone who attended our Travers Eve W**e & Cheese event!

And thank you to our in-kind sponsor Mazzone Hospitality

08/29/2026

Happy birthday to Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, a member of the class of 1995. Bailey won on his first career mount, guiding a horse named Fetch to victory at Sunland Park in New Mexico in 1974. That win launched a remarkable career that included 5,893 wins, seven Eclipse Awards, two wins in each of the Triple Crown races, 15 Breeders’ Cup victories, and four Dubai World Cup wins. The son of a Texas dentist, Bailey began riding quarter horses at the age of 12. The bulk of his greatest achievements began in the early 1990s, when he burst upon the national scene with victories in the 1991 Preakness and Belmont aboard Hansel. Bailey won his first Kentucky Derby with Sea Hero in 1993 and again won the Run for the Roses with Grindstone in 1996. He won his second Preakness in 2000 aboard Red Bullet and his second Belmont in 2003 with Empire Maker. Bailey’s 15 Breeders’ Cup wins include five editions of the Classic. He won the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Arcangues at odds of 133-1. Bailey won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey each year from 1995 through 1997 and then four more years in a row from 2000 through 2003. He topped all North American riders in wins each year from 1995 through 1997 and again from 2000 through 2003. Bailey rode Hall of Fame member Cigar to 15 of his 16 consecutive wins from 1994 through 1996. He also rode Hall of Famer Skip Away and standouts such as Medaglia d’Oro, Street Cry, Captain Steve, Saint Liam, Concern, Black Tie Affair, and Banshee Breeze, among others. Bailey retired in 1996 with earnings of more than $296 million and a record 216 Grade 1 wins. Happy birthday, Jerry!

Credit: NYRA Photo

08/29/2026

Happy birthday to Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger, a member of the class of 2008. After competing as a professional rodeo bull rider for more than a decade, Texas native Nafzger moved into the training of thoroughbreds. He saddled his first winner, Li’l Bessie in 1971 at Santa Fe Downs and secured his first stakes winner that year. Nineteen years later, Nafzger won the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic with Unbridled. The c**t was voted the Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Male for 1990, and Nafzger was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer. Unbridled also won the Florida Derby, Deputy Minister Handicap, and the What a Pleasure Stakes. With James Tafel’s homebred Street Sense, Nafzger became the first trainer to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby with the same horse. Street Sense won the 2006 Juvenile and was the Eclipse Award winner for Champion 2-Year-Old Male. Six months later, he gave Nafzger his second Derby victory, then went on to win the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga. The Travers came a week after Nafzger won the Alabama Stakes with Lady Joanne, making Nafzger the sixth trainer since 1902 to win the Alabama and Travers in the same summer. Nafzger also trained champion Banshee Breeze, a five-time Grade 1 winner, including the Alabama, Spinster, and Go for Wand. Nafzger also won the Travers in 2000 with Unshaded. Overall, Nafzger won 1,130 races with purse earnings of $52,725,939. He trained 78 stakes winners. Happy birthday, Carl!

Credit: Mike Kane/Museum Collection

08/28/2026

Happy Travers Stakes week! The 157th running of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, known as the Midsummer Derby, takes place Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. Named in honor of the track’s first president, William Travers, the inaugural Travers in 1864 was won by Hall of Famer Kentucky, who was partially owned by the race’s namesake.

Three owners share the record with five wins in the Travers. The Dwyer Brothers Stable won the race in 1881 (Hall of Famer Hindoo), 1883 (Barnes), 1886 (Inspector B), 1888 (Sir Dixon), and 1890 (Sir John); George D. Widener, Jr. won it in 1939 (Hall of Famer Eight Thirty), 1950 (Lights Up), 1951 (Battlefield), 1962 (Jaipur), and 1963 (Crewman); and Paul Mellon’s Rokeby Stable won it in 1964 (Quadrangle), 1969 (Hall of Famer Arts and Letters), 1972 (Key To The Mint), 1987 (Java Gold), and 1993 (Sea Hero).

Mellon, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013 as a Pillar of the Turf, gifted his Travers trophies to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The trophies are pictured here with a portrait of Arts and Letters in the background (Arts and Letters won the 100th running of the Travers in 1969).

Additionally, Mellon gifted the Museum a bronze sculpture of 1993 Kentucky Derby and Travers winner Sea Hero, which resides in the paddock at Saratoga Race Course.

Credit: Brien Bouyea photos

08/27/2026

Stop by the Museum before the Travers Stakes for our Saturday Morning Social!

The Museum will offer free admission and there will be complimentary coffee and doughnuts courtesy of Stewart’s Shops and water courtesy of Saratoga Spring Water. The morning's programming will include a handicapping seminar at 10 a.m., analyzing the day’s Saratoga Race Course card, including the featured 157th running of the Travers Stakes. Authors Brien Bouyea and Michael Veitch will be on hand to sign copies of their book 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙖'𝙨 𝙈𝙞𝙙𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙮 and artist Greg Montgomery will sign copies of his 2026 Travers Stakes poster. Additionally, we will be offering demos for our Equine Eyes experience for interested visitors.

Thank you to Discover Saratoga for supporting our Saturday Morning Socials!