Stewart’s Shops to Sell Racing Season Passes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- The New York Racing Association and Stewart's Shops announced a new partnership that will allow the convenience store chain to sell season passes for the 2014 racing season, which begins in July, the Times Union reported.

Season passes to the Saratoga Race Course will be available at more than 150 Stewart's Shops locations throughout the capital region. A season pass provides racing fans with 40 days of admission from July 18 to Sept. 1, and can be purchased for $30 for grandstand seating or $50 for clubhouse seating.

The Saratoga Race Course celebrated its 150th birthday in 2013 and bills itself as the nation's oldest sporting venue of any kind. Every summer, the facility hosts 40 days of world-class thoroughbred racing, along with New York Racing Association-sponsored parties, celebrations and giveaways. 

Horse racing in Saratoga comes in two forms: flat and harness. In flat racing, the horses run counter-clockwise on the half-mile oval track with a jockey astride their backs. In harness racing, horses are attached to two-wheeled carts and race counter-clockwise, either pacing or trotting.