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Thoroughbred owner Terry Finley lives on Nelson Avenue in Saratoga Springs during the summer. He’s close enough to Saratoga Race Course to hear the muffled sound of the track announcer and the crescendo of the crowd as the horses come down the stretch to the finish line.

Of course, that’s on the rare occasions he’s not actually at the track. Finley is the founder and president of West Point Thoroughbreds, a leading racing partnership that owns 125 horses in training.

Like many racing enthusiasts, he’s looking forward to the opening of the Saratoga meet on Thursday, July 14, continuing a summer tradition that began in 1863. And while the New York Racing Association continues to renovate and modernize the track, Finley said it’s the historic feel that appeals most to him.

“Obviously, the heritage and history of the place, you can almost smell it just by looking at the frame of the racetrack,” Finley said. “I think that’s what really attracts me and has caught my attention, and I’d give advice to somebody who is going there for the first time just knowing what is it, almost 160 years ago, there were people doing the same thing that came to Saratoga for X number of days and they watched the races.”

They continue to come in great numbers. Paid attendance for the 2021 meet was 1,046,078, the sixth consecutive season topping one million, excluding the 2020 edition, when the general public wasn’t allowed because of the COVID pandemic.

Racehorse owner Jack Knowlton said those who flock to the Spa are seeing the best racing in the world. Two years ago, Knowlton and his partners at Sackatoga Stable campaigned Tiz The Law, the horse that won Saratoga’s signature race, the Travers Stakes.

“It’s the only major-league sport north of New York City and east of Buffalo that there is in New York,” he said. “And if you’re looking to see the best horses, the best jockeys, the best trainers and the best fans, that’s why you would want to come to Saratoga. They used to call it the August place to be and now it’s the summer place to be and every year there are about a million people that end up at Saratoga to watch the races there.”

Tiz the Law won the Travers in front of an empty house two years ago.

"In all honestly, last year, things were pretty much back to normal," Knowlton said. "I think this year, there's pent-up demand. As long as another one of these COVID bugs doesn't come at us, I think it's going ot be a banner year."

The Saratoga meet lasted only four days in 1863. It eventually grew to 24 racing days in the 1960s and 36 days by 1997. Now it’s 40 days, with Monday and Tuesdays off, and ends on Labor Day, which is Sept. 5 this year.

Likewise, the track grounds are changing. The New York Racing Association, which operates Saratoga Race Course, added the 1863 Club, a three-story hospitality building, in 2019. This summer will feature the debut of the new Post Bar and Paddock Suite, a permanent two-story structure to replace the original Post Bar, an open-air gathering place that was located under a temporary canopy.

Those who want a more casual experience can still bring a cooler and hang out in the backyard picnic area.

“They continue to make improvements at the track and to make a new fan experience,” Knowlton said. “Clearly there are a lot of different levels of fans and people of different income and willingness to pay. You can just go to the backyard and bring your own food and beverage … It’s a continuing effort by NYRA to attract and keep a whole wide range of fans.”

Those fans helped set an all-time betting record with an all-source handle, or total amount of money bet, of more than $800 million last summer. Much of the fascination is with the 2-year-old horses that first flash their potential at the Spa, according to trainer H. James Bond.

“The 2-year-olds are kind of the coming-out party for Saratoga,” Bond said. “They start showing that raw talent that hopefully leads you into the first Saturday in May (the Kentucky Derby) and so I think every trainer who’s lucky enough to have hopefully a nice 2-year-old in the barn, you get excited seeing what is going to develop and hopefully we can start them at Saratoga.”

Bond has won the Travers and the Whitney, the top race for older horses at Saratoga. He said he's been to race tracks in Japan and Dubai and always gets the same reaction.

"When you say you've got a barn in Saratoga Springs, it's, 'What? That's the best racing in the world,' and it is," Bond said. "Everybody in the world would love to be able to have stalls here and run races here at Saratoga. You want to see the best horse racing in the world, come to Saratoga in July and August. It's just phenomenal."

Mark Singelais covers Siena basketball, UAlbany lacrosse, horse racing and other sports. Contact him at 518-454-5509 or msingelais@timesunion.com.