Friday, July 31, 2009

FAVORITE FEED TUBS—The Wishing Well, Saratoga Springs, New York

   It simply didn’t make sense. The portrait seemed out of place.

   On our second visit to legendary restaurant The Wishing Well north of Saratoga Race Course, I noticed a very prominent picture of Sunday Silence near the restrooms. As someone whose favorite horse was Alydar and—by association—someone who believes to this day that his son Easy Goer was the superior racehorse in the 1989 Triple Crown series, a portrait of Sunday Silence hanging on the wall of a restaurant near a track where that horse never competed was inexplicable.

   If any horse’s picture from that crop should hang on the restaurant's wall, Easy Goer made much more sense. Easy Goer broke his maiden at Saratoga as a two-year-old and won both the Travers and the Whitney there during his three-year-old campaign. Plus, the Phipps family had much stronger ties to New York and Eastern racing than did the connections of the California-based Sunday Silence.

   Alydar and Easy Goer hold two amazing distinctions in the annals of racing: the sire remains the only horse ever to run second in all three Triple Crown races and his progeny ran the fastest mile on dirt for a three-year-old in American racing history (1:32.2 in the Gotham, one tick off Dr. Fager’s world record).

   Further, Easy Goer’s triumphant Travers was a memorable event among the locals. Like me, clearly many racing fans felt that Easy Goer should have fared better in the Triple Crown than his lone win in the Belmont Stakes. Still, his Belmont time of 2:26 ranks second only to that of the immortal Secretariat. Fans thronged to Union Avenue in August of 1989 to watch the magnificent homebred chestnut colt with one grapefruit-sized ankle thrash an overmatched field in the Travers. He did not disappoint.

   In fact, when the striking figure of Easy Goer pranced into the paddock, a ripple of applause echoed through the crowd. Even competing owners admired the massive racehorse while ignoring their own.

   Easy Goer’s three-year-old campaign surely ranks as one of the greatest racing seasons that failed to result in an Eclipse Award. It’s hard to bank $3.8 million in one year and not be crowned champion.

   The logic behind the Sunday Silence portrait gnawed at the back of my mind throughout dinner.

   And what a memorable dinner it was. The Wishing Well is a Saratoga Springs institution. Hungry racing fans have been going there for over seven decades. The cuisine is hearty Continental—there is a deep menu constructed to please those who enjoy steaks and chops, with a nod toward very fresh seafood.

   Perhaps best of all is the tavern area that serves up bracing drinks while you invariably wait for your table (despite confirmed reservations), a disproportionate number of loud conversations and opinions about racing and a spirited piano player who entertains the crowd throughout the evening.

   The Wishing Well is the type of restaurant that would be embraced in the Commonwealth. It represents an evening of good food coupled with hyperawareness about horses. Mix a chef who knows his customers’ expectations with a staff geared toward ensuring attentive service and you have a winning exacta. While the pricing reflects the quality of the food and its painstaking preparation, given the jovial atmosphere and generous portions that arrive on one’s plate the restaurant delivers precisely what its customers have come to expect over the years. Consistency is one of the hallmarks of fine dining.

   The wine menu is well-considered and fairly priced. The menu blends expected favorites with welcome surprise selections. It seems that the place has figured out an appealing formula: feed people well and treat them sincerely and they will look forward to a visit after an afternoon at the track. Year after year.

   The restaurant takes advantage of the availability of local produce to feature both vegetables and fruits that have never been compromised by refrigeration. They allow the freshness to shine with little embellishment.

   Once you’ve booked your trip to Saratoga Race Course to witness one of America’s greatest sporting traditions, consider reserving a table at The Wishing Well in order to extend your enjoyment of the total experience. It’s the type of place that engenders loyalty across several generations.

   Leaving the restaurant on our second visit, I took a moment to admire the Sunday Silence portrait once again. I begrudgingly recalled his athleticism and ability to get the jump on Easy Goer. He repeatedly held off the latter closing like a freight train in several epic races…the Derby, Preakness, Breeder’s Cup Classic. If Pat Day had only kept going on at the top of the stretch at Pimlico!

   There was the answer to the riddle right in front of my eyes. Listed under the handsome picture of Sunday Silence was his breeding line: Halo—Wishing Well. The restaurant shares a name with his dam.

 

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