TurfPublicists: FRIDAYS ARE ALL ABOUT FAMILY FUN AT SARATOGA RACE COURSE

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Contact: Dan Silver

Mark Bardack

FRIDAYS ARE ALL ABOUT FAMILY FUN AT SARATOGA RACE COURSE

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced an all-new attraction that will stretch the length of the 2012 Saratoga Race Course season: Family Fun Fridays – a series of weekly family festivals held each Friday of the meet in the backyard playground area from noon to 4 p.m. beginning on Opening Day, Friday, July 20.

“Saratoga has always been a family destination, as personified by the popularity of the picnic scene in the backyard,” said NYRA President and COO Ellen McClain. “Our all-new Family Fun Fridays are designed to offer yet another entertainment option to appeal to this core audience. We are proud of our commitment to families, and beginning Opening Day, kids and parents have a new, weekly attraction for their summer outings together.”

Family Fun Fridays features Coca-Cola's Best Bet offer, which includes: adult grandstand admission, a Post Parade program, a hot dog and Coca-Cola, all for only $5 with a voucher found on Coca-Cola displays at participating retailers. The voucher can be redeemed at the Reserved Seats Office on Union Avenue on any Friday during the season.

Admission to Saratoga Race Course is free for children under 12 when accompanied by an adult any day of the meet throughout the season.

The day-long Friday events will uniformly include a variety of activities, a bounce inflatable, and arts and crafts for all ages. Additional activities specific to designated weeks will include a live reptile show, a mad science show and the FOX 23 karaoke booth.

Families will find, at all Family Fun Fridays throughout the season, the Tiny Tots Tea Room craft table, providing all the materials kids need to make a variety of fun projects. Craft activities will correspond with themed Family Fun Fridays events, such as turtle rocks on the day of the reptile exhibit, and bubble painting when the Scotia-Glenville Traveling Children’s Museum presents its Let's Make Bubbles interactive presentation. There will also be an activity booth with something new for kids each week, provided by Binx, an organization that offers new parents tips for babies and toddlers.

The lineup for Family Fun Fridays is as follows (subject to change, current at time of release):

Friday, July 20. Family Fun Fridays kick off on Saratoga’s Opening Day. The FOX 23 karaoke booth will provide visitors the opportunity to sing to their chosen songs to the applause of their families and friends, just like stars on FOX favorites American Idol and The X Factor. Booth visitors can register to win a pair of tickets to American Idol Live at the Times Union Center August 30.

Friday, July 27. Racing fans can have their day at the races commemorated with a special photo laminated on a 3”x 4” photo magnet by Picture Perfect.

Friday, August 3. The Children’s Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) will present its educational and explorative Leaping Lizards and Rocking Reptiles exhibit. Kids and families will have a chance to meet these fascinating cold-blooded creatures, while learning about their behaviors, habitats and lifestyles.

Friday, August 10. The Scotia-Glenville Traveling Children’s Museum presents its Let's Make Bubbles interactive exhibit, which includes a variety of bubble-makers and everything it takes to fill the air with shimmering spheres of every imaginable size.

Friday, August 17. Kids can enjoy the Mad Science interactive exhibit, with putty, slime, dry ice, and other hands-on activities.

Friday, August 24. This Friday lands in the midst of the 17^th annual Travers Festival, which celebrates the 143^rd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes. Kids this day can enjoy the CMOST presentation of Small Science – a fun, hands-on exhibit introducing children to the “teeny, tiny” nanosciences.

Friday, August 31. The last of the Family Fun Fridays, when the FOX 23 karaoke booth will return to give visitors one more chance to sing out the summer season.

For a complete and up to date listing of all special events at Saratoga Race Course, visit www.nyra.com/saratogaevents.

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