National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Saratoga sits in country that was part of the Mohawk homeland within the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations, and its mineral springs were long known and valued by Native peoples, whose descendants continue as nations in New York today. The springs later drew wealthy visitors who built a grand resort town around them.

Horse racing came to Saratoga in the 1860s, and the track quickly became one of the most prestigious in the country, its summer meet a fixture of American racing. The museum was founded in the twentieth century to preserve the sport's history and to honor its greatest figures, and it settled naturally across from the track it celebrates.

The Hall of Fame is the heart of the museum, inducting the horses, jockeys, and trainers who defined the sport and telling their stories through exhibits and film. Fans move through the galleries tracing the careers of legendary champions and the people who guided them.

Around the Hall, the museum holds a deep collection of racing art, silks, trophies, and equipment, along with interactive exhibits that put visitors in the saddle or the starting gate. Together they capture the pageantry, danger, and beauty of the thoroughbred game across its long history.

For a stretch of summer, Saratoga becomes the center of the racing world, when the historic meet across the street draws the sport's best horses and huge, fashionable crowds to the old grandstand and the shaded paddock. The whole town swells and comes alive.

The museum makes the perfect companion to a day at the races, and it keeps the sport's history close at hand for the many who come to Saratoga chiefly for the track. Even outside racing season, it lets visitors feel the pull of the sport in the town that defines it in America.

Summer is Saratoga's grand season, built around the racing meet across the street, when the town is at its liveliest and its most crowded. Spring and fall are calmer and elegant, fine times to enjoy the museum, the springs, and the walkable downtown without the racing rush.

Because the museum is indoors, it welcomes visitors all year, and winter turns the spa city quiet and snowy, a peaceful time to explore its history. The mineral springs and the surrounding Saratoga Spa State Park add reasons to visit in any season.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.