About Finger Lakes

New York is a competitive place when it comes to thoroughbred racing, but Finger Lakes is seen as Western New York’s home for the sport.

Given its home in the picturesque Finger Lakes region, along with its wineries and terrific scenery, the track plays host to many tourists as well as some fiercely loyal locals on around 160 race days every year.

Finger Lakes hosts the middle leg of what is now known as the Big Apple Triple; the Mike Lee Stakes (Belmont), the New York Derby (Finger Lakes) and the Albany Stakes (Saratoga), all of which are for New York-bred horses only and carry purses of at least $125,000.

Finger Lakes History

As a standalone racetrack, Finger Lakes opened officially on May 23, 1962 for thoroughbreds and went through many ownership changes in its formative years.

The track had its ups and downs in its early history too with the threat of bankruptcy seemingly never too far away and it was badly hurt financially when in the 80’s we saw the advent of off-track betting, meaning horseplayers no longer had to go to the track in order to place bets on the sport.

After simulcast racing was introduced though in the 1990’s Finger Lakes had a renaissance as they could open up every day to show racing and take bets from other tracks around the country.

This recovery led to the track being valued at much more than in the past and in 2004 it was given a $10.5million renovation. The makeover led to Finger Lakes being the latest in a long line of ‘racinos’, in other words a casino and racetrack in one with a video gaming floor introduced inside the grandstand leading to much higher attendances and revenues.

A notable horse attached to Finger Lakes was Tin Cup Chalice who was the first winner of the Big Apple Triple, a series of races at Belmont and Saratoga as well as here.

Tin Cup Chalice was based at Finger Lakes and was considered a local equine hero, but was also unfortunately killed at the track during training in 2009 when a colt called Zany, tragically well named, bolted before bumping into him with both horses destroyed in the incident.

Finger Lakes Track Details

The main track is a one-mile oval with a quick 960 feet run-in. There is no turf track at Finger Lakes but this takes nothing away from the entertainment provided.

Biggest Races

Wandsworth Memorial Handicap – three-year-olds and over, 1 1/8 miles (July 4^th).
New York Derby – three-year-olds (New York bred only), 1 1/16 miles (July).
New York Oaks – three-year-old fillies (New York bred), 1 1/16 miles (July).
New York Breeders’ Futurity – two-year-olds (New York bred), 6 furlongs (September).
Lady Fingers Stakes – two-year-old fillies (New York bred), 6 furlongs (September).
Aspirant Stakes – two-year-old colts and geldings (New York bred), 6 furlongs (September).

Place Your Bets At Finger Lakes With TVG!

Now you know all about the track, don’t forget you can wager on races there with TVG. Head to our schedules page to check out the latest race times then bet and watch live!

Address

5857 NY-96, Farmington, NY 14425, USA

Contact

Pat Placito (pplacito@delawarenorth.com)