IBEWs Historic Role at Saratoga Includes Race Named for Local 236

Horseplayers everywhere know Saratoga as the model of what racecourses should be and ESPN The Magazine named it "the loveliest racetrack in the country." In its 134 seasons, it has seen the greatest thoroughbredsMan o War, Secretariat, Kelso, Affirmed, Seabiscuitand in 2001, Saratoga set a North American record with a total handle of $15.6 million off an attendance of 1,011,669.

New York Racing Association thanks Local 236 on the thirty-foot closed circuit cable television matrix boards at Saratoga Racecourse, Saratoga Springs, New York.

IBEW members are particularly proud of association with the famed track, says Local 236 Business Manager Tim Paley. A big reason for that pride is the feat performed every year for Saratogas 36-day summer session. When the racing season switches from the big downstate tracks at Belmont or Aqueduct, IBEW members break down all the pari-mutuel equipment, all the staff computers and the four matrix closed circuit cable television (CCTV) boards and ship them north to Saratoga, where everything is unloaded, installed, connected, tested and re-tested.

"We have roughly 48 hours to get Saratoga up and running and ready for the first wager on the first race of the season," says Ed Gawrys, Local 236 general foreman. This year, Belmont closed on Long Island on Sunday and Saratoga ran on Wednesday. The process is reversed at the end of the season, when everything is shipped back to the IBEW members who work at Aqueduct and Belmont.

Saratoga Racecourse opened in Saratoga Springs, New York, near Albany in the 1860s and, after the first lighting in the early 1900s, milestones included the installation of pari-mutuel machines at mid-century and four 30-foot CCTV matrix boards in 2001. IBEW has represented electricians at Saratoga throughout that history, with the jurisdiction passing to Local 236 in 1999.

Paley says Local 236 "keeps electricians at Saratoga year round, with the numbers peaking during the spring preparation and scaling back to a winter maintenance crew." The IBEW Local 236 race was run this year as part of what the state AFL-CIO designated as "COPE Day at the Races."

Beautiful midsummer weather is part of the tracks appeal, says IBEW Steward Ed Bonacker, "but we have to be ready for all types of electrical emergencies during the meet." August can have particularly violent thunderstorms, he said, but "as long as the utility can keep supplying the power, we can pretty much keep everything running and racing."

Oh, yes: the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 236 race had a field of six and was won by Cherokee Girl, a Kentucky-bred four-year-old out of Cherokee Run-Race Artist by Mr. Prospector. She ran the 6 furlongs in 1:10.36, paid $8.70, $4 and $3 and was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry D. Bailey, who accepted the trophy from Business Manager Paley.