SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will be reconstructing the historic “Wilson Chute” at Saratoga Race Course. The chute will be used during the 2022 summer meet and allow for one-mile races on the main track.

The chute was originally dismantled after the 1972 season to accommodate additional parking. It was brought back briefly in 1992 when 25 races started in the chute.

“The Wilson Chute will only add to the quality and consistency of dirt racing at Saratoga,” said Glen Kozak, NYRA’s Senior Vice President of Operations and Capital Projects. “It’s a thrill to be able to reconstruct a historic element of Saratoga in a way that will undoubtedly prove beneficial to the summer meet.”

The Wilson Chute was named to honor the contributions of the late Richard T. Wilson, a banker and President of the Saratoga Racing Association for most of the first quarter of the 20th century. NYRA said the reconstructed chute will carefully follow the route of the original chute along the Clubhouse Turn, just to the east of the 1863 Club.

NYRA said this project is being supported by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and will be accompanied by upgrades to the Tailgate at the Turn picnic area located at the Clubhouse Turn.