The Rail at the 1863 Club Tickets

I chose to spend the money and treat my family to a day at the track like we never had before. Typically we haul coolers and bags to the picnic area. My father has taken our family to the track every year until he died and we have moved out of state but every few years take a vacation to come to the track. So with all that being said there is nothing that could take away the atmosphere of being at Saratoga, it was magical to say the least. To be so close to the horses was worth the $100 a seat price but the service and food was below that standard. We were told its just a matter of being short staffed. They weren't short staffed when they took my $600 to book the table. Just gets old looking for someone to get a water or a drink. Will i do this 1863 on the rail again, yes because its Saratoga not for the food or the service received. Don't buy the trackside parking for $15 you cannot transfer to another phone, spend the extra $10 and valet at the 1863 Club. May the Horse be with you...old school Harvey Fan!!!!

I enjoyed the day at Saratoga Race Track, the service was great, the seating was great, the food left a lot to be desired. Dry beef, dry chicken, stingy dessert, if I was only going to rate the food I would give it a 2 star rating. I have done the same kind of day at Belmont Park racecourse and the food was way better.

First time at the track in Saratoga - awesome place to be! Sitting on the rail was great to engage with friends, see the horses parade to the track and interact with the escort horses all day long. Great food, awesome service - would be nice to have drinks included with the buffet though (for the price of the ticket??). Also, very high end seats and we didn't have a screen or audio to hear the races being called. That would be a great value add!

Great place to watch with excellent food. Great wait staff.

The new area is very nice but we felt a bit isolated from the rest of the track. They did not pipe in the sound while races were going on, so if you were not looking at the TV, you would not have realized a race was going on. Service was just eh, but that is par for the course in 2021.

Went two days this past week, Friday and Sunday which included Brunch. Excellent all around in the 1863 Club. Total blast!

We experienced the 1863 Club seats 2 years ago, and I will always bring my friends there each year. The buffet, staffing, layout of the Club is amazing. Worth every penny.

Amazing. Air conditioned, window table, steps to outside rail, great food, lots of fun

Nice facilities. Buffet included. Food was ok to good. Many choices. Also had snack at end of the program. Staff very nice. Air conditioning which was nice. Overall it was a positive experience. Quite pricey $ 172 for one seat. Would consider trying this place in the future.

Great place to watch the races. We had a table at window and saw the horses walk onto the track. Direct access to the outside into a paddock that wasn’t crowded. Food and drinks were great. Service was outstanding. Particularly if it is raining or very hot, definitely the best place to be at the track.

The atmosphere was excellent. The quality of the food and variety was also top notch. Proximity to the racing is better than I had anticipated. The only improvement I would suggest is on the service side. Our particular waitress seemed rather nonchalant and lacked professional skills.

Nearly everything that could went wrong. 1. Weather was record heat. The crowd stayed in the air conditioned spaces. That was not great in the COVID era. No one wore masks among guests. We were vaccinated but our friends want nothing to do with us for 2 weeks. Plenty of young customers. Surely some were not vaccinated. We probably took a stupid risk going to the event. So far (3 days) so good. 2. We arrived at 12:00. No food until 12:30. Buffet then got mobbed and pillaged. 3. Buffet was mediocre at best. Dessert (e.g.) was largely bad cookies. Food gone by 2 pm. Facility run for staff, not guests. 4. We had seats in first row with huge picture window. Great, but as race approached, crowd stood in front of window (on rail) and blocked our view. Management refused to move them. Only way to see race was to watch tv monitors which were nowhere near our seats. 5. No warning of “horses are at the post.” We missed some bets. 6. Value for price paid abysmal. Put differently, a major ripoff.

Our group enjoyed a nice day in Saratoga. The 1863 Club was very nice, food was good, but they break it down way too quickly. For the price charged you expect them to leave food and desserts out for just about the entire race. They did not. Service was good.

Decided to try it out. As with all things NYRA its wildly overpriced. Decent buffet but definitely zero value. Aimed at corporations who dont care how much they spend.

Wonderful time at the track. Magnificent hours and happy people. Service was extraordinary.

Great ambiance. Classy day. Nice facility. Great staff. A fun day outdoors with a lot of New England charm.

First time at The Rail and we all enjoyed the different venue it provided. It was well staffed with servers and the buffet was on target, Lines to bet were relatively short and easy access was offered to view races outdoors

Very few choices for a buffet costing 140 per person. Extremely disappointing. Was surprised how bad.

Overall, I thought the Rail at the 1863 Club was a good experience. The service was excellent as they were fully staffed so you didn't have to wait for drinks and there was always someone to clear the tables, etc. The food at the buffet was good, not great, but probably a bit better than I was expecting for such a large group of people. There was a decent amount of room at the table, the bathrooms were clean and you had the ability to go outside to watch the races. They could have used another teller as the line to bet was always long. The only big NEGATIVE was the drinks. They served mixed drinks in cups that were 4oz!!! We ordered Bloody Mary's when we got there and they come out in these tiny glasses. Two sips and the drink was gone. It was a JOKE and needs to be fixed! The next day we were in a different location with waitress service and you could get normal sized alcoholic drinks.