Saratoga Harness Racing

Charities selected for fundraising parties

Eighteen applications were received from qualifying 501c3 organizations and reviewed by designated members of the donation committee.

The charities that were selected will have the use of Vapor Night Club and the house DJ to host a fundraising event, with no rental fees.

The parties will take place Thursday nights, beginning July 28 and ending September 1st.

Kicking off the series with the only event in July, the Adult and Senior Center of Saratoga Springs will present “Music, Models and Mingling”. A fashion show will be offered at 8 p.m.to start the party.

August events begin with the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council, Inc., who have been selected to hold a benefit for their Latino Community Advocacy Program on August 4.

The next week, Mohawk and Hudson Humane Society offers their fundraiser, “Dog Days of Summer,” followed by an event for the Schenectady Free Health Clinic, “Health Hop,” on August 18.

The month ends with a fundraiser presented by The Baptist Health System Foundation.

On September 1, Simplifying Lives for a Cause will be the featured charity of the night, culminating the “Party for a Cause” series for 2011.

The organizations will be pre-selling admission tickets for $5, keeping all proceeds. Admission will also be collected at the door the night of the event and Saratoga Casino and Raceway will match all tickets sales up to $1,000 for every guest attending the event. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the parties are open to the public.

“We understand and value the importance of giving back in our community, and have numerous programs in place that enable us to do just that,” says Rita Cox, Senior Vice President of Marketing, as she explains the origin of Party for a Cause.

“We wanted to take a step beyond sponsorships, grants and donations. Free use of our facilities, as well as our ability to aide in fundraising efforts, are things we are uniquely positioned to offer. We are looking forward to the opportunity to help these organizations raise much-needed funding through this initiative.”

The applicants who were not selected for this year’s “Party for a Cause” were contacted by the casino and offered other possible options for fundraising opportunities on the property.

Saratoga Casino and Raceway, located on Crescent Avenue in Saratoga Springs, NY, features over 1,700 slots, electronic table games, Vapor Night Club, two full-service restaurants with buffets, a casual dining restaurant, three full-service bars, deli and a variety of guest services including valet parking and coat check. Operating hours for the gaming facility are 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. every day.

News from Empire State Harness Horsemen's Alliance | Saratoga ...

(Albany, NY) – The Empire State Harness Horsemen’s Alliance – comprised of the SOA of NY, Western NY Harness Horsemen’s Association (Buffalo & Batavia), the Saratoga Harness Horse Person’s Association, the Harness Horse Association of Central NY (Vernon Downs) and the Monticello Harness Horsemen’s Association – today applauded new legislation recently introduced in the NYS Legislature that would reform New York’s workers compensation law and provide relief to NY horsemen who are being wrongly assessed workers comp premiums for independent contractors serving the harness industry.  Bill #A8287 was introduced in the NYS Assembly by Racing & Wagering Committee Chairman Gary Pretlow and NY horsemen are hopeful that a companion bill will be introduced shortly in the NYS Senate as well. Such a legislative change – which the ESHHA and New York’s harness horsemen have been working toward for several years – would address a very serious situation in the harness industry in which numerous independent contractors and service providers (ranging from catch drivers to shippers to blacksmiths and veterinarians) are wrongly being determined to be “employees” by State Insurance Fund auditors.  Such independent service providers are not designated initially as “employees” for workers comp purposes by either the owner or trainer because of the simple, legal fact that they are not employees.  Despite this fact, and without the jurisdiction, insurance carriers like the State Insurance Fund have taken unto themselves the power to determine who is an “employee.”  Such determinations by the insurance company auditors are often in direct conflict with decisions by the NYS Workers Compensation Board (which possesses the legal power to determine who is an “employee” and who is an “independent contractor”) and they wrongly assess very costly premiums on the owners and trainers.   Specifically, the bill will address this situation by denying insurance carriers the ability to designate additional “employees” (in these cases, independent contractors) on their own.  Such legislation will have a significant positive economic impact on the state’s resurgent harness racing industry, as owners, trainers and other harness horsemen will no longer be saddled with thousands of dollars in mistaken workers compensation insurance premiums that ultimately benefit no one.