National Museum of Racing and Amplify revive Winner’s Circle Summer Camp

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and Amplify Horse Racing are bringing Winner’s Circle Summer Camp back to Saratoga Springs with just 15 spots for students ages 13-17. The four-morning program runs Tuesday, July 28, through Friday, July 31, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., with registration set at $50 per student or $40 for museum members and Amplify mentees and mentee graduates.

The point is not a simple museum visit. Campers will split time between classroom learning at the museum and behind-the-scenes access at Saratoga Race Course, including Saratoga’s historic training grounds and a working Thoroughbred barn. That structure gives teenagers a rare look at how the sport actually operates, from the way racehorses are handled and trained to the people who keep the industry moving on race days and every day in between.

The daily schedule goes well beyond history. Students will get an introduction to Thoroughbred racing, learn about equine veterinary science and biosecurity, and visit an aftercare organization for retired racehorses. Transportation to off-site visits will be provided after students arrive at the museum each morning, and the camp will run rain or shine. Closed-toe shoes are required each day, a practical reminder that this is meant to feel like work in the horse world, not a classroom lecture series with a racing backdrop.

That hands-on approach is what makes the camp more than symbolic outreach. Racing has spent years trying to solve an aging-audience problem and a thin pipeline of future workers, owners and fans, and the camp is aimed squarely at that gap. By putting middle and high school students inside Saratoga’s racing environment, the museum and Amplify are trying to give young people a direct path into a sport that can otherwise feel distant unless they grow up around horses.

The program is a return engagement, not a one-off experiment. The camp was introduced in 2025 as a larger program for rising ninth through 12th graders, capped at 30 students, and the launch carried support from the New York Racing Association, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, New York Thoroughbred Breeders and Corbin Blumberg. The 2026 version is smaller and more selective, a sign that the first edition was strong enough to bring back.

Annise Montplaisir said the camp is designed to help youth connect with horses and the career opportunities around them, including students who have never been around horses before. Eric Ross, Ph.D., called it an immersive learning experience and a way to foster the next generation of Thoroughbred enthusiasts. In Saratoga, during the heart of the meet, the summer camp now looks like one more way the sport is trying to turn curiosity into a future labor and fan base.