SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Saratoga changes after Travers Day. There's a chill in the air and mornings are calmer, less chaotic. Falling leaves drift down to the horse path. For the rest of the world, autumn begins mid-September. For everyone here, it comes with the last week of racing.

Trainers who were mobbed by media types in the days leading up to the season's big race walk through quiet barns alone, just the assistants and the help to deal with. Things wind down. Runners whose starts have already come and gone are loaded onto vans headed back downstate or across the country. Out-of-towners are making their travel plans, locals return to reclaim the town.

It's quiet now. The hustle and bustle, gone.

Saratoga makes you introspective. The meet comes to a close and you think about everything you've accomplished, a few things you didn't, all you did right and what you did wrong. It doesn't matter if you're an owner, trainer, jockey, or fan -- that's the best thing about this place, it's universal, there's something for everyone.

Horses solidified their positions in respective divisions this year -- Tizway, Stay Thirsty, Caleb's Posse, Havre de Grace -- John Velazquez got the riding title, his fifth at the upstate oval. Todd Pletcher dominated the trainer standings. Mike Repole owned the most winners, second year in a row.

On-track wagering was up and so was daily average attendance, with the total attendance and all-sources handle dropping only slightly. The weather played the biggest damper, 41 races taken off the turf and one entire day canceled because of rain (and the hurricane). You'll read about it later; we're still typing out details from the press box -- along with the cleanup crews, some of the last to leave.

I watched the last race of the day from the winner's circle a little while ago, listening to the slosh of hooves across the sandy surface with the mutter of patrons drifting down the rail. I find comfort in the choreographic moments I've come to know so well, little things that stay the same no matter where I am.

Heading down the road from here, some will meet again in Lexington for the Keeneland September Sale and the fall meeting. Others show up at the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs this November. A few we won't see until next year, all part of the cycle, this racetrack life we choose.

Now it's time for one more toast to Saratoga: another year older, another year wiser, some great racing memories and even better friendships made this time around. We go where the horses take us. We're always happy when they bring us here.