SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Welcome to the Spa. That's what people call this place, a time-warped town where horse racing makes its annual getaway for six weeks in the middle of the summer season. From the adrenaline-pumped moments of opening day to the last sad sigh as the final start is made, we'll be caught up in a world like no other -- morning training, afternoon racing, with the thrill of high-powered competition, "the real soul of success, and the bitterness of attaining and the heartbreak of not attaining it," ruling it all. People have been coming to Saratoga, an Adirondack racing mecca about three and a half hours north of the City, for 141 years. Thoroughbred industries elsewhere may be struggling, but here we're all strong, stalwart, young, and energetic -- or at least we pretend to be. As the meet begins, anything is possible. The horsemen could saddle their greatest runners. The owners could score their biggest victories. The jockeys could ride their most impressive winners. The writers could pen their defining stories. Rachel Alexandra is stabled here, Preakness-winning filly bound for a start in the Aug. 2 Haskell. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will arrive after a trip in the Aug. 1 West Virginia Derby to tackle the Aug. 29 Travers. Commentator, winner of the past two editions of the Aug. 8 Whitney, is gearing up for a triple. We could see a thousand outcomes. You never know who could be the next Curlin, the next Street Sense. You never know who could be even better -- the next Alydar, the next Buckpasser, the next Forty Niner. It all kicks off tomorrow afternoon, 135 horses scheduled to start on the opening card. They'll give away about $650,000 per day in purses in the next 36 days. It's racing the way it should be, the way it used to be. Follow it with me. Saratoga is reassuringly familiar, yet ever-changing. Beneath the red-striped awnings, we'll spend every day at the Spa.