SARATOGA SPRINGS — A soggy opening day didn't keep racing fans away from Saratoga Race Course today, although some workers and fans said the crowd was smaller than normal.

Rain kept down the crowds on opening day Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course.
Watch Video»

Mary Jane Steele and two of her family members from Connecticut braved the crowds and the heat at the Belmont Stakes this year, and they weren't going to let a little rain stop them from enjoying Saratoga. They staked out a spot under the overhang at the front of the grandstand and set up their chairs and coolers.

"When we got here, it was pouring," Steele said. At 11:10 a.m., there were just a few people entering the gates, she said.

The rain, and work obligations, did keep some family members from attending Opening Day this year. Usually Steele makes the two-hour trip with about 15 people, but this year only four came.

As the rain came down off and on throughout the afternoon, people congregated under the roofed areas of the track, huddled under umbrellas and ponchos, and some had even pitched tents on the lawn to stay dry.