STEEPLECHASERS CHERISH NICHE.(SARATOGA STYLE)

Byline: Tim Layden

Saratoga is a place of tradition and history, of reverence for the past. The National Steeplechase and Hunt Association can appreciate that.

The Golden Age of steeplechasing has long since become the past, as the sport has vacated - or been evicted - from some racetracks. But at Saratoga, where for a month each year thoroughbred racing dips into its own past, there is still a niche for the jumpers.

"We've always been able to maintain a good presence at Saratoga," said Charles Colgan, vice president of the NSHA. "The sport lends itself to a Saratoga-type atmoshpere, which is more of an informal country-type setting than, say, at …