The Travers is coming up on its 141st running on Saturday, Aug. 28. That longevity speaks for itself, so it may come as a surprise that what has become arguably one of the biggest and most anticipated events in horseracing, didn’t have its own promotional poster until just 24 years ago, when Greg Montgomery came along.
I had a conversation with a fellow in Saratoga who owned [an art gallery] on Broadway, who told me all about this amazing race that happens in August. After he finished, I said ‘no disrespect, but if it’s that great of a race, how come there’s no poster or anything that announces it?’ said Montgomery, who lives in Albany.
Montgomery was put in touch with the right people and before he knew it, he was presenting a silkscreened image he’d made for a graduate course at Saint Rose to Travers big wigs.
`I showed it to them and I’ve been doing it ever since,` said Montgomery.
He had moved to the Capital District from New Mexico to take a job at GE, which was helping him get his master’s. After his skills from a silk screening class scored him the Travers gig, things got a little busier, with the biggest challenge being to create something distinctly different, each year.
`For the first poster, the gallery owner had told me a lot about the history of the race and all the famous people, families and horses associated with it. I thought the best way to show all that history and pageantry was by using the racing colors, so I went over to the racing museum and looked at all the silks there. I picked out about 15 and tried to put them all in the poster without letting any one of them dominate,` said Montgomery.
Each year’s poster depicted a different image or feeling associated with the Travers. 1987’s was a picture of the clubhouse, another year flaunted a beautiful woman in a big red hat, one poster featured a jockey, another showed the paddock area of the track and 2008’s poster re-captured the previous year’s dramatic finish between Street Sense and Grasshopper.
To entice his imaginative juices, Montgomery has settled into a sort of routine.
`I spend a lot of time at the track. I try to get up very early in the morning and watch the horses work out because that’s a really special part of Saratoga. I try to get over on the weekends because that’s when the biggest crowds are there, and I’ll look around and see if anything catches my eye,` said Montgomery, who said it takes about a month and a half to complete each poster.
Up until 1999, the Travers posters were done by silk screening. The materials used in that process are very unhealthy, though, so Montgomery switched over to drawing them by hand and finishing them on the computer.
`I draw every little piece of dirt by hand and then fill in the colors on the computer,` said Montgomery.
For the 2011 poster, Mongtomery said he’s going to try to return to his roots.
`I’m very serious about trying to go back in the other direction for this next poster and make every effort to silkscreen,` said Montgomery.
Since his art has become the face of the Travers, Montgomery has found himself involved with horseracing in yet another capacity.
`I was asked years ago to create book covers for a murder mystery writer, Dick Francis. He is a very famous fellow, was jockey to the Queen of England and a fighter pilot in Great Britain during WWII. He suffered an injury that put him in the hospital for quite some time, during which he tried his hand at writing,` said Montgomery. `He’s written more than 44 murder mysteries that all have to do with racehorses. I love doing those covers.`
Even between the Travers gig and book cover designs, Montgomery still finds time to nurture his personal artistry, drawing many scenes of sailing and travel both with pen and paper and watercolor.
`This year, I want to take my watercolors out again and start creating individual pieces of art. Almost everything I’ve created as a professional has been a multiple or editions so I’m going to force myself to do some singles that are one-and-only pieces,` said Montgomery. `The computer is clean and lovely and efficient, but there isn’t any feeling in the world like holding it in your hand.`
His art is scattered around the region and the world, but Montgomery said he never ceases to feel honored by what he’s been able to do.
`It’s a privilege. I feel very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time, and it’s a joy to do,` said Montgomery.
All the Travers posters created by Montgomery are compiled in a book, `The History and Art of 25 Travers,` which includes a photo and explanation of each poster. His work can be viewed at www.gregmontgomery.com.
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