Deadlines. Dating apps. Doomscrolling—lots of doomscrolling. The modern era can feel overwhelming to anyone—and often does—but especially to the protagonist of Off to the Races, a new film by Albany native Miranda Hart that just wrapped up filming around Saratoga earlier this month.
Off to the Races centers on Babs, a history-obsessed playwright struggling with writer’s block. In a desperate bid for new material, she leaves the big city to visit her hometown—Saratoga Springs—during the height of horse racing season. Though she longs for an old-fashioned man in a tuxedo, Babs ends up sleeping with the high school quarterback with whom she swore she’d never get involved. From there, the film follows the unlikely pair’s attempts to keep their secret from her nosy family.
It’s a story not completely unfamiliar to Hart—save the torrid affair. As a Capital Region native now living in Los Angeles, she returned to Saratoga herself to shoot the film. Growing up, she visited the city every year with her family for Travers weekend, which ignited the very excitement and sense of escapism that Babs experiences…