For more than three years, the historic track on the Queens/Nassau border has been closed for a $450 million transformation that saw the entire facility razed to the ground and rebuilt with brand-new racetracks and a gleaming, modern grandstand designed to provide the highest-quality experience for racing fans.
New York horse racing fans have been chomping at the bit to return to Belmont Park; the last race held there was in July 2023, the last three runnings of the Belmont Stakes were held at Saratoga Race Course, and the vast majority of the races were held at the now-shuttered Aqueduct Racetrack — a venue whose glory had faded long ago.
But at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Belmont Park will hold the first race of a new era for both the track and its operator, the New York Racing Association (NYRA). Belmont will be the nexus of NYRA’s downstate operations, racing almost all year long, save for the annual summer meet at Saratoga. The new facility has an all-weather grandstand and a new mile-long Tapeta synthetic surface within the massive dirt main track and turf courses; the synthetic track will serve as the exclusive surface for races run in the winter at Belmont.
Friday’s Opening Day card aims to get NYRA and the new Belmont Park off and running the right way; the centerpiece of the nine-race slate is the $1 million, Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, the biggest remaining prep race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in October at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky. The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be headlined by Forever Young, the defending Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and international champion from Japan, who will face six other runners.
The Opening Day celebration at Belmont Park will be telecast on Fox from 3 to 4:30 p.m.. Country music star Dierks Bentley will headline the entertainment program on Opening Day Friday; NYRA says there will be other live music and entertainment offered at the track throughout the weekend.
Here’s some other important things to know about the reopening of Belmont Park:
Facts about the new Belmont Park
The old Belmont Park, opened in 1968, was a quarter-mile long, held upwards of 35,000 people — and, on most racing dates outside the Belmont Stakes in the 21st century, seemed like a ghost town when only a few thousand people showed up to watch the races.
The new Belmont Park is highlighted by a smaller, yet state-of-the-art grandstand, measuring five stories high, and equipped with all the modern amenities a sports fan today would enjoy. The smaller building allowed NYRA to create more greenspace and expand the paddock into one rivaling some of the finest racetracks in Europe, such as Ascot in England and Longchamps in France.
NYRA President David O’Rourke told amNewYork in a June interview that the changes aim to bring racing fans at Belmont closer to the horses than they had been in the past.
“What we really wanted to do was get that exposure for the general admission crowd to the horses. So we’ve expanded the paddock; it’s essentially the exact same size as Saratoga. Slightly more than half of it is open to the general public, so you’re gonna get close to the horses,” O’Rourke said at the time.
The five-floor grandstand measures 300,000 square feet in space. The first two floors will be open as of Friday; the remainder of the building should be completed in the spring of 2027, featuring what’s considered to be world-class suites and lounges on the upper levels.
The old Belmont Park facility had two sections: a grandstand to the west of the finish line for general admission, and a clubhouse to the east of the finish line with finer accommodations for VIPs. The same principle applies to the new Belmont, but on a vertical dynamic: the higher you go, the more accommodating the experience, though at a higher price.
Meanwhile, the new Belmont has tunnels that lead fans to the vast infield, giving them access they never previously had in more than 120 years of the track’s existence. NYRA will be using the infield during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and other events, enabling them to have capacities of up to 50,000 on big race days, equaling the capped attendance of the Belmont Stakes in recent years.
And then there are the racing surfaces themselves. The 1 1/2 mile-long main track, the largest dirt course in North America, has a slightly readjusted finish line; as a result, the home stretch is now nearly a quarter-mile long between the quarter-pole and finish line.
Within the main track are two lush turf courses lined with 60 acres of sod grown on Long Island, and one of the most critical features of the new Belmont Park: a one-mile synthetic course made of Tapeta, a mix of sand, wax and carpet fibers that remains fast in all weather and is considered safer for horses.
Attending the new Belmont Park
Only the first two floors of the grandstand will be open as of Friday as construction crews work to complete the third through fifth floors. As such, NYRA capped daily attendance at Belmont at 6,000 for the duration of the fall meet.
Opening Day, not surprisingly, is sold out; general admission for races on Saturday and Sunday starts at $10 per person. You can buy reserved grandstand seats on those days starting at $50 a pop, though that comes with a $25 food and beverage credit.
Admission prices at Belmont Park will be on a graduated scale, with costs increasing on big stakes days; on ordinary race days, general admission will start at $7 per person, when purchased in advance (it’s $10 at the gate). Season passes are also available.
General admission gets you access to grandstand seats on most days, along with access to the first floor, the backyard, paddock viewing areas and the track apron.
The first floor of the grandstand includes a major food court as well as Big Red’s, a full-service sports bar on the southwestern corner of the building, just across the way from UBS Arena, home of the Islanders. NYRA recently named Marc Forgione, owner of Peasant restaurant in Nolita, as its signature chef for Belmont Park, responsible for creating high-quality offerings at each of the food venues within the grandstand.
For ticket information, visit newbelmont.com or NYRA.com.
