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NYRA Might Hold Belmont S. Twice In Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The next two runnings of the GI Belmont S. could be held at Saratoga Race Course, New York Racing Association President and CEO David O'Rourke said Sunday.

NYRA would make the temporary switch of the oldest race in the Triple Crown series to America's oldest track during a massive re-construction undertaking at Belmont Park. In mid-June, Patrick McKenna, NYRA's vice-president for communications, said that the 2025 Belmont S. might be held at Saratoga Race Course. While noting that a final decision has not been finalized, O'Rourke said Saratoga could host the race next June and again in 2025.

“With Belmont, you're looking at just under a three-year project, including demolition,” he said. “Our preferred course of action is to get moving on the abatement and the demolition early this winter. If we are successful, we will not be back to Belmont until the Belmont S. of '26.

“I won't have a definitive answer on that until a month from now, maybe a month and a half. In terms of our preferred path forward, that would be it.”

Saratoga Race Course would be a suitable host site because it can accommodate large crowds. NYRA still operates Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, but its once-massive grandstand is gone.

Moving the Belmont S. would be a huge economic boon for the city of Saratoga Springs and the Capital Region of upstate New York. The annual 40-day Saratoga meeting is a key economic driver and adding more days in June for the Belmont Stakes festival would be a very big deal in the marketplace.

Thoroughbred racing debuted in Saratoga in 1863 on an existing track on the north side of Union Avenue. The experiment launched by John Morrissey was so successful, that land was purchased across the street and a track was ready for the 1864 season. The first race held on the new grounds, where the current track is located, was the Travers Stakes, named after William Travers, the president of the racing association. For 3-year-olds, it is the most-important race of the season.

The annual Saratoga racing, season, now 40 days, is the highest-profile, most-popular meet in North America. NYRA officials said that total attendance for this year's meet, which conclude Monday, will again top 1 million.

Saratoga Race Course would be the fifth track in New York to host the Belmont S. It was first run in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx. The Belmont was staged at Morris Park in Westchester County from 1890 until Belmont Park was opened in 1905. The race was held at Aqueduct Racetrack between 1963 and 1967 when Belmont Park was being rebuilt.

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Poll Shows New Yorkers Support Belmont Construction

We Are NY Horse Racing, a coalition of small businesses, labor unions, non-profits, and trade associations, released a public opinion poll that found 68% of voters statewide and 75% of voters on Long Island support using state bonding authority to construct new horse racing facilities at Belmont Park. In addition, New Yorkers view horse racing favorably by a 3-to-1 margin.

In 2022, legislation was introduced for the first time that would allow the New York Racing Association to finance the modernization of Belmont Park through state-backed bonds.

“Constructing a new Belmont Park will create jobs for New Yorkers, expand economic opportunity on Long Island, and drive tourism throughout the region,” said Jack Sterne, spokesperson for the We Are NY Horse Racing Coalition. “That's why New Yorkers here on Long Island and across the state overwhelmingly support this transformative economic development project. This year, our coalition is ready to crisscross New York to make the case that a new Belmont Park is a win for our economy, for our state, and for all New Yorkers.”

The poll found that a supermajority of voters (68%) support legislation to grant this bonding authority to NYRA so it can modernize Belmont Park on Long Island. Both Democrats (70%) and Republicans (70%) support the legislation in equal amounts, and support on Long Island nearly reaches a 5-to-1 margin (75% support to 16% oppose).

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Belmont Park Fall Meet to be Held at Aqueduct Racetrack

The traditional fall meet at Belmont will instead be held at Aqueduct and kick off Sept. 15, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. It is anticipated that racing will return to Belmont for the 2023 spring meet.

The switch to Aqueduct will allow NYRA to undertake the first phases of what could be a major renovation of Belmont Park. Tunnels have been constructed at Belmont that will give construction vehicles access to the infield. The tunnels will also pave the way for pedestrians to have access to the infield. According to a statement issued by NYRA, “the tunnels will serve as a conduit to the infield for commercial vehicles allowing NYRA to completely reconstruct the Belmont main track and its two turf courses.” In addition, the tunnels will provide NYRA with an opportunity “to consider the installation of a synthetic track in the future.”

NYRA officials have spoken often in recent years about a desire to make significant changes at Belmont, including ones that could make it feasible to some day close Aqueduct. That could include a rebuild of the massive grandstand, which would make Belmont a better fit to host the Breeders' Cup, which has not been run in New York since 2005.

“This investment in the future of Belmont Park will transform our racing operations and pave the way for a broader re-imagining of the facility,” Dave O'Rourke, NYRA President & CEO, said in a statement. “The shift to Aqueduct this fall will minimize the overall impact on the racing schedule, and ensure continuity for the Belmont spring/summer meet and Belmont S. presented by NYRA Bets. We appreciate the patience of our horsemen and fans as we enter this period of transition at Belmont, and look forward to an exciting fall at the Big A.”

According to NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna, the current circumferences of the Belmont racing surfaces will not be changed.

The construction project will result in the closing of the main track and the turf courses at Belmont for training, starting with the conclusion of training on Aug. 7. Those tracks won't reopen until April of 2023. After a brief shutdown, the Belmont training track will re-open on Aug. 8 and will be the only outlet for regular training activities. Construction on the Belmont courses will begin following the conclusion of the 2023 Belmont Park spring/summer meet.

The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) President Joe Appelbaum expressed his support for the project in the NYRA statement.

“NYTHA membership recognize the importance of modernizing Belmont Park and look forward to competing at a world-class Thoroughbred racing venue,” said Appelbaum. “We will continue to work closely with NYRA to reduce any burdens on horsemen created by the temporary closure of the main track at Belmont.”

Trainer Christophe Clement had mixed feelings about the impending changes.

“They are going to make Belmont Park even better, so this is exciting when you consider the future,” he said. “I think they are going to create an amazing Belmont Park when they are done.”

But Clement is not looking forward to what will be a major disruption to his training routines.

“This is very depressing because a guy like me trains mostly on the main track at Belmont and I work a lot of horses every weekend on the turf,” he said. “I adore Belmont Park as a racetrack, to race at and to train at. But I will have to adapt. That's just the way it is. We were aware of this. NYRA has been talking to us about this for about six months. We're just going to have to adjust.”

The Belmont-at-Aqueduct meet will run through Oct. 30 and will include 41 stakes races worth $9.9 million. The stakes season at Belmont-at-the-Big A will commence on Sept. 17 with the running of the $1-million GIII Jockey Club Derby and the $700,000 GIII Jockey Club Oaks. The Oct. 1 card will consist of four stakes, including the GI Woodward S. and the GI Champagne S. The Oct. 8 card will include the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and the GII Vosburgh, which has been shifted from six furlongs to seven furlongs. Six stakes were cut from the schedule, but none are graded stakes. The GII Kelso H., traditionally a prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, has been shifted from late September to Oct. 29.

The good news for horsemen is that the Belmont-at-Aqueduct meet will offer significant purse increases with a particular focus on adding value to conditions impacting the broadest group of owners and trainers. Open allowance races will be run for six-figure purses while all claiming categories, New York-bred, and maiden races will enjoy purse enhancements. NYRA will also introduce a new bonus program to further reward horsemen for competing at the fall meet. The bonus will pay $500 to the owner and $500 to the trainer of any horse finishing outside of the top three in his/her first fall start provided the most recent start was during the 2022 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course. Stakes races at Aqueduct do not qualify for the Belmont at the Big A bonus.

The capital improvement project will also include the installation of a synthetic Tapeta track on the quarter-mile Belmont “pony track.”

From 1963 through 1967, racing moved to Aqueduct after the Saratoga meet concluded as Belmont Park was being rebuilt.

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Construction To Resume At Turfway Park; Churchill Hotel Plans Remain On Hold

During Thursday's conference call with investors, Churchill Downs, Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen revealed that construction of a new grandstand and Historical Horse Racing venue will resume at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., reports bloodhorse.com.

Construction had been halted due to uncertainty over the future of Historical Horse Racing in the state of Kentucky, but on Feb. 22 Gov. Andy Beshear signed legislation that specifically includes HHR under the state's definition of pari-mutuel wagering.

“We anticipate spending approximately $145 million in project capital to finish building this premier facility,” Carstanjen said of Turfway. “And that will deliver approximately 800 construction jobs and 400 full-time permanent jobs in the Northern Kentucky area, as well as revitalize the Kentucky winter Thoroughbred racing circuit.”

However, construction on a hotel on the Churchill Downs property in Louisville, Ky. remains on hold as the company reviews revised plans for the project.