After several years of talk and expectations, Belmont Park is finally looking like a racetrack once again.
The grandstand that provided millions of fans unforgettable memories may be gone, but a visit to the famed 120-year-old facility shows the kind of progress that makes the wait for the half-billion-dollar reconstruction project to be completed in the fall of 2026 more palatable.
Months ago, Belmont Park looked like a mile-and-a-half sandbox, but now the outlines of four courses—one dirt, two turf, and one all-weather—are in place. The rails and markers for the courses are mostly in place. The limestone bases are set. The new one-mile Tapeta course is virtually ready and could be available for training by the end of the second quarter or the start of the third quarter of this year. By July, there should be more insight as to when training on the other courses can begin.
A new chute for 1 1/4-mile races has been constructed, and the stretch will be about 120 feet longer with the finish line at the center of the grandstand.
"Now it feels like a racetrack," New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke said during a Feb. 5 tour of the facility. "We have been talking about this internally for five to six years, so to see it come together at the speed (NYRA senior vice president of operations and capital projects Glen Kozak) and his team has orchestrated is amazing."
NYRA has spared no expense as it strives to make Belmont Park North America's premier racing facility. The project, at a cost of about $550 million, is the most comprehensive, ambitious, and perhaps most expensive racing project America has ever seen, giving the sport a glittering new palace on the border of New York City at a time when the future of some of the biggest racetracks is in limbo.
"This is a state-of-the-art project," O'Rourke said. "It's the largest training center on the East Coast and this is where the investment should be, in the horses."
Reflective of how NYRA has not cut corners is the $100 million it is spending on a separate project for its racing surfaces. That figure is in addition to the $455 million loan it received from New York State to build a smaller and more modern grandstand and reshape the grounds.
"The things that we have done the last seven or eight years in terms of business, be it NYRA Bets, television, or any of the other things we have done to diversify our business, you are looking at the returns in this new racetrack," O'Rourke said. "Our definition of return on investment for this racetrack is to have the best facilities for horses in the country. That's our return on investment and we believe that will translate itself to the product on the racetrack."
While 100,000 tons of material were brought in for the surfaces, the most noteworthy change with them is the introduction of a drainage and watering system new to NYRA and the industry.
The courses will now have a series of drains about 16 feet apart to handle rainfall and 200 dry wells that are 20 feet tall and 10 feet in circumference. That system will be especially beneficial to maintenance and care of the two turf courses as with the reopening of Belmont Park and the closing of Aqueduct Racetrack, the Elmont, N.Y., facility will be NYRA's lone downstate facility.
"You need the tracks to drain but you need the grass to grow and knit," O'Rourke said. "All this drainage allows us to use a 50-50 mix of top soil and sand. Without the drainage you might put more sand in to help it drain and that can create a problem with stability and roots growing."
The turf courses will also benefit from a new 15 million-gallon irrigation pond in the infield.
"What's probably one of the biggest enhancements is that not only is everything from the ground up new," Kozak said, "but there's a consistency of the materials used. All of the profiles underneath the surfaces are consistent."
To help the innermost Tapeta course, Kozak designed the use of a mat that will prevent rocks in the base from getting into the surface, especially in areas where starting gates are positioned.
"It's a substantial expense to add the mats," Kozak said. "But it's worth it. The problem with a synthetic course is that you cannot screen it for the rocks like you can with a dirt track."
The demolished 56-year-old grandstand no longer dots the area landscape but work on the new structure is underway. Its foundation has been set and its walls are 80-85% complete. The outline of a staircase and elevator shaft can be seen.
On a typical day, the facility will fit 9,000-10,000 fans, a fine size for racing in 2025. But on special days like Belmont Stakes Day or when the Breeders' Cup finally returns to the Big Apple, at least 50,000 patrons can be accommodated through temporary space in the infield and four acres of land adjacent to the grandstand.
Suites at the new facility will go on sale in March.
As for the big question, when will Belmont Park reopen for racing, O'Rourke said the facility is on target for a grand reopening in September of 2026.
That schedule means the 2026 Belmont Stakes (G1) will likely be held at Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park would not be a viable candidate for the 2026 Breeders' Cup.
But in 2027, it would be hard to think of a better place for the Breeders' Cup than Belmont Park, where the world can see America's most modern racetrack and a facility that embodies the adage "everything old is new again."
