NYRA, NY Leaders Celebrate Final Beam at Belmont Park

It takes more than steel and cement to construct a building. For one as large in scale as the new Belmont Park, it requires a treasure chest of money—somewhere in the ritzy neighborhood of about a half-billion dollars—and a ton of support. All of that was on display Oct. 15 at the famed Elmont, N.Y., racing facility as a score of political, business, and racing leaders turned out for ceremonies to celebrate the placement of the clubhouse/grandstand's final steel beam. "This is a group effort," New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke said. "I can't say enough about the support we received from the governor (Kathy Hochul), the state, and the Floral Park/Elmont community. This is their track and it's 20 years in the making. When I first came to NYRA in 2008, there were plans to consolidate downstate, so to see this coming together like this, it's really cool." While the opening of the track is still about a year away and O'Rourke reiterated what he told BloodHorse on Labor Day that Belmont would be open for racing following the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meet with limited attendance and a grand opening of the entire facility would likely be in early April of 2027, seeing the entire framework in place stoked sweet visions of a sparkling state-of-the-art home for the sport. "(We have) launched on the greatest, largest racetrack project in history right here. (It will be) a world-class facility," said Gov. Hochul, who gave her support to the $455 million loan from the state that NYRA secured to finance the project. "It projects us into the future but it also honors Belmont's storied past, and that's the genius behind this. We can carry racing into the future and this bold vision is going to continue." NYRA chairman Marc Holliday vigorously lobbied Hochul for her support and expressed thanks for her work in arranging the loan. "What a great day for New York and the sport of horse racing," said Holliday, CEO and chairman of SL Green Realty. "Today is an important milestone on the path to developing a world-class racetrack. In less than one year it's going to be something we won't just be proud of. It's going to be something that will get the world's attention. We are fortunate to have leaders that provided us with the tools and cash to be able to succeed. Governor Hochul believed in our vision for the future from the very beginning and recognized the important of horse racing to the economy and also the culture of this state. We are here today because of her and she's been a champion for the new Belmont Park and horse racing since the first day she took office." With the spring of 2027 targeted for the completion of each floor inside the structure that will hold about 12,000 people on a daily basis, everything is on track for the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup to return to Long Island in 2027. O'Rourke added that work on the four racing surfaces (one dirt, two turf, and one all-weather) is ahead of original expectations and the new synthetic, Tapeta course may be open for training next month. "I'm really proud of our team," O'Rourke said. "(NYRA executive vice president of operations and capital projects Glen Kozak) and I are very focused on this and have been working on this a long time. So, it's great to see the buildings and the surfaces come together and now to put the final beam in place. It's a great thing for racing in New York." One other item a construction project can use is luck and that was handled by the placement on the final girder of a tree, which is a vestige of good luck and safety among builders. EXTRA DAY OF RACING ADDED An additional day of NYRA racing at Aqueduct Racetrack has been added for Oct. 22. It has been scheduled to offset the loss of racing Oct. 12 due to heavy rain and wind. Entries for the Wednesday card will be taken Oct. 16 with 13 extra races on the Oct. 19 overnight sheet serving as the possible races on the card.