The racetrack will be downsized.
There will be no Triple Crown winner in Thoroughbred Racing’s biggest events of the year nor will there be technically a Belmont Stakes as the racetrack is closed as it is being rebuilt and that will result in a significant downsizing of the venue at 7,500-seats. This year’s Belmont Stakes will be held at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York north of Albany. The 2026 Belmont Stakes will also be held at the Saratoga Race Course. On May 1st, 2023 the New York Racing Association released a statement announcing that state funding for the grandstand reconstruction and other projects had been secured by way of a $455 million loan. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at the time that the state had no choice and had to rebuild the racetrack.
The Belmont racetrack was losing money. Even with a track renovation, sinking money into the facility probably won’t revive an industry that has been in a massive decline for decades. There are some races that still attract attention, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont along with the Breeders’ Cup but it is no longer 1950 when Baseball, Boxing and Horse Racing dominated the American sports landscape. Horse racing had a big following but that quickly faded after the 1950s as states began lotteries and betting was made easy. In the 1960s, there was a limited but growing form of legalized betting around, with state lotteries, off track betting and the availability of all forms of gambling in stores along with casinos sprouting up around the country gamblers’ have choices. A portion of the horse racing industry has been saved by casino gambling at tracks. That is not going to change anytime soon. Belmont will not have a casino when it reopens in 2026.
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