It may involve horse racing, but there was a touch of baseball attached to bringing the Breeders' Cup to Belmont Park in 2027.
Some two years ago, Breeders' Cup CEO and president Drew Fleming borrowed a line from the movie "Field of Dreams" in a letter to the New York Racing Association and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. He basically told them, rebuild Belmont Park and the Breeders' Cup will return to the Big Apple.
On May 28 in Manhattan, Fleming made good on that promise.
Breeders' Cup Limited announced that the 2027 World Championships will be held Oct. 29-30 of that year at Belmont Park, marking the event's return there for the first time since 2005. He also said the 2026 Breeders' Cup will take place at Keeneland.
The news was outlined at a New York City media event attended by Hochul, NYRA chairman Marc Holliday, NYRA president and CEO Dave O'Rourke, Keeneland CEO and president Shannon Arvin, and Fleming.
"In 2023, we wrote a letter (to Gov. Hochul) and we made a promise. If you build it, we will come. And today I am honored to remain true to our word and bring the Breeders' Cup World Championships back to the Big Apple in 2027, where we will welcome fans from around the globe to a new era of New York racing at a beautiful new Belmont Park," Fleming said.
Belmont Park, which currently is being rebuilt through a $455 million loan from the state, is expected to reopen in September 2026. It will be the fifth time the Breeders' Cup has been staged at Belmont and the sixth time a NYRA racetrack has been the host. Aqueduct Racetrack was the site of the second Breeders' Cup in 1985.
"When NYRA set out many years ago to create a new, world-class Belmont Park, we wanted to do more than just upgrade the historic facility," Holliday said. "Our goal was to build something new and exciting. An amazing venue to showcase racing in what is without question one of the most important markets in the world. We set out to build something compelling and fresh and create a new standard for racing entertainment to appeal to a generation of new fans. We knew if we realized this vision, we would attract events like the Breeders' Cup. So today is truly an affirmation of those efforts."
Gov. Hochul praised the work of Holliday and NYRA in making the new Belmont Park a reality.
"This is a great day for our city and state. I want to thank Marc for being a visionary. When he first showed me the plan (for Belmont Park) ... I loved it because it was so brilliant and created this amazing contrast in our own state to have Saratoga with the quintessential turn of the last century and feel of days long past. Then at the other end of the state we have the future unfolding," she said. "This is New York, and we do things big, bold, and audacious, and Marc, you were the person who got that over the finish line; so you had me at hello."
In addressing the gap between stops at Belmont Park, Fleming emphasized the importance of a Breeders' Cup in New York to the entire industry.
"It's incredibly important," Fleming said. "The New York marketplace loves horse racing, and our mission is to put on two of the best days of racing and also grow the sport. This is something our fans wanted and what we wanted to do. And I couldn't be more proud to have a great partnership with Marc and David and their entire team to put on an exceptional World Championships."
In rebuilding the racing surfaces at Belmont, a new configuration will be introduced for 1 1/4-mile races, such as the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), providing a smoother, less sharp run to the backstretch. Horses had previously made about a half turn out of a chute due to Belmont's main track being 1 1/2 miles in circumference.
Keeneland last hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2022, and this will be the fourth time since 2015 that the World Championships are contested at the Lexington track. The 2026 event at Keeneland is scheduled for Oct. 30-31 of next year.
"We strive to present the best of racing always, and the Breeders' Cup fits right into that," Arvin said. "Our companies really do have very similar missions in that we are designed to perpetuate the very best in racing and do what's right for the sport and what's good for the horse. We're very like-minded."
When Keeneland first joined the Breeders' Cup rotation in 2015, concerns arose that the venue might be too small for the event, but it has proven to be an ideal location.
"Keeneland is our Augusta National," Fleming said, referring to the site of the famed Masters golf tournament. "I think anytime you take someone to Keeneland, they instantly become a racing fan. We have a great, long-standing partnership with Keeneland. I think in 2015 there were skeptics that we couldn't have a Breeders' Cup at a venue of that size, and we proved that wrong. It was a tremendous success and such a success that we have been back there several times since."
Among the new additions fans at the 2026 Breeders' Cup will see at Keeneland are the new paddock building, a project priced at more than $100 million, which Arvin said will be completed this fall, and new hospitality experiences.
This year's Breeders' Cup will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar, marking its second straight year at the venue and third year in a row at a California racetrack.
The return of Belmont Park to the Breeders' Cup rotation of venues gives the series a more balanced East-West look with Keeneland and Belmont Park on the East Coast and Del Mar and Santa Anita Park on the West Coast. Fleming said Churchill Downs, which has not hosted the Breeders' Cup since 2018, would also be in the rotation. Churchill has undergone significant reconstruction projects in recent years.
"It's very exciting to see the development and the infrastructure and investment that tracks around the country are making. There's the new Belmont Park, expansion of Keeneland, and we have a great partnership with Churchill Downs. They put on a wonderful Kentucky Derby with record viewership, record handle, and the amount of investment they've put into Churchill Downs is exceptional," Fleming said. "I think the best part of the Breeders' Cup is that we rotate venues. It's a really great opportunity for the Breeders' Cup to continue to rotate to all these fantastic spots."
