From the Magazine: Unveiling of New Belmont Park

The newest version of Belmont Park will open its doors for the first time Sept. 18 and downstate New York racing will have a single home inside a sparkling, glass-enclosed, indoor-outdoor facility, customized for the needs of racing and its fans in the digital world of the 21st century. "People are getting amped up for it. The whole industry is getting excited for it," said New York Racing Association chairman Marc Holliday. "To be a part of this new stage of history is very exciting." The new building can seat only 10,000 inside the 300,000-square foot structure, which is a better fit for an era when online wagering has severely downsized daily on-track attendance. Though in 2027, for the Belmont Stakes day and Breeders' Cup World Championships, there will be temporary seating and hospitality areas for significantly larger crowds. The reconstruction, which cost more than $500 billion and includes the revamping of the oval's main track and two turf courses as well as the addition of an all-weather surface, gives the racetrack a modern footprint on a campus that also offers such relatively new features as the 17,000-seat UBS Arena, the home of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, and a tiered parking garage and high-end shopping area in what used to be a parking lot on the south side of Hempstead Turnpike. Click below to subscribe and immediately read more about the partners in a feature story from Lenny Shulman, as well as the entire June 2026 issue of BloodHorse. Subscribe now to read this story in full. Choose a Digital Subscription for instant access to this story and the full May 2026 issue. Or, add print to the mix with Print + Digital: full online access starting today, with your first print edition arriving in the next mailing. Subscribe Now