Belmont Park Reopens After $555 Million, Three-Year Rebuild
Belmont Park returned to live racing on September 18 after a three-year, $555 million reconstruction, with the New York Racing Association reopening a new five-story grandstand and four racing surfaces on the site of the sport's most storied Long Island venue.
A Rebuild Funded By The State And NYRA
The centrepiece of the project is a $455 million loan approved through Governor Kathy Hochul's FY2024 state budget, which NYRA is repaying over 20 annual instalments of $25.8 million using revenue from slot machines at Aqueduct's Resorts World Casino and Jake's 58 Casino.
NYRA added an additional $100 million in its own funding for track and surface work, bringing the total project cost to $555 million.
The old 1.25-million-square-foot grandstand, built in 1968, was demolished in April 2024.
Its replacement is a 275,000-square-foot, five-level building designed by Populous, with roughly 300 construction workers on-site daily during construction.
What Racegoers Get On Reopening Day
Only the first two of the new grandstand's five floors are open for Friday's reopening, with the remaining three floors due to be completed by spring 2027, ahead of the Wood Memorial and the Belmont Stakes' return to its traditional home in June.
Capacity is capped at 6,000 for the reopening weekend, rising to 4,000 from September 24 and increasing further as more of the building opens; the finished grandstand will hold 10,000 people, with total site capacity of at least 50,000.
The reopening card features the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, with Japanese and American champion Forever Young offering an automatic Breeders' Cup Classic berth to the winner, plus a live performance from country singer Dierks Bentley.
NYRA says Friday's card is sold out.
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New Track Surfaces And A Year-Round Home
Alongside the grandstand, NYRA renovated Belmont's main dirt track and widened its two turf courses, moving the finish line more than 100 feet from its previous position, and added a new mile-long synthetic Tapeta track.
NYRA says the surfaces and a winterized building will let it move winter racing and training away from Aqueduct, effectively giving downstate New York racing a single, year-round home for the first time.
The move coincides with the closure of Aqueduct, which hosted its last race meeting on June 28, 2026, before its 110-acre site began redevelopment for housing and retail.
NYRA projects the completed Belmont project will support 700 full-time jobs and generate $155 million in annual economic impact for the region.
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