Horse racing returns to rebuilt Belmont Park

NEW YORK (AP):

They’re off and running at the new Belmont Park, as horse racing returned on Friday following a three-year absence during a US$550 million reconstruction project that modernised the historic track.

Fans in the sold-out crowd of 6,000 cheered as a field of 10 left the starting gate just after 1:30 p.m. at the home of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown. LISA JOY, a filly ridden by jockey Antonio Fresu, won the first race held at the venue since July 9, 2023.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be part of this historical track and historical reopening of Belmont Park,” Fresu said afterward. “They seem to be doing a tremendous job. The track is fantastic. The grandstand looks fantastic, all the facilities, so I’m really, really happy to be part of it.”

The new facility, with its futuristic white design, is a departure from the massive brick grandstand that occupied the site from 1968 until it was demolished. Ahead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the expanded paddock area, New York Governor Kathy Hochul described the reopening as the beginning of a new era for horse racing in a state that is home to Belmont Park on the border of Queens and Long Island, as well as the historic Saratoga Race Course upstate.

“With the new Belmont Park, New York enters into a league of its own,” Hochul said.

“All eyes of the racing world are on this place. Everybody’s paying attention to what we’re unveiling here.”

For now, only the first two floors are open to the public while work continues on the third, fourth and fifth levels ahead of the spring. They are expected to be ready in time for the Wood Memorial, a key Kentucky Derby prep race held in early April.

“We’ll show off the whole facility that day,” New York Racing Association President and CEO David O’Rourke told The Associated Press. “The bones are here. Now we’re going to flesh this out.”

The Belmont Stakes will return on June 5 after a three-year run at Saratoga. The Breeders’ Cup is also scheduled to return next fall, with the sport’s championship weekend taking place in New York for the first time since 2005.

“If you build it, we will come,” said Dora Delgado, the Breeders’ Cup executive vice-president and chief racing officer.

“We knew they had the capability. They knew what we needed from a facility, so it was just perfect.”

Delgado likened the new Belmont Park to England’s Ascot Racecourse and to Arlington Park outside Chicago before that venue closed in 2021.

“It’s state of the art,” Delgado said.

“They have created something here that’s just astonishing, and it’s a first for New York racing to have this kind of facility.”

Fresu called it one of the best turf courses he had ever ridden. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won the first two races on the card, made sure he was included in the winner’s-circle photograph after the opener because of its historic significance.

“It’s a beautiful place,” McGaughey said. “It’s different than what I expected. ... It’s a lot more modern than old Belmont.”

Country artiste Dierks Bentley performed as part of the celebrations and told fans he was backing the Japanese horse in the headline race, the Grade 1 US$1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup. That horse, Forever Young, the reigning Breeders’ Cup Classic champion, dominated the field with an impressive victory.

“Hats off to the operations team,” O’Rourke said. “I don’t think my folks have slept the last two weeks. We pulled off a big race, a big day. I can’t be more thrilled.”