Long Island’s racing crown jewel is now Nassau County’s front-runner, with a futuristic new look, an added track to introduce winter racing, first-class dining and amenities, plus acres of a game-changing spectator infield that can be repurposed for concerts and other non-equestrian events.
asserted
that → add → concerts
“I think we’ve improved the everyday fan experience quite dramatically,” NYRA CEO David O’Rourke told The Post before Friday’s long-awaited “Return to Racing” events.
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O’Rourke → think → events
Belmont Park underwent a three-year, start-from-scratch rebuild into a significantly smaller but highly sophisticated $455M grandstand.
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Park → undergo → grandstand
The new space is 300,000 square feet, down from 1.25 million, for broadly open-air-focused renovations for the public to trot themselves.
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public → focus → renovations
Belmont remains a work in progress, with only two of the grandstand’s five levels open for business: a ground floor for comfortable general admission, bars and bites, with sit-down restaurants, clubs and a NYRA betting room above.
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two → remain → restaurants
Luxury suite levels and a balcony event space overlooking the sweeping NYC skyline, which could host a wedding, will be the finishing touches.
uncertain
which → overlook → wedding
Other areas of the complex, like its newly accessible, spread out infield, trackside scenic open areas and an underground tunnel connecting the campus to the far-away emerald parking lot, are also still to be completed.
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areas → spread → lot
Its true ribbon cutting is expected in early 2027 — ahead of the long-awaited return of June’s Belmont Stakes, which has been run upstate in Saratoga since 2023.
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which → expect → 2023
Belmont’s face-lift also included a $100M renovation of the Belmont Stakes’ iconic 1 ¹/₂-mile dirt track plus two turf tracks and introduced a 1-mile Tapeta oval.
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lift → include → oval
The synthetic Tapeta track will be used for winter racing instead of Queens’ recently shut down Aqueduct Racetrack.
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track → use → Racetrack
The new grandstand’s design includes a more effective, climate controlled indoor space for spectators during cold-weather runs, such as the Breeders’ Cup in October 2027.
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design → include → October
“The old Belmont didn’t have a lot of heated areas,” said project builder Roger Cettina, a senior vice president at AECOM Tishman.
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Cettina → have → Tishman
“If you came in October and it was a cold day — it was cold.”
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it → come → October
The new, visibly brighter grandstand will seat 10,000 for most race days and 50,000 or more for the Belmont Stakes — the same capacity the Triple Crown finale operated at since the construction of the Islanders home on campus, UBS Arena, over a decade ago.
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finale → seat → campus
The property will hold 6,000 for Friday’s welcome back and will temporarily drop to 4,000 for events after Sept. 24.
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property → hold → Sept.
Cettina said racetracks that rival the scale of college football stadiums are “not the nature of this game anymore,” largely because of online gambling.
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that → say → gambling
“Back then there was one way to bet: You would go to the track,” said Cettina, also a storied horse gambler who was inducted into the National Horseplayers Championship Hall of Fame in 2017.
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who → be → 2017
New Belmont traded its former excess peanut-gallery seating on the home stretch side for comfortable and closer-to-the-action views — such as the watering hole Big Red’s, named for the iconic Secretariat and with royal blue chairs to match his jockey’s colors.
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Belmont → trade → colors
That zone also has a stage set for country star Dierks Bentley to play on Friday, as more of the opened-up portion is still being built into general-admission, ground-level parklike space.
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more → have → space
It emphasizes the concept of having fans roam the grounds rather than being tied to bulk seating, with an incoming playground nearby and the goal of offering pony rides for kids.
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fans → emphasize → kids
“We wanted to keep a lot of exposure to the animals with the public,” O’Rourke said, noting that the area could also double as an intimate concert venue.
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area → want → venue
“It’s something we probably learned a little bit more from the European style, where a lot of the focus on the hospitality is around the paddock.”
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lot → ’ → paddock
The inviting paddock, near a built-in TV studio, sits behind the grandstand and track, but is easily viewable from inside as the new complex is equipped for dual-side sight lines — something missing from old Belmont.
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complex → build → Belmont
“You’re probably never more than 30 feet away from any kind of view of each side of the track,” O’Rourke added.
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O’Rourke → ’re → track
Horses now proceed from the paddock to the track through an opening in the grandstand surrounded by glass windows for fans to look on too.
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fans → proceed → windows
The track also invested in thoroughbred at the hands of signature chef and Food Network star Marc Forgione — a one-time local Floral Park boy who would scrape change together with friends to give to an adult to place bets on their behalf.
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who → invest → behalf
“We won a trifecta, which, at the time, I didn’t even know what a trifecta was,” he laughed.
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he → win → time
Now Forgione is serving up his own signature winners at the new Turf Club and other restaurants.
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Forgione → serve → Club
Guests can enjoy chili lobster on Texas toast, chicken under a brick, and choice cuts with “gorgeous” bone marrow gremolata.
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Guests → enjoy → gremolata
The homegrown talent will also have more straight-laced options, like turkey clubs and penne à la vodka.
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talent → have → clubs
O’Rourke called the track’s reopening a personal triple crown for the entire campus, which, along with UBS Arena, features an extensive shopping district.
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which → call → district
Belmont’s next steps, or perhaps gallops, are endless, he added.
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he → add → ?
“We’re looking forward to bringing the fans back on track.
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We → look → track
It’s exciting.”
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It → ’ → ?
The Aporia
