Saratoga Race Course will now add to its storied history by hosting the third leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday, June 8th.

Today New York Governor Kathy Hochul made it official that the 2024 G1 Belmont Stakes will be held for the first time at Saratoga and be run at 1 1/4 miles.

Moving the final jewel in racings Triple Crown allows for the uninterrupted construction of a new and re-imagined Belmont Park.

The 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will begin on Thursday, June 6th and continue through Sunday, June 9th.

The four-day Festival at Saratoga Race Course will include 23 stakes races in total with purses totaling $9.7 million, the highest purse levels and number of Stakes offered since the launch of the multi-day event in 2014.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) will increase the purse of the Belmont Stakes from $1.5 million dollars to $2 million in 2024, which is the first significant increase since 2014.

In addition, pending the approval of the North American Graded Stakes Committee, the race will be contested at 1 1/4 miles in 2024 rather than the traditional 1 1/2 miles, due to the configuration of the main track at Saratoga.

Following the conclusion of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga, the NYRA circuit will return to Aqueduct Racetrack for the remainder of the spring meet before racing shifts back to Saratoga for the annual 40-day summer meet beginning Thursday, July 11th.

Prior to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the Belmont Spring/Summer meet will be conducted at Aqueduct.

The fall meet customarily held at Belmont Park will again be shifted to Aqueduct Racetrack in 2024 while
construction of a new Belmont Park continues.