In case you were unaware there is a massive makeover going on at Belmont Park.

So, last year New York Racing Association officials decided to stage the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, the oldest and most popular track in the country.

NYRA has scheduled the Belmont Stakes Festival, which will feature 24 Stakes races with purses totaling $10.25 million dollars, for June 6th through the 9th at Saratoga. The actual Belmont Stakes is Saturday, June 8th.

Thoroughbred racing has been conducted at The Spa since 1863 and its world-renowned summer meet features the $1.25-million dollar, GI Travers Stakes, but the addition of the Belmont Stakes is monumental and will only add to the tracks great history.

The daily limit of 50,000 admission tickets and seating sold out as fast as a Springsteen concert, as did hotel rooms and short-term rentals in the city and region.

The original plan NYRA had was to start the Belmont Park tear-down and rebuild immediately after the 2024 Belmont Stakes, move the race to Saratoga for 2025 and have Belmont Park ready for the 2026 edition.

At the end of the last summer’s Saratoga meet, NYRA CEO David O’Rourke said that the Belmont Stakes, aka The Test of the Champion was likely to be held in Saratoga in 2024 as well, therefore providing a bigger window for the Belmont Park remodel.

The Daily Racing Blog will have much more on the Belmont Stakes Festival in the upcoming weeks