Belmont Park - Wikipedia

First Belmont Park (1903–1963)

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August Belmont Jr. and William Collins Whitney, along with other investors, built the original Belmont race track, which opened on May 4, 1905. Arthur Underhill was hired as Engineer and Landscape Architect to design and oversee construction of the park. In its first 15 or so years, Belmont Park featured racing clockwise, in the "English fashion"—allowing the upper-class members of the racing association and their guests to have the races finish in front of the clubhouse, just to the west of the grandstand. A "field stand," at what was then the top of the stretch, was located east of the grandstand. The original finish line was located at the top of the present-day homestretch.[6] In his 1925 book, "The Big Town", Ring W. Lardner refers to the then-recent directional change when he has a character at Belmont say (speaking of a recent race) "At that time, they run the wrong way of the track, like you would deal cards".

A later innovation was created by Joseph E. Widener, who took over track leadership when August Belmont II died in 1924: the Widener Chute. It was a straightaway of just under 7 furlongs (1.4 km) that cut diagonally through Belmont's training and main tracks, hitting near the quarter-pole of the main track; the course was removed in 1958.[7]

 

 

Two features of the original Belmont Park remain today. The first is the display of four stone pillars on Hempstead Turnpike, a gift from the mayor and park commissioners of Charleston, South Carolina. The pillars had stood at the entrance of the Washington Course of the South Carolina Jockey Club in Charleston, which operated from 1792 to 1882. The stone pillars are now found at the clubhouse entrance. Lesser known but more visible are the racing motif iron railings seen partially bordering the walking ring. The railings, used as decoration on the south side of the old Belmont grandstand, were salvaged during the 1963 demolition.[8]

The original Belmont Park was not only unprecedented in its size but also had the then-new innovation of a Long Island Rail Road extension from the Queens Village station, running along the property, tunneling under Hempstead Turnpike, then terminating on the south side of the property. The train terminal was moved to its present location north of the turnpike after the 1956 season.[9]

Near the railroad terminal was yet another track—Belmont Park Terminal, a steeplechase course operated by United Hunts until 1927.[10]

The last race at the old Belmont Park was run in October 1962. In spring 1963, NYRA Chairman James Cox Brady announced that two separate engineering surveys found the grandstand/clubhouse was unsafe due to age-induced structural defects and needed to be rebuilt. The book Belmont Park: A Century of Champions noted the comment of NYRA President Edward T. Dickinson: "When you sighted down the stands, you could see some of the beams were twisted. They were in something of an S-shape."

The old structure was demolished in 1963, along with the Manice Mansion, the turreted 19th-century homestead that served as the headquarters of Belmont's Turf and Field Club.

Aviation meets

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In addition to racing history, Belmont Park made history in another industry native to the Hempstead Plains – aviation. Some 150,000 people were drawn to the track on October 30, 1910, at the climax of a Wright Brothers-staged International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park, which had started eight years earlier. The event came at the beginning of a period from 1910 to 1912 in which racing was outlawed in New York State.[11]

Eight years later, Belmont and aviation were reunited when the racetrack served as the northern point of the first U.S. air mail route, between the New York area and Washington, D.C.[12]

 

Second Belmont Park (1968–2024)

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The Belmont race meetings were moved to Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens from 1963 to 1968. During this period, the second grandstand was built and the Inner Turf Course was also added.

The $30.7 million grandstand, designed by Arthur Froehlich, was opened May 20, 1968, and was the largest in Thoroughbred racing. It had a total attendance capacity of more than 100,000, including a seating capacity of 33,000 and an adjoining backyard being able to accommodate more than 10,000.

A long mural by Pierre Bellocq on the second floor of the clubhouse featuring the dominant jockeys, trainers and racing personalities celebrates the track's history.[13]

In May 2007, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer considered closing Aqueduct Racetrack located ten miles west of Belmont in Ozone Park, New York, and turning Belmont into a nearly year-round race track when the New York Racing Association lease for all three of New York State's tracks expired at the end of 2007.[14] Belmont's stands would have been heated, additional barns built for Aqueduct's 400 horses, and the track modified to accommodate winter racing. In addition, video lottery machines would have been introduced. A new entity would have operated Belmont from fall to spring while the New York Racing Association would continue to operate Saratoga Race Course in the summer.[14] Spitzer was forced to resign amid a prostitution scandal in March 2008 and no further plans for Belmont were developed at that time.

In December 2022, the New York Racing Association formally announced its intention to upgrade the facilities at Belmont to make it suitable to host year-round thoroughbred racing and training. Unlike Churchill and Pimlico, neither the first nor second iterations of Belmont Park allowed spectators into the infield.[15] An infield tunnel connecting to the backstretch parking lot has been completed.

Beginning in April 2023 construction of a one-mile synthetic racing oval inside the inner turf course had begun. The next phase of reconstruction, which began after the 2023 spring and summer meet, included completion of the synthetic track, widening of the inner turf course, and construction of a second infield tunnel near the first turn.[16] NYRA released a statement on May 1, 2023, announcing that state funding for the grandstand reconstruction and other projects had been secured by way of a $455 million loan.[17]

Belmont Park Redevelopment   210m229yds7  654  32  1     1 Elmont–UBS Arena LIRR Station2 Belmont Park LIRR station3 Grandstand (under construction)4 UBS Arena5 Hotel (proposed)6 Belmont Park Garage7 Belmont Park Village

The final day of racing at the second Belmont Park was held on July 9, 2023.[18]

Demolition began in March 2024 and was completed in June 2024.[19]

UBS Arena

edit See also: UBS Arena

 

In July 2017, New York State officials announced that vacant parking lots behind the Belmont grandstand had been put to tender for two area top-level professional sports teams: the New York Islanders, an NHL ice hockey team; and New York City FC, an MLS soccer team. Both teams were unhappy with their current locations (the Islanders at Barclays Center; New York City FC at Yankee Stadium) and proposed to redevelop the land into their own stadiums. The Islanders proposed an 18,000 seat sports arena, 435,000 square feet (40,400 m2) for retail development, a 225-room hotel, and a 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) community center, while NYCFC's pledge included a 26,000 seat soccer ground, 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m2) for retail, a 5.2-acre (2.1 ha) community park, and 2-acre (0.81 ha) soccer complex: both proposals were fully privately funded and included improved parking and LIRR facilities as well.[20]

On December 20, 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the Islanders project had won approval to be built.[21][22][23] In July 2019, the plan was adopted by the Empire State Development Corporation board, and UBS Arena opened in time for the 2021-22 NHL season. The plan also included a new Elmont station on the LIRR, in addition to the hotel, arena, and Belmont Park Village.[24]

Third Belmont Park (under construction; 2026 opening planned)

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By July 2024, the second Belmont Park was completely demolished with reconstruction planned until September 2026.[19][25] The new grandstand, when finished, will hold the October 2027 Breeders' Cup, the first Breeder's Cup at Belmont since 2005.[26][27]

To accommodate construction, NYRA moved the Belmont fall meet to Aqueduct from 2022 to 2025.[16][28] The 2024 Belmont Stakes and 2025 Belmont Stakes were moved to Saratoga Race Course due to the construction, and the 2026 Belmont Stakes is planned for Saratoga as well, although the option of holding that year's race at Belmont Park had been discussed previously.[29][30][31]

By February 2025, the foundation for the new grandstand had been poured. By May 2025, pouring for the concrete and steel shell of the new grandstand was underway.[32] The outlines for the new dirt, turf and synthetic courses had been set, with plans for the turf courses to be of shorter circumference and the finish line moved forward by 125 feet compared to previous course configurations.[32]

The new Belmont Park facility is planned to open in September 2026, which would ultimately lead to the closure of nearby Aqueduct Racetrack.