The Belmont Stakes might be the oldest Triple Crown race, but it has a new home for 2024 and 2025.
Belmont Park has hosted the annual horse racing event dating back to 1905. There was also a five-year stretch of races at the Aqueduct, but the Belmont Stakes has been held at Belmont Park every year since 1968.
That will change this June, when the world’s fastest horses head to Saratoga Race Course for the final leg of the 2024 Triple Crown.
Here’s a look at why the 2024 Belmont Stakes had to change courses.
Why isn’t the 2024 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park?
The 2024 Belmont Stakes changed locations due to major renovations at Belmont Park. Renovations include replacing the grandstand and all three racecources.
How long will the renovations at Belmont Park take?
The renovations will keep the Belmont Stakes out of Belmont Park for at least two years.
Where will the Belmont Stakes be held in 2024 and 2025?
Saratoga Race Course will serve as the temporary home for the Belmont Stakes.
Where is Saratoga Race Course?
The race course is in Saratoga Springs, New York, about 40 miles north of Albany.
How old is Saratoga Race Course?
Saratoga Race Course was established in 1863. One year later, the Travers Stakes, Saratoga’s signature summer race, was held for the first time.
The Travers has earned the nickname of the "Midsummer Derby" with its traditions and history, and is the third-ranked race for three-year-old thoroughbreds behind only the Belmont and the Kentucky Derby in the United States.
The 2024 Travers Stakes will be held Saturday, Aug. 24, with a purse of $1.25 million.
Differences between Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park
The next two Belmont Stakes will be shorter than usual, as Saratoga Race Course has a one-mile main track instead of a 1.5-mile oval like Belmont Park.
The Belmont Stakes will be a 1.25-mile race while at Saratoga Race Course, the same distance as the Kentucky Derby and the Travers Stakes.
Saratoga Race Course also has a capacity of 50,000, significantly less than the 90,000 of Belmont Park.
Saratoga Race Course upsets
Saratoga Race Course has a reputation as a tough environment for favorites. “The Graveyard of Champions” has been the site of Man o’ War’s only career loss in 1919, Onion’s 1973 upset over Secretariat and Keen Ice’s stunner over American Pharoah in 2015.
