Belmont Park Fall Meet 2026: Full Season Preview, History and Horses to Watch
A New Belmont Park Opens Its Doors
Belmont Park reopens on Friday, September 18, 2026, after a $455 million rebuild funded through a state backed loan approved in New York's FY2024 budget. The old grandstand, a mid century structure built for a crowd size the sport stopped drawing decades ago, is gone. The new building runs about 300,000 square feet across five stories, a fraction of the roughly 1.25 million square feet it replaces, and it opens the infield to the public with far more green space around the track than the old layout ever offered. NYRA is positioning the venue as a year round destination next to UBS Arena rather than a building that only fills up for a handful of Saturdays a year.
The reopening caps a stretch where Belmont's biggest race had to leave home. The 2026 Belmont Stakes ran at Saratoga Race Course on June 6, the third and final time the final leg of the Triple Crown was staged there while construction finished, and it ran at 1 1/4 miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2 because of Saratoga's smaller oval. Golden Tempo, trained by Cherie DeVaux and ridden by Jose Ortiz, won it. Now the sport's calendar comes back to Elmont, and the fall meet is the first extended look at what the rebuilt track means for racing itself, not just for the buildings around it.
The opening day of Belmont Park in 1905.
The History Behind the Rebuild
Belmont Park opened on May 4, 1905 in Elmont, New York, built by financier August Belmont Jr. and named for his father, August Belmont Sr., and it grew into the largest dirt oval in North America at 1 1/2 miles around. Man o' War raced there in 1919 and 1920 and is still cited as the benchmark for what a great Thoroughbred looks like on the track. Every winner of the American Triple Crown has run the Belmont Stakes over that mile and a half circuit at some point, and the single most famous performance in the track's history belongs to Secretariat, who won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in a world record 2:24 flat that still stands as the fastest 1 1/2 miles ever run on dirt in North America. The track went through its last major rebuild between 1963 and 1968, when a new $30.7 million grandstand went up. That building is the one just torn down to make way for the current project.
None of that history moves. The new grandstand sits on the same footprint as the old one and the 1 1/2 mile main track is unchanged, with the Belmont Stakes expected to run at home again in June 2027 now that construction is finished. What changes this fall is everything around the racing: a smaller, more efficient building, more public space, and a facility built to host events on days when there is no card at all.
Opening Day Headliner: The Jockey Club Gold Cup
The reopening card on September 18 is built around the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, a $1 million race at 1 1/4 miles on dirt that carries a Win and You're In berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic. It is race 5 on a nine race card and the only stakes race on the program, with first post at 1:30pm ET and the Gold Cup itself expected off around 4:15pm. FOX has the broadcast, running a special called Belmont Park Returns from 3:00 to 4:30pm, and NYRA has country artist Dierks Bentley performing on site to mark the occasion. Reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty was expected to headline the field but passed on the race due to a hoof issue. Chunk of Gold was supplemented into the field after Sovereignty and Money Game both defected, then scratched himself. Banishing was also scratched, in favor of the Grade 2 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs the following weekend on September 26. That leaves a five horse field that still delivers a genuine Grade 1 test.
Forever Young sits at 3/5 on the morning line and is the deepest resume in the race by a wide margin. The Japan based colt, trained by Yoshito Yahagi and ridden by Ryusei Sakai, has won 11 of 15 career starts including last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, and he carries the richest resume of any racehorse ever to run, with career earnings of $31,758,590 built largely on back to back wins in the $20 million Saudi Cup the last two years. The one real question mark is that he has not raced in six months. Phileas Fogg is next in the market at 4/1. Claimed for just $62,500 in July 2024 at Saratoga, he broke through for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez with his first graded win in the 2025 Suburban Stakes, then repeated as Suburban winner on July 4 this year by 10 lengths for a career best 107 Beyer Speed Figure with Kendrick Carmouche aboard. He also has course form in this specific race, having finished third in last year's Jockey Club Gold Cup before a disqualification dropped him to seventh. Bill Mott sends out both Baeza, the 2025 Pennsylvania Derby winner at 9/2 with Junior Alvarado up, and Stars and Stripes at 15/1 for John Velazquez, a horse who has won three of his last four including the Birdstone Stakes. Ken McPeek's Render Judgment rounds out the field at 20/1 under Manny Franco, still chasing his first stakes win despite several tries in top company.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baeza | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | 9/2 |
| 2 | Stars and Stripes | John Velazquez | Bill Mott | 15/1 |
| 4 | Phileas Fogg | Kendrick Carmouche | Gustavo Rodriguez | 4/1 |
| 6 | Render Judgment | Manny Franco | Ken McPeek | 20/1 |
| 7 | Forever Young | Ryusei Sakai | Yoshito Yahagi | 3/5 |
Posts 3 and 5 are not a misprint. Chunk of Gold (post 3) and Banishing (post 5) were both scratched, leaving the five runners above.
The Marquee Stakes Days Through December
Opening day is only the start. The fall meet runs 12 weeks, from September 18 through December 6, and carries 72 stakes races worth a combined $17.7 million, 32 of them graded. Saturday, September 26 brings the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at $500,000 alongside the Grade 2 Flower Bowl, which carries a Win and You're In spot to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Grade 3 Vosburgh, a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom.
October 3 is built around next year's classic generation, with the Grade 1 Champagne for two year old colts and the Grade 1 Frizette for two year old fillies as the headline pair, backed by the Grade 2 Pilgrim and Grade 2 Miss Grillo on turf and the Grade 3 Futurity and Grade 3 Matron. This is the first look at a juvenile crop on the rebuilt track, and it is usually where names that dominate next spring's Triple Crown and Kentucky Oaks conversation first show up on our radar.
Empire Showcase Day on October 24 is a New York bred only card, ten stakes races in a single afternoon for horses foaled in state, a fixture that rewards anyone who follows the New York bred ranks closely. Then on November 28 the Grade 2 Man o' War, relocated from the spring meet, headlines alongside the Grade 2 Jockey Club Derby, the Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks, the Grade 3 Long Island, and two New York Stallion Series races worth $300,000 each. The final stakes day of the meet is Cigar Mile Day on December 5, five graded races in one card: the Grade 2 Cigar Mile itself, the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap at a marathon 1 1/2 miles as it returns to the NYRA schedule, the Grade 2 Remsen, the Grade 2 Demoiselle, and the Grade 3 Elite Power. Racing continues after that through the meet's actual closing day, Sunday December 6.
| Date | Feature Races | Purse |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Sep 18 | Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) | $1,000,000 |
| Sat, Sep 26 | Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1), Flower Bowl (G2), Vosburgh (G3), Gallant Bloom (G2) | $500k, $500k, $250k, $250k |
| Sat, Oct 3 | Champagne (G1), Frizette (G1), Pilgrim (G2), Miss Grillo (G2), Futurity (G3), Matron (G3) | $500k, $500k, $250k, $250k, $200k, $200k |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Empire Showcase Day, 10 New York bred stakes | Varies |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Man o' War (G2), Jockey Club Derby (G2), Jockey Club Oaks (G3), Long Island (G3), 2 NY Stallion Series | $500k, $500k, $500k, $250k, $300k each |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Cigar Mile (G2), Brooklyn (G2), Remsen (G2), Demoiselle (G2), Elite Power (G3) | $250k each |
Horses to Watch This Fall
Forever Young is the horse the whole meet opens around, and how he comes back off a six month layoff will shape the Breeders' Cup Classic picture just as much as it shapes the Jockey Club Gold Cup itself. Phileas Fogg is the one who looks live at a price against him given how sharply his form has turned since being claimed, and Bill Mott's one two punch of Baeza and Stars and Stripes gives the meet's opening feature a real local rooting interest. Beyond opening day, keep an eye on whichever colt and filly emerge from the Champagne and Frizette on October 3. Both races have a long history of producing the next spring's Derby and Oaks favorites, and this year they carry the extra weight of being the first juvenile Grade 1s run at the rebuilt facility.
Betting Angles for the Meet
Three separate Win and You're In races fall inside the first two weeks alone: the Jockey Club Gold Cup to the Classic, the Flower Bowl to the Filly and Mare Turf, and the Vosburgh to the Sprint, so early meet form here carries straight through to Breeders' Cup markets in November. The meet carries 32 graded races in total across its 12 weeks, and the six marquee cards above account for roughly 20 of them, so those are the days that set up best for multi race bets like the Pick 4 and Pick 5, when the graded stakes stack two and three deep on one card rather than spreading a single feature across an otherwise ordinary afternoon.
On the Jockey Club Gold Cup itself, Forever Young's price leaves little room for value on top, but Phileas Fogg at 4/1 off his best figure of the year gives the race a legitimate second betting interest. With both of the field's speed horses out, Phileas Fogg is also the lone confirmed pace factor, so an uncontested lead for him is the more likely script than a duel.
Getting Ready for a Season at the New Belmont
Twelve weeks, 72 stakes races and a rebuilt track that finally gets a real test on opening day makes this fall meet one of the more interesting stretches on the entire racing calendar, and we will have a preview up ahead of every major card as the meet rolls on.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The fall meet opens on Friday, September 18, 2026 and runs through December 6, featuring 72 stakes races worth $17.7 million in purses across the 12 week meet.
The Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup headlines opening day, a $1 million race at 1 1/4 miles on dirt that carries a Win and You're In berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic.
The old grandstand was a mid century structure built for crowds far larger than the sport draws today, so NYRA replaced it with a smaller, roughly 300,000 square foot building funded by a $455 million state backed loan, freeing up space for public green areas around the track.
It ran at Saratoga Race Course on June 6, 2026 at a shortened 1 1/4 miles, the third and final year the race left its usual home, with Golden Tempo taking the win for trainer Cherie DeVaux and jockey Jose Ortiz.
Forever Young is the 3/5 favorite off 11 wins in 15 career starts including last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, though he returns from a six month layoff for the reopening card.
