Belmont Park Opening Day 2026: Jockey Club Gold Cup Betting Guide
New Belmont Park Opens Its Doors With History On The Line
Belmont is back. The rebuilt facility on Long Island reopens on Thursday, September 18, 2026, closing out a renovation that has kept New York's flagship track dark since it closed on July 9, 2023. The new Belmont Park brings four racing surfaces, a main dirt track, two turf courses and a synthetic oval, along with a five story grandstand, an expanded paddock and more green space in the infield for fans on track. NYRA is not easing into the return. The Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup anchors the opening day card with a $1 million purse, and FOX has the national broadcast.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup dates back to 1919 and has been won by Man o' War and Cigar among a long line of champions. It spent the last five years at Saratoga while Belmont was under construction, so this running marks its return to its traditional home at the same time the track itself reopens. A win here also punches a Breeders' Cup Classic berth through the Win and You're In program, which gives Saturday's field extra weight beyond the trophy and the paycheck.
Image © Belmont Park
The fall meet runs all the way through December 6 and carries 72 stakes races worth $17.7 million in total purses, 32 of them graded. Opening weekend alone adds the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on September 26, worth $500,000, on a program that also features the Flower Bowl, Vosburgh and Gallant Bloom. But Thursday's Gold Cup is the reason every serious bettor has this date circled.
Jockey Club Gold Cup Full Field And Morning Line Odds
Seven go to post for the mile and a quarter feature, and the biggest name in the field arrives from Japan. See the table below for the complete field with posts, jockeys and trainers. Morning line odds are confirmed for four of the seven; the remaining three had not been posted as of this writing, and we will not guess at a number the bookmakers have not put up yet.
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baeza | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | 9/2 |
| 2 | Stars and Stripes | John Velazquez | Bill Mott | 15/1 |
| 3 | Chunk of Gold | Jaime Torres | Ethan West | TBC |
| 4 | Phileas Fogg | Kendrick Carmouche | TBC | 4/1 |
| 5 | Banishing | Joel Rosario | TBC | TBC |
| 6 | Render Judgment | Manny Franco | TBC | TBC |
| 7 | Forever Young (Jpn) | Ryusei Sakai | Yoshito Yahagi | 3/5 |
Forever Young Brings A Global Résumé To New York
Forever Young heads into Thursday as the 3/5 favorite, and the case for him is not close. The Japanese Horse of the Year and reigning Eclipse Award winner for Champion Older Dirt Male has won 11 of 15 career starts and banked more than $31 million, a mark built on back to back Saudi Cup victories and a Breeders' Cup Classic win. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi drew the outside post seven for his charge and called it an honor to run in New York during what he described as a memorable time for the sport, with jockey Ryusei Sakai taking the mount.
Forever Young has never raced at Belmont, old or new, so post position seven removes some of the guesswork around traffic in a seven horse field even before the gates open on a racetrack nobody has run on in competition yet. That last point cuts both ways for every horse in this race. Nobody has run a race over the new main track, so post position bias and track speed are unknowns for the first time in a Grade 1 in years.
Bill Mott Sends Three Runners At His Home Track
Trainer Bill Mott has more starters in this race than anyone else, sending out Baeza, Stars and Stripes and Phileas Fogg. Baeza gets Junior Alvarado back aboard and sits at 9/2 on the morning line after finishing fourth in the Whitney with blinkers on; Mott has removed the blinkers for this spot. Stars and Stripes, the recent Birdstone winner, drew post two with John Velazquez named to ride and is priced at 15/1. Phileas Fogg, who won the Suburban by 10 lengths earlier this season, sits at 4/1 with Kendrick Carmouche picking up the mount.
The most notable name missing from the field is Sovereignty. The reigning Horse of the Year, also trained by Mott, was expected to headline the Gold Cup field before a foot abscess forced his connections to withdraw him. His absence opens the race up, and it is a big part of why Forever Young sits at such a short price despite drawing the outside post.
Chunk of Gold, trained by Ethan West with Jaime Torres to ride, and Render Judgment, handled by Manny Franco, round out the middle of the field without a posted morning line as of writing. Banishing, ridden by Joel Rosario, also lacks a confirmed price. All three are trained by connections outside Mott's barn and represent the biggest question marks on the card.
What Else Is On The Card At Belmont's Reopening
NYRA has built out a full opening day program around the Gold Cup rather than leaning on one race to sell the day. Expect a deep undercard with allowance and stakes level company testing all four surfaces for the first time in a graded meet, and expect the crowd and the broadcast to spend as much time on the building itself as the racing given how long fans have waited to get back onto the property. The real volume for bettors arrives the following week. September 26 brings the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at $500,000 alongside the Grade 2 Flower Bowl, which offers its own Win and You're In spot to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Grade 3 Vosburgh with a berth to the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom.
Our Best Bets For The Jockey Club Gold Cup
Forever Young at 3/5 is a short number for a horse making his first start on an unfamiliar track, but the resume speaks for itself and the outside post takes traffic out of the equation in a seven horse field. We like him on top, with Baeza as the value play underneath at 9/2 now that the blinkers are off and Alvarado is back in the saddle. Phileas Fogg's Suburban win by 10 lengths cannot be ignored either, and at 4/1 he makes sense in an exacta box with the top two. Stars and Stripes at 15/1 is the longshot worth a small saver given Mott's success rate at his home base, new track or not.
Ready To Bet Belmont's Reopening?
Belmont Park's return after more than three years dark is the biggest story in New York racing this year, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup gives it the marquee race it deserves. Whether you are backing Forever Young to open the new track with a win or hunting value further down the board, get your bets in before Thursday's first post.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The rebuilt Belmont Park reopens on Thursday, September 18, 2026, with the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup anchoring opening day. The fall meet runs through December 6 and carries 72 stakes races worth $17.7 million in total purses.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a Grade 1 race for three year olds and up run at a mile and a quarter, first contested in 1919 and won over the years by Man o' War and Cigar. The 2026 edition carries a $1 million purse and offers a Win and You're In berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Forever Young, the Japanese Horse of the Year, is the 3/5 morning line favorite. Bill Mott trained Phileas Fogg is next at 4/1, with stablemate Baeza at 9/2 and Stars and Stripes at 15/1.
No. The reigning Horse of the Year was withdrawn from the 2026 Jockey Club Gold Cup after developing a foot abscess, leaving a seven horse field for the race.
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