In a historic first in the world of thoroughbred racing, the Belmont Stakes will be coming to Saratoga Springs in 2024 as Belmont Park, the Long Island racetrack that has hosted the race for more than a century, undergoes improvements.
The third leg of the Triple Crown will be held during a four-day Belmont Stakes racing festival in June.
Officials are anticipating Saratoga Race Course’s 50,000 fan-capacity to be met for the marquee race on June 8th. Thousands more are expected to flock to the city throughout the weekend.
The tourism boom will arrive more than a month before the start of Saratoga’s 40-day summer meet, which runs from late July through Labor Day.
Kevin Tuohy, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Saratoga Springs on Broadway, couldn’t be more excited.
“It’s just phenomenal, we’re absolutely thrilled and we’re really grateful to NYRA, the folks at Discover Saratoga, the Chamber of Commerce, and the business community at large for getting behind this and bringing the event here. It’s just incredible. This is our super bowl. For Saratoga, we’re known for horse racing it’s—the track is just absolutely historic, you know, we’re just thrilled. I can’t put it into words, it’s almost euphoric,” said Tuohy.
The Holiday Inn had kept its inventory open until the official announcement earlier this month. Tuohy says his staff are ready for an early start to summer racing.
“We’re fortunate here—Saratoga is a year-round destination. So, obviously, the summer’s our peak season. There’s events all year long. There’s Chowder Fest where we sell out on the weekend. Skidmore graduation in May is always an incredibly busy weekend. So, while this certainly is a special event, it’s not outside of the norm for us to be incredibly busy outside of that July-August season,” explained Tuohy.
“All of our staff will be excited for it because, to be honest, it’s extra money in their pocket. And after Saratoga winter season it’s just an added bonus for us,” said Norton.
Jamie Norton is the general manager of Osteria Danny which sits near the city’s Congress Park. Norton says they’re already getting calls for Belmont weekend reservations, but she says they won’t be giving them until January 15th.
“So, for us, we’re kind of unique. We don’t have any walk-in coolers, so we get orders every single day, from our produce — everybody. So, everything we make one day, we make it the next day. So, again, it’s just getting us in shape for the track season. I mean it doesn’t really mean anything different from us, we’re still booking about three weeks out as of now. And we know the places in town they’re already jacking their prices and things like that but that’s not something we’re going to do because we don’t feel the need like we have to,” said Norton.
The normal racing season nearly triples the city’s year-round population, and, according to city Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran, nearly 15 percent of the city’s residential properties are rented out during the summer to accommodate the influx.
Kathy Carswell, an associate broker at real estate firm Keller Williams, says that while many homeowners are excited, some may struggle due to the Belmont being held weeks before the typical summer season.
“Well, it’s an exciting time, the landlords have an opportunity to generate some additional income. But it can come with some challenges because the meet is in early June and that’s still the school year. So, folks that typically vacate during the summer, if they want to take advantage of this opportunity, they’re going to have to pick up their family and go someplace, where will they go? So, it could present some challenges for some homeowners,” said Carswell.
With public safety a concern with thousands of early June visitors, Tyler McIntosh, Chief of the Saratoga Springs Police Department, says officers are prepared.
“We’ve already had a couple of meetings with NYRA, specifically their security, head of security, and working on a plan for that and what their policies and procedures are going to be. You know, and we’re already working on ensuring that we have an appropriate number of personnel available for that weekend. But I think we’re very well prepared, we started the planning early, we’ll be in great shape when the actual event comes up,” said McIntosh.
The New York Racing Association says more information on ticket sales and packages for the Belmont Racing Festival will be forthcoming in the new year.
