Belmont Stakes Heralds Return of the Good Old Days

Even in an era when modern technology ushers in advancements at a dizzying pace, there's still something soothing about a vestige of the past.

Just walk around Belmont Park this weekend.

There's a whirlwind of activity. Seating is being put out and dusted off. Banners are being hung. Flowers watered and grass cut. More workers can be found throughout the facility. They are carting in food and beverage and applying the final touches to a new Triple Crown dining room in the clubhouse.

It's 2019 all over again.

On a smaller scale than two years ago, yes. But with a crowd of about 11,000 expected June 5 to attend the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and the best non-Breeders' Cup day of racing in the country with eight grade 1 stakes, as Carly Simon would belt out, "these are the good old days."

It was a year ago that the pandemic shifted the 2020 Belmont Stakes to the June 20 opening leg of the Triple Crown at a much shorter 1 1/8-mile distance. With only a handful of essential personnel allowed on the grounds that day, the cavernous Belmont Park grandstand was an eerie ghost town that seemed more akin to the setting for a mundane Thursday card in late June than a famed American classic for 3-year-olds.

Now, with face masks and social distancing becoming less of a staple in everyday life, normalcy is ebbing back at the New York Racing Association.

"It feels like we've stepped through the threshold to the other side," said NYRA CEO and president Dave O'Rourke. "Thankfully, New York turned the corner. The state was very aggressive with its vaccination policies and we're just happy about where we are. Things are finally starting to feel normal."

While Saturday's attendance will be about one-tenth of the 100,000-plus turnouts for some Triple Crown bids, there is nevertheless some rust as Belmont Park gears up for what will likely be its largest crowd in two years. And while the recent easing of some COVID-19 restrictions opened the door for an even larger crowd, given the timing and the scope of preparing Belmont Park for a massive horde of visitors, ticket sales reflect what should be an appropriate figure for a return to a 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes witnessed by fans.

"It's nowhere near capacity because the Belmont is a difficult operation to pivot quickly," O'Rourke said. "We bring in so many outside resources, so we stuck with a manageable number (of fans). We'll have about 11,000 seats that will be socially distanced."

The challenge of preparing Belmont Park, which officially opened for fans May 1, for this weekend's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was a challenge, but the organization of an operations team led by senior vice president, operations and capital projects Glen Kozak, James Dillon, and Dan Summers made it considerably easier as Belmont Park not only reopened but added new areas such as the Triple Crown room and a lounge for trainers.

"All the credit goes to Glen and the facilities crew. Aside from getting it ready for the public to return last month, we've probably made the biggest additions in my time here with that new dining room. A lot of things have to come together to get a day like this organized and James and Dan have played a big role in organizing our operations team," O'Rourke said.

Without question, the biggest change for fans who have not been to Belmont Park since 2019 is the presence of the UBS Arena for the NHL's New York Islanders that is scheduled to open on the grounds in the fall. 

The addition of the arena has led to a reduction in half of Belmont Park's backyard, and parking spaces have been reduced while a new train station, tiered garage, and a shopping area are under construction. Given all of that, the reduced number of fans is a blessing in disguise.

"This was always going to be the toughest Belmont because of the staging they are doing for the construction of the arena. So this being a small crowd works out," O'Rourke said.

Yet beyond the inconveniences in 2021, the arena is a sparkling reminder of what awaits Belmont Park in the next few years. There will be a regular train stop for the Long Island Railroad instead of just a few special trains on race days. There will eventually be a commerce area and sufficient parking for both venues. And in the month of June down the road, if the Islanders continue to rank among the NHL's best teams, there's the potential for the electricity of Stanley Cup playoff games on a Thursday and Sunday sandwiching the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

"It's going to be great to see the arena completed, but it terms of the logistics at the campus, that will improve in every way and make this a great destination. You can't emphasize enough the importance of the train station," O'Rourke said. "I'm betting we'll see the Belmont and playoff hockey next year. How cool will that be?"

One of the more interesting facets of Saturday promises to be the day's handle. At the Preakness Stakes (G1), with an on-track crowd of about 10,000 at Pimlico Race Course as opposed to 131,256 in 2019, wagering records were smashed with a handle of $112.5 million, topping the previous mark of $99.9 million in 2019. Given the dynamic growth of NYRA's NYRA Bets betting platform, there's a strong chance that Saturday's figure could eclipse the $102.1 million wagered in 2019 when paid attendance was five-times larger at 56,217.

"The business has shifted to online and off-track a while ago and with the pandemic it moved the business to account wagering," said Tony Allevato, NYRA's chief revenue officer and president of NYRA Bets. "Basically 90% of every wagering dollar is coming off a television signal through an ADW, OTB account, computer wagering. Even people at the racetrack are watching on a monitor rather than the live event. The business has changed, so I was not surprised with the big numbers at Pimlico and I think it's healthy for the industry.

"We're getting a boost from the added exposure horse racing received last year during a difficult time," he added, "and with sports betting becoming more mainstream I believe we're really going to benefit and ride the coattails of that."

Allevato is also encouraged by the increased volume of fans and handicappers who are wagering on a daily basis. NYRA Bets' handle has risen from $7.2 million in 2016 to $225 million in 2020 with the number of account holders skyrocketing.

"We have lapsed fans that have come back and old ones that are getting engaged through outlets like NYRA Bets," Allevato said. "We're seeing more smaller players than we have before and it's up to us to make sure we make that experience as good as possible for them. At some point they are going to come to the track, so we have to make it a great experience for them initially."

While the boom in wagering has eased the fiscal pain of less attendance, O'Rourke knows 10,000 may be fine for 2021, but it's not a number he's willing to settle for in future editions of the Belmont Stakes.

"Having 10,000 people is not what we want, so, hopefully, we're going to get the best of both worlds with a new audience to some degree and bring back our old fans as we go forward," O'Rourke said.

Adding to the joy of preparing for the return of fans at Belmont Park to view a card that includes not only the final jewel of the Triple Crown but the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), the Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1), and the Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes (G1T)—to name half the grade 1 stakes on the card—is that in a sense it is a dry run for what awaits July 15. That's when Saratoga Race Course opens after a 2020 without fans, and attendance can be about 98% of capacity.

"Belmont week is the warm up for Saratoga with us," O'Rourke said. "We're pointing toward Saratoga and it will be just like 2019 there."

Even more than Belmont Park on Saturday, Saratoga promises to be the Spa of old, with a full complement of seating, the reopening of the 1863 Club, a full array of concessions, and a backyard filled with fans enjoying the day at their picnic tables.

Given how 15,000 fans jammed the Spa in 2015 just for a Friday morning gallop by American Pharoah  , one can only wonder how many fans will take the day off from work on a Thursday to reacquaint themselves with the pastural serenity of Saratoga.

"I think Saratoga is going to be off the charts," Allevato said. "It's going to be bigger than ever. It's going to be great when the starting gates open for that first race of the meet in front of the fans."

Oh, and in addition to all of that Victorian charm, let's not forget 40 days of racing with 76 stakes and $21.5 million in purses and the possibility that the winner of Saturday's Belmont Stakes will return in the Travers Stakes (G1) to possibly cement his hold on the 3-year-old division.

Yes, the fans are back at Belmont and, best of all, it's just the start of what should be a euphoric and eagerly awaited summer. As the song says, you can stay right here 'cause, after a year hiatus, these are the good old days for New York racing.

"Saratoga will be incredible," O'Rourke said. "The beer will be cold, the weather will be warm, and the racing will be really good."