Board Approves Plan for Synthetic Track at Belmont

A New York state regulatory panel has given the authority for the New York Racing Association to construct a new, one-mile synthetic track at Belmont Park, providing a fourth racing track at the Long Island facility.

The Franchise Oversight Board March 15 also approved a NYRA plan to fully renovate Belmont's inner turf course, as well as to build new backstretch dorms at both Belmont and Saratoga racetracks to house hundreds of workers.

The two track projects at Belmont are expected to be completed by the spring of 2024. Work on the tracks, helped by new vehicular tunnels to access the track's infield, is set to begin after Belmont's spring and summer meet in July.

The new synthetic track will be located to the inside of the inner turf course. In a bow to its overall plan to eventually move all its downstate racing to Belmont, NYRA officials said the new synthetic track would use materials specific for winter and spring use.

Following approval of the NYRA capital budget by the state oversight panel, Glen Kozak, NYRA's senior vice president for operations and capital projects, said in a statement that the racing corporation has been studying the evolution of synthetic racetrack surfaces. "The time is right to add this option for use during both training and racing,'' he said. 

NYRA recently completed installing a Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at Belmont's Pony Track, which Kozak said, despite its smaller size than the newly proposed racing track, provided "invaluable, real-world knowledge around the art and science of properly maintaining synthetic surfaces."

Kozak added that the new synthetic track will "enhance equine safety, support field size during inclement weather, and provide horsemen with another year-round training option." He told oversight board members the synthetic track could be used to shift racing from turf tracks on rainy and other foul weather days that might otherwise damage turf.

Top NYRA officials made their annual appearance before the oversight board, a state government panel that has been monitoring the racing corporation's finances for more than 15 years. The panel is headed by Robert Williams, executive director of the New York State Gaming Commission, which has vast regulatory powers over the racing industry in the state.

Kozak said Belmont would join a half-dozen other tracks in the United States with synthetic courses.

The two-hour, numbers-heavy session, as in most gatherings when the annual budget is presented by NYRA, focused most heavily on capital spending plans—everything from barn renovations to tractor purchases.

The 2023-2024 NYRA capital budget focuses on construction projects at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course. The meeting came a day after the state Assembly and Senate introduced separate plans for the state to lend NYRA $455 million to reconstruct Belmont Park; the Senate and Gov. Kathy Hochul, as well as NYRA, envision closing Aqueduct Racetrack in the coming years after the major Belmont capital program is completed—if the financing plan is approved as part of state budget talks in the coming weeks.

NYRA says its new backstretch housing commitments build on a $40 million effort for new housing and other backstretch facilities at Belmont and Saratoga.

NYRA President and CEO David O'Rourke said in a statement that the three-year backstretch housing plans would result in more new housing than at any other time in NYRA's history, which he called part of an "unwavering commitment to the backstretch community in New York."

At Belmont, NYRA plans a new dormitory near existing dorms one and two.

At Saratoga, NYRA is looking to build a new, 68-bed residence next to the lowlands area on the Oklahoma Training Track portion of the facility. The training track's operations have expanded in recent years, and NYRA says the new residence will put more backstretch workers near that site. NYRA said the residence is planned for opening in the summer of 2024.

The plan is subject to approval from the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, though Kozak indicated the group has provided an approval letter for that project. The proposal is part of existing efforts to modernize existing housing and NYRA says new dorms are set for construction at Saratoga in 2024 and 2025. Two additional resident facilities are planned for Saratoga, though discussions are still underway between NYRA and local historic preservation officials about those projects.

The NYRA budget also changes admission price structures at Saratoga starting this summer that sets the same price for grandstand and clubhouse entry. Last year, the same-day general admission entry fee was $7, while grandstand same-day entry was $10. In 2024, patrons will be charged $10, permitting them entry to the clubhouse or grandstand. (Admission will be $7 when purchased at least 24 hours in advance.)

"We've done a lot of work on the concessions at Saratoga and we'd want to really maximize the ability to use them,'' O'Rourke told the oversight panel of the NYRA plan to permit patrons to move between both clubhouse and grandstand areas via the use of one admission price.

The NYRA capital plan approved Wednesday includes refurbishment of grandstand and clubhouse areas at Saratoga, including new concessions and mutuel bays and renovation of the Jim Dandy Bar.

Other NYRA capital plans at Saratoga okayed Wednesday include construction of a new paddock saddling stall that replaces a temporary tent now used for saddling, additional units opened at the "Spa Verandas," and a new hospitality area near the Wilson Chute. NYRA is also planning to commence restoration work of what's known as the Resident Manager's House on Union Avenue; it hasn't been used for housing in years, and Saratoga sees it as a revenue source as a bed and breakfast, hospitality center, or some other use.

At Belmont, NYRA also plans upgrades of stabling barns and the quarantine barn, upgraded fire alarm systems in the barn area, and Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the entire backstretch areas.

The massive, $455 million Belmont reconstruction plan was briefly touched upon. Its fate rests with government officials with more lofty titles than the franchise oversight board; Hochul, the Democratic governor, and Democrats who control the state Assembly and Senate will decide as part of the state's 2023 budget process whether that project will go forward. 

The state budget is due to be adopted before the start of the new fiscal year on April 1, but relations between the Legislature and Hochul have been strained and so a timely budget is uncertain.

In its new capital plan, NYRA is proposing a number of hospitality and other projects at the backyard area of Belmont. But Kozak said those are "placeholder" plans that would not go forward if the larger Belmont renovation—which includes razing the existing, 1.3 million square foot grandstand and replacing it with a smaller, modern facility—is approved by Hochul and the Legislature.