ELMONT, N.Y. – It’s smaller, yes, but it’s not small. It’s a work in progress – and will be for several more months – but ultimately it will be a progressive facility. The new Belmont Park, ready or not, will open Sept. 18, 38 months after the last race was held at Belmont Park. The smaller, sleeker building – at 275,000 square feet, it’s one-third the size of the old building – will be open on a limited basis to start. Only the first two floors will be open to the public and the fifth floor for operations/officials. A recent tour of the facility demonstrated there is certainly more work to be done. But it also became apparent that it will be well worth the wait when racing starts this fall and when the building is fully operational next spring. Approximately 300 construction workers are on-site daily as progress is made to complete what is essentially an entire rebuild of not only the building, but of four racing surfaces, the latter work close to completion. “If everything comes together as planned, even with only having the two floors opened, the experience is going to be better than what we’ve had here in the past,” Glen Kozak, NYRA executive vice president operations and capital projects, said on a recent tour of the facility. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Packages: Save big on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. There will be a variety of ways to experience the new building – an investment of which $455 million was made – from general admission to higher-end dining and seating options to luxury suites. The first floor, which is likely where the everyday customer will hang out, includes a food court, simulcast center, and a sports bar called Big Red’s, which will have a Secretariat theme. The second floor, which includes outdoor box seats, will be more upscale with a Turf Club. There is an overlook in the center of the building with a bar in the middle enclosed by glass walls that will have a view of a revitalized paddock, more in the realm of Saratoga than prior Belmont. There is ample patio space for outdoor paddock views. Phased in over time will be the third and fourth floors. The third floor will include indoor box seating and indoor dining, described as a modernized version of the old Belmont Park’s Turf Terrace with capacity on that floor being 1,800. There will also be a 95-foot-long bar that will undoubtedly be popular. The fourth floor will consist of 31 suites. The suites will have varying capacities – groups of 16, 24, 40, and 50. NYRA officials said they have sold over half of the suites. There will still be ample space in the backyard, most of it with viewing access to a completely redone paddock. There will be a viewing area around part of the walking ring that is much larger than what was previously at Belmont. With a smaller building, there is plenty of open space, five acres of green space to the west end of the building and 14 acres in the infield. How that will be utilized daily may ultimately be up to the fans who attend. Temporary structures will be built for big events such as the Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup. “There’s definitely opportunities for further development here, we just need to see how people interact with the property,” NYRA president and CEO David O’Rourke said. “And what we have right there are all the essentials you’re going to need for a Breeders’ Cup or Belmont Stakes day and plenty of space for the everyday person.” For the first time in 22 years, the Breeders’ Cup is scheduled to return to Belmont Park in 2027. The Belmont Stakes, which next Saturday will be held for a third straight year at Saratoga, will also return to Belmont next June. Experiencing the new Belmont will be mostly up to the individual fan. Those who want no frills will be charged “a nominal” admission fee, O’Rourke said. There will be ticketing options for box seats, similar to partial season ticket plans for a professional sport team. NYRA plans to designate at least 22 race dates as marquee days and fans will be able to purchase ticket packages for a select number of dates. When Belmont opens in September, NYRA will cap attendance at 6,000 for the Sept. 18-20 opening weekend. Attendance is further expected to be capped at 3,000 to 4,000 thereafter as construction continues in and around the facility. As more areas open over time there will be the likelihood to update capacity numbers. NYRA is targeting next April’s Wood Memorial as the date when the plant will be completely open. “We’re keeping this to a manageable crowd so we can curate the experience and we’ll be able to work through a lot of the things that we intend to adopt here at this facility in terms of the horsemen experience,” O’Rourke said. “It’s going to give us a period to run through the operations. It’s a completely new building, the building is as close to a machine as you’re going to get. It’s a racetrack, an entertainment venue, and a media hub.” There will be 620 televisions throughout the plant as well as an infield totebard that is 65 feet high and 115 feet wide and a paddock board that is 21 feet high and 60 feet wide. O’Rourke said the primary reason he is eager to open Belmont before it’s completely finished is to get on the rebuilt racing surfaces, for which $100 million was invested. The two turf courses have been widened and look spectacular. The Widener Turf, or outer turf is 112 feet wide, the inner is 100 feet wide. With wider turns on both courses there will be an additional five running lanes that may be used. The main track, which will now have a limestone base instead of a clay base, will not be as wide as the previous one – 83 feet compared to 95 feet – and the finish line will be moved approximately 130 feet farther east from where it was to make for an even longer stretch run. Already installed is a one-mile Tapeta track that will be used, at first, for off-the-turf races. Then, for roughly a four-month period from December through March – official start and stop dates have not been finalized – racing will be conducted only on Tapeta. O’Rourke is hopeful racing on Tapeta will help improve a winter product which has deteriorated over the years. “If we’re going to spend an entire season on Tapeta you start saying when in the fall do you want to open because you really do want to run that first year on the Tapeta and get that process going as far as acclimation towards it,” O’Rourke said. “These turf courses are incredible.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.