NYRA contemplating shifting Belmont Stakes to shorter distance
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Triple Crown may not be done going through changes.
While the general belief is the Belmont Stakes will move back to its traditional 1 1/2-mile distance in 2027 when it returns to Belmont Park, that may not be the case after all. Acknowledging the current landscape in the breeding industry, New York Racing Association president and CEO Dave O’Rourke indicated running the Belmont at 1 1/4 miles is something that will be considered.
“If you’re looking at modernizing the whole thing, do you contemplate the mile and a half as well for the Belmont at some point here?” O’Rourke said. “I think that will be contemplated, whether it’s next year or in the future. I think the mile and a half, while it’s traditional and it is the historic test of champions, it’s not what folks are breeding for and it seems to be a headwind on the race to a certain degree. And how relevant is that distance now for breeding?”
The new Belmont Park, set to open Sept. 18, is a 1 1/2-mile racetrack. The clubhouse turn has been widened to better accommodate a 1 1/4-mile race than the previous Belmont, where the starting gate was placed on an angle for 1 1/4-mile races.
Over the last three years, while Belmont Park was under renovation, the Belmont Stakes was held in Saratoga and run at 1 1/4 miles. Twice the race was won by the Kentucky Derby winner – Sovereignty (2025) and Golden Tempo (2026) – who skipped the Preakness to run back at the same distance of the Derby five weeks later. In both 2023 and 2024, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner ran in the Belmont.
The Triple Crown already is changing. It was announced earlier this summer that the Preakness would be moved back eight days and will now be run 22 days after the Kentucky Derby and 13 days before the Belmont Stakes.
O’Rourke said NYRA likes its June 5 date for the Belmont and how the rest of that day’s program – including five other Grade 1 stakes – works in relation to the summer season at Saratoga.
“We don’t want to hurt Saratoga. We like our date. We don’t want to move on to Father’s Day weekend [against golf’s] U.S. Open,” O’Rourke said. “We spent a long time building that day and we’ve invested a lot into it.”
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O’Rourke said he was given little advance notice by Maryland Jockey Club officials about their plans to move the Preakness, which, had he been informed earlier, may have prompted a discussion about a possible date change.
“I would have liked to have had more of a conversation than being told we’re moving a week out so we could have actually discussed it, but they made that decision,” O’Rourke said.
Prior to the MJC’s announcement, NYRA made the decision to partner with Churchill Downs on a six-race series for 3-year-olds, the Thoroughbred Championship Series, that will include the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and four other races between the two organizations. The series will feature seven-figure individual race purses as well as a bonus for participating and earning points in at least five of those races. O’Rourke said the goal of that series is to attempt to keep the top 3-year-olds facing each other throughout the year.
“We’re trying to focus all the best horses into specific races that creates an opportunity to create a narrative so people see the same names going up against each other,” O’Rourke said. “What you see in each of these divisions is everyone dodging each other all summer long.”
More details regarding the Thoroughbred Championship Series and the possible addition of a similar series for older males are expected to be announced this fall.
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