As 2026 Belmont Stakes gets set to run at Saratoga, trainers look forward to reopening of Belmont Park

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Cherie DeVaux was born in this bucolic upstate city and, on Saturday, will go to post at historic Saratoga Race Course with her first Belmont Stakes’ starter, Golden Tempo, who, on May 2, made her the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

Still, DeVaux, is looking ahead to the Triple Crown’s final leg returning to its namesake home in 2027 with racing at the reconstructed Belmont Park set to resume on Sept. 18. The 158th Belmont Stakes will mark the third and final year it has been run at Saratoga at 11/4 miles instead of its usual 11/2 miles.

“I have not had the chance to get to Belmont Park and see the new grandstand,” said DeVaux, who was raised in Florida. “I very much look forward to that, being based at Belmont for eight years. It’s exciting for the future ahead. It’s been a nice little break to get to Saratoga a little bit earlier. But, in a Triple Crown series, the Belmont being a mile and a half with its big racetrack, I really think that’s a unique opportunity as a lot of these horses won’t ever have to do that again in their career.

“I’d just like to get back to Belmont, ‘Big Sandy,’ and just that aspect of the series.”

Golden Tempo, who will have jockey Jose Ortiz aboard, drew the outside Post No. 9 with 9-2 morning-line odds at Monday’s post position draw at Universal Preservation Hall. The Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade, who finished second in the Derby by a neck after a rough trip, is the morning-line favorite at 2-1 and will break from Post No. 4 with Irad Ortiz Jr. up.

Neither ran in the Preakness Stakes on May 16 and Napoleon Solo is not entered in the Belmont after winning the Triple Crown’s middle leg. Justify, in 2018, was the 13th and last Triple Crown winner.

“It would have been most interesting how historians would have viewed it had there actually been a Triple Crown winner,” said Pletcher when asked about the Belmont Stakes’ time at Saratoga and the anticipation of returning to Belmont Park. “That would have probably been one that people would have commented on as possibly being an asterisk-type Triple Crown.

“But I think it’s hugely important to get it back to Belmont and the opening of a new facility is something that can really give the industry a shot in the arm,” added Pletcher, who will also saddle 12-1 Powershift with Luis Saez aboard from Post No. 2. “I just love getting back to the mile and a half, it’s such a unique race. To me, that’s the ultimate race, especially when there’s a Triple Crown on the line.”

Sept. 18 will mark the first races at Belmont Park since July 9, 2023, when it closed for an ongoing $575 million renovation project – expected to be fully completed by April, 2027 – that includes the construction of a new grandstand and the addition of a fourth, inner all-weather synthetic track. New York State contributed $455 million to the project via a loan to the New York Racing Association.

“It’s basically the beginning of a new era, a new generation of downstate racing,” NYRA chief executive officer and president David O’Rourke said. “We’ve been blessed to have the community up here and a place to run this race. I can’t say enough about the community and how welcoming they’ve been. But it’s the Belmont Stakes and it belongs down at Belmont. That track is pretty much everything you would want in terms of the surfaces to the amenities available in the building.”

Belmont Park will re-open on Sept. 18 with only the first two floors of the new grandstand in use and capacity capped at 6,000. In addition to the Belmont Stakes, the Elmont track will host the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 29-30, 2027.

“I’m not sure the distance of [the Belmont Stakes] is going to move the needle too much,” said trainer Chad Brown, who will run 6-1 Emerging Market, 12-1 Growth Equity and 20-1 Ottinho in Saturday’s Belmont. “I think getting back to the new facility at Belmont and a new, freshened surface to see how that’s going to be is going to be interesting.”

Belmont Park will now be able to host racing year-round and nearby Aqueduct Racetrack will close for good after its last day of racing on June 28.

“The synthetic track is another option, especially where turf horses can be vulnerable to weather interrupting their racing,” DeVaux said. “Trainers are more comfortable going to the all-weather track instead of running them on the dirt. So, hopefully, it can keep field sizes up.”

Trainer Bill Mott, who won last year’s Derby and Belmont Stakes with Sovereignty and will have 3-1 Chief Wallabee breaking from Post No. 3 with Junior Alvardo aboard on Saturday, does have concerns about Belmont hosting all of the NYRA schedule except for the summer season at Saratoga.

“I think it’s great to spread it around,” Mott said. “I worry a little bit about the year-round program going to Belmont. You don’t want it to become boring. Hopefully, it doesn’t get old. I think it will benefit Saratoga because it will keep it fresh.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.