Belmont Stakes Returns to Saratoga for Third Consecutive Year in 2026

For the third consecutive year, the Triple Crown's final leg will be decided at Saratoga Race Course rather than its traditional home on Long Island. NYRA and Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed the 158th Belmont Stakes will be run at Saratoga on Saturday, June 6, 2026, marking what officials have explicitly called the third and final time the race will be held there before returning to Belmont Park in 2027.

The reason is straightforward: Belmont Park is mid-construction on a nearly half-billion dollar renovation project. The new facility is scheduled to reopen for live racing on Sept. 18, 2026, clearing the way for the Belmont Stakes to come home the following June. The Breeders' Cup is also slated to return to Belmont Park in the fall of 2027, making next year a full homecoming for New York's flagship racing venue.

As in 2024 and 2025, the race will be contested at 1¼ miles rather than its traditional 1½-mile "test of the champion" distance. The configuration of Saratoga's main dirt track cannot accommodate the 12-furlong layout, a constraint that will lift once the race moves back to Belmont Park, where the traditional distance will be restored.

The Belmont Stakes anchors a five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga running Wednesday, June 3 through Sunday, June 7. The June 6 card is headlined by six Grade 1 races. The festival opens on June 3 with New York Showcase Day, featuring six $200,000 events restricted exclusively to horses foaled in New York State.

NYRA's wider circuit adjustments ripple well beyond Saratoga. The spring/summer meet that normally runs at Belmont Park will again operate at Aqueduct Racetrack under the banner "Belmont at the Big A," opening April 30 and running through June 28. The meet will pause from May 26 through June 2 to allow the circuit to shift upstate for the festival, then resume at Aqueduct on June 11. That Aqueduct meet carries 16 stakes races with $2,475,000 in total purses, headlined by the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3), the traditional New York prep for the Belmont. NYRA will waive entry and starting fees to the Belmont Stakes for the top three Peter Pan finishers. The Man o' War Stakes (G2T), previously run on the Peter Pan weekend, has been moved to Belmont Park's fall 2026 meet.

NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke framed the Saratoga run as a successful detour rather than a permanent arrangement. "Saratoga has served our fans and stakeholders extremely well as the temporary home of the Belmont Stakes during the construction of a new Belmont Park on Long Island," O'Rourke said. "Belmont Park will always be the home of the Belmont Stakes and we look forward to its return to the newly reimagined Belmont in 2027."

Hochul echoed the forward-looking tone while acknowledging what the Saratoga stint has represented. "This final chapter of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course honors our rich racing heritage while paving the way for a bold, new future at Belmont Park," she said. Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford credited the collaborative infrastructure built around the race's unexpected multi-year tenure upstate. "The exceptional collaboration between NYRA, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Discover Saratoga, and other dedicated community partners has created a memorable experience for all who visited our city," Safford said.

NYRA announced the full stakes schedule on Feb. 11. Tickets and hospitality packages for what the organization has called "the final edition of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga" went on public sale at 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 12 at BelmontStakes.com. VIP packages had been available since early December 2025.

The 2027 Belmont Stakes will mark the race's return to its permanent address at the newly rebuilt Belmont Park, closing a three-year chapter that tested whether the Spa could absorb one of American racing's marquee events. By most measures, Saratoga delivered.