Saratoga Springs, NY
The 158th running of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes will be held on Saturday, June 6, as the centerpiece of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which runs June 3 through June 7 at Saratoga Race Course. This will be the third and final year Saratoga hosts the festival during the redevelopment of Belmont Park on Long Island, which is expected to reopen for live racing on September 18, 2026.
Opened more than 150 years ago, Saratoga Race Course remains one of the most recognizable racing venues in the U.S., long associated with its historic grandstands and some of the sport’s most closely watched meets. The Belmont Stakes will again be run at 1 1/4 miles rather than its traditional 1 1/2-mile distance because of Saratoga’s main-track configuration, putting more emphasis on tactical speed, positioning, and how horses handle a different racing setup.
NYRA’s 2026 stakes schedule includes 25 stakes races worth more than $11 million in purses, with 10 Grade 1 races and 18 graded stakes across the five-day festival. Opening day on June 3 includes New York Showcase Day, with six $200,000 stakes races for New York-bred horses, as well as Belmont on Broadway, a free downtown concert headlined by Fitz and the Tantrums. The schedule also includes the Belmont Gala on June 4 and the Belmont Ball, an annual charity dinner benefiting equine charities, on June 5. Belmont Stakes Day alone, on June 6, is set to feature six Grade 1 races among seven graded stakes, including the Metropolitan Handicap, the Manhattan, the Jaipur, the Woody Stephens, and the Just a Game.
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Attendees can choose from general admission, reserved seating, and hospitality options, including premium ticket packages with reserved seating, food and beverage service, and select paddock or hospitality access.
With Belmont Park preparing for its reopening and the race set to return to Long Island in 2027, this year’s festival marks the end of a brief but memorable Saratoga chapter.
