Okay, here’s my take on why the Belmont Stakes was in Saratoga, written as a blog post based on my experience digging into it.
Alright folks, so I was chilling, catching up on some sports news, and I saw something about the Belmont Stakes being held in Saratoga. Wait, Saratoga? That didn’t sound right. I remember it always being at Belmont Park. So, naturally, I had to figure out what was going on.
First thing I did, I hopped online and started searching. “Belmont Stakes Saratoga?” Bam! A bunch of articles popped up. Turns out, Belmont Park is getting a major makeover – a brand new grandstand is being built. And it’s not just a quick touch-up; this is a full-on rebuild. That’s why they moved the race.
Then, I wanted to know how long this Saratoga situation was going to last. Dug a little deeper. Found out that it’s not just this year (2024), but also next year (2025)! They’re planning to have the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival back at Saratoga Race Course in 2025 too. The articles said the construction at Belmont Park is scheduled to be done in 2026. So, fingers crossed, by 2026, the race will be back at a revamped Belmont Park.
Of course, I was curious about the distance. You know, the Belmont is usually that grueling 1-mile race, “the test of the champion.” I read that the distance was temporarily changed for the Saratoga race! Gotta adjust things to fit the Saratoga track, I guess. Sounds like it’ll go back to the longer distance when it moves back to Belmont.
And the crowd? Someone told me it was huge. Turns out they are right! Saw a bunch of articles mentioning that Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga was a complete sell-out with 50,000 people attending. That’s more than the Belmont Park attendances in recent years. That must have been wild.
So, in a nutshell: Belmont Stakes is chillin’ in Saratoga because Belmont Park is under construction. The new grandstand is supposed to be done by 2026, then it’s back to the regular location.
