Why Saratoga will stay as host for the 2026 Belmont Stakes
That's why it should be no surprise that Saratoga Race Course will remain the host of the Belmont Stakes in 2026.
The race will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026, and, due to the configurations of the track in Saratoga, will be run at a mile and a quarter, rather than the traditional mile and a half.
The original plan was to have Belmont Park up and running for next year's 'Test of the Champion,' but it will instead reopen in September 2026.
The announcement, made Friday by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York Racing Association, explained that keeping the Belmont Stakes in Saratoga for one more year would allow for the on-time and uninterrupted construction of a new Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
3 Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes this year.
Getty Images
'New York is home to world class sports and entertainment and 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,' Gov. Hochul said in a statement.
'Bringing the race back to Saratoga next year will once again expand the audience for this storied leg of the Triple Crown and ensure fans continue to enjoy the full experience.'
3 The field breaks from the starters gate at Saratoga Race Course.
JASON SZENES/ NY POST
Saratoga has hosted the last two iterations of the Belmont Stakes, won by Dornoch and Sovereignty.
The annual Saratoga summer meet will get underway on Thursday, July 10, but the Race Course will also serve as the host of the July 4th Racing Festival, which is traditionally held at Belmont Park.
3 overeignty with jockey Junior Alvarado aboard celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 157th Running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, Saturday, June 7, 2025.
JASON SZENES/ NY POST
The four-day festival will run from Thursday, July 3, to Sunday, July 6.
Hochul announced earlier this month that Belmont would host the 2027 Breeders' Cup.
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D. Wayne Lukas revolutionized horse racing: An Appreciation
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Much of what American trainers do today is based on his playbook: identifying and buying the best horses at the sales, shipping them to race at tracks nationwide, aiming to compete yearly in what he called 'the big arena' -- the Triple Crown series and the Breeders' Cup world championships. Advertisement 'The horses were everything to Wayne. They were his life,' one-time rival trainer and longtime friend Bob Baffert posted on X. 'From the way he worked them, how he cared for them, and how he maintained his shed row as meticulously as he did his horses. No detail was too small. Many of us got our graduate degrees in training by studying how Wayne did it. Behind his famous shades, he was a tremendous horseman, probably the greatest who ever lived.' Born and raised on a small farm in Antigo, Wisconsin, Lukas grew up around horses. He first coached high school basketball in his home state, later serving as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin. In 1968, Lukas moved to California and began training quarter horses. He found success, overseeing 24 world champions in 10 years. He then switched to thoroughbreds, saddling his first winner at Santa Anita in 1977. He became the first trainer to earn over $100 million in purse money, and 14 times he led the nation in money won. 'A lot of nice records fell and a lot of good things happened,' he said in 2022. Advertisement Lukas had an edge to him in his heyday, cutting a suave figure at the track in his expensive suits, his eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses. He ran his operation like a corporate CEO, overseeing some 400 horses around the country. There was no time to rest on his laurels. He was never content to appreciate what he had achieved. Instead, he was always looking for the next great horse, the next big stakes win. His statistics are overwhelming: — 15 Triple Crown race victories, including six in a row — 20 Breeders' Cup victories — three Horse of the Year champions — four Eclipse Awards as the nation's outstanding trainer Advertisement — first trainer to be inducted in both the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame Nearly until his final days, Lukas would be aboard his stable pony, Bucky, in the predawn darkness, leading his horses to the track and supervising their workouts. Out of the saddle, he was easily spotted in his white Stetson, using a cane in one of his few concessions to age. Some years ago, though, the glory days seemed lost and never to return. A handful of Lukas' deep-pocketed owners died within a short time of each other, leaving his stock of horseflesh depleted. He wasn't a serious factor in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Advertisement In 2020, he recovered from a case of COVID-19. Still, he kept getting up at 3:30 a.m., spending winters in Arkansas and springs in Kentucky. He returned to the 2-year-old sales, scouting promising horses that he could develop his way. He also trained for MyRacehorse, a syndicate selling shares in horses for as little as $100. Lukas marveled at the logjam of happy owners in the winner's circle. The tide soon turned. In 2022, Lukas earned his record-tying fifth victory in the Kentucky Oaks and first since 1990. He became the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race when Seize the Grey won the 2024 Preakness and followed up with a victory in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. Advertisement On that May afternoon in Baltimore, there was an impromptu surge of adulation for Lukas from his rivals. In a business rife with jealousy, the losers stepped up to congratulate the wily veteran. Lukas lived to a ripe old age, long enough to experience the reverence he had earned and so richly deserved. 'No one was bigger to this Game Except for Wayne,' retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens wrote on X. Over his last 25 years, Lukas had segued into racing's elder stateman, unafraid to express his opinions about an industry struggling to stay afloat within its ranks and with the public. 'With age and experience you inherit a certain amount of responsibility to maybe carry the game a little further,' he told The Associated Press in 2015. Advertisement Lukas had been there, done that and knew the feeling of winning. He wanted to share it with his newest owners as well as total strangers. He would often pull youngsters out of the stands and usher them to the winner's circle to pose for the photo. The man nicknamed 'Coach' took fatherly pride in his string of former assistants who went on to successful careers of their own, most notably Todd Pletcher, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner. 'Wayne had a special aura about him,' Baffert posted on X. 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