The first post time was just hours away Friday morning at the newly renovated Belmont Park.  

For the last three years, the storied racetrack on the Queens-Nassau County border has been closed for a more than $455 million transformation.  

“The old building was dated from ’68. This is as modern a facility as you’re gonna see in racing,” said Glen Kozak, executive vice president of operations and capital projects for the New York Racing Association. 

It features a brand new mile-and-a-half racetrack, a modern five-story grandstand for viewing, plenty of bars and restaurants and other features that pay homage to past Belmont Stakes champions.  

“It’s really important that we have a world-class racing facility here,” said New York state Director of State Operations Jackie Bray. 

The last horse race run at Belmont was back in July of 2023. But starting Friday at 1:30 p.m., racing fans will once again be able to see horses kicking up dirt at the historic track.  

Opening day at the new Belmont will feature nine races, with the marquee race, the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, with a $1 million purse.

Next year, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will return to Belmont for the first time since 2005, as will the Belmont Stakes.

State gaming officials are hopeful Belmont’s new look will bring in both racing and non-racing fans.  

“I’m hopeful that there will be some new fans that come out to us,” Robert Williams, executive director of the New York State Gaming Commission, said. “It’s a shiny new toy. It’s beautiful.” 

“It’s constructed for horse racing, so it’s not built on a modular basis, incrementally over a period of time,” Williams added. “But it’s designed with a customer in mind, and the customer experience to have whatever type of experience they want.” 

Due to ongoing construction, Belmont Park will operate with a capacity of 6,000 during opening weekend.

The first two floors of new grandstands will be open Friday, with the rest of the building expected to be completed in the spring of 2027.  

The new Belmont features access to the infield, a viewpoint racing fans never previously had in the more than 120 years of the track’s existence.

Capacity at the new Belmont will be capped at 50,000 on big race days, though some critics have questioned whether the investment into the track is worth it, with spectator numbers dwindling over the years.

In 2019, a daily average of 3,000 people came to the races. Still, New York Racing Association officials say the newly renovated track will be an economic engine for the community.  

“We’re going to see about $155 million in economic output annually for this community, and $10 million in tax revenue,” Bray said.