Belmont\u2019s early 1900s-era<\/a> feel may be in for a shock.<\/p>\n\u201cThe old building was dated from \u201868. This is as modern a facility as you\u2019re gonna see in racing,\u201d Glen Kozak, NYRA\u2019s executive vice president of Operations and Capital Projects, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAwesome views of the track of the back of the paddock, restaurants, seating, dining, everything is upgraded. But there\u2019s something for everybody. New backyard here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Replaced by a largely glass-enclosed seating, some of the nearly one dozen bars and restaurants pay homage to past Belmont Stakes champions, like Secretariat \u2014 the 1973 winner of the Triple Crown.<\/p>\n
Fans will now be able to watch races from the infield during big meets. Although, capacity won\u2019t hit past highs of 90,000 \u2014 last seen in 2018 when Justify clinched the 11th Triple Crown at Belmont.<\/p>\n
Officials say they\u2019re hoping to cap the crowd at 50,000 max during the Belmont Stakes, mirroring upstate\u2019s Saratoga Springs, but on regular race days, it\u2019ll be far lower.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving 10,000 seated here in the main facility is a right size, as well as an upgraded backyard that will be completed for next spring,\u201d Kozak said. \u201cLike 27,000 seating in the old building. So you know, again, different size, different time.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s sold out on Friday to a limited crowd of 6,000 due to construction expected to finish this spring, critics are questioning whether the investment is worth it, citing years of declining attendance.<\/p>\n
In 2019, a daily average of 3,000 people came to the races.<\/p>\n
Plus, the industry\u2019s reliance on state subsidies and potential tension with the opening of three downstate commercial casinos.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as racing brings the level of economic output for New Yorkers, as long as it employs so many New Yorkers, we\u2019re going to continue to support racing,\u201d said Bray, when asked if the state will continue to financially support the industry.<\/p>\n
State officials downplayed the casino competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who go there are not necessarily looking for a sporting experience; they\u2019re looking for family experience, and so I think to the extent that there is going to be any sort of crossover, I think it\u2019s going to be minimal,\u201d NYS Gaming Commission Chair Brian O\u2019Dwyer said.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re hoping for fresh faces and new fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever type of experience they want. From being able to walk in and sit in the general admissions crowds, all the way up to going onto the fifth floor and being able to see Manhattan through the roof up here and everything in between,\u201d Robert Williams, executive director at the New York State Gaming Commission, said.<\/p>\n
In an attempt to limit horse fatalities on the track, designers focused on safety conditions like new footing to protect both the jockeys and horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey spent millions of dollars on the surface, particularly the new artificial surface\u2026which proved to be extremely safety efficient,\u201d O\u2019Dwyer explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody hates it when a horse breaks down and it has to be destroyed. But we\u2019re going to make sure that, to the extent possible, that\u2019s not going to happen in New York,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Next year, the internationally famous Breeders Cup<\/a> Stakes race will return to Belmont for the first time since 2005 \u2014 as will the Belmont Stakes \u2014 and its punishing mile-and-a half length.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in three years, the Sport of Kings will return to New York\u2019s historic Belmont…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[206,109,116,25,8889,9,24,11,10,49,51,50,12,112,108,87,27,200],"class_list":["post-348856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-albany-capital-region","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-ny-state-of-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-bernadette-hogan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-ny-state-of-politics","tag-ny-state-of-politics-blog","tag-politics","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}