Belmont Park is a famous and important thoroughbred horse racing track located Elmont, New York in Nassau County, Long Island. It is just outside of the New York City Borough of Queens. Its race track is a mile-and-a-half (2.4 km). Thus the main track is the largest dirt course in all of thoroughbred racing. This famous course first opened May 4, 1905. The most famous race at Belmont is the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown. Belmont is known as The Championship Track because just about every major champion in racing history since the early twentieth century has competed on the course, including every single one of the 11 Triple Crown winners.
Aside from its importance to horse racing, Belmont is also known as "Beautiful Belmont Park" because it is considered one of the best-landscaped venues in American sports. The jewel in the crown of this landscaping is the stately backyard park behind the grandstand, which includes the paddock in which the horses are saddled before each race.
The backyard and backstretch are notable for their huge, attractive trees and fine landscaping, whereas two picturesque lakes dominate the infield. Belmont is known as one of the most gorgeous and accommodating racecourses in the world. Along with Saratoga, Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Churchill Downs in Louisville, and Del Mar and Santa Anita racecourses in California, Belmont is considered one of the elite racetracks of the sport.
Belmont Park is a one and a half-mile oval. The most common race distance is six furlongs. A furlong is an eighth of a mile, thus six furlongs is 3/4 of a mile. In looking at a particular track as a whole, you’ll see numerous poles around the track.
The not-for-profit New York Racing Association operates Belmont Park. This association also operates the Aqueduct and Saratoga race courses. The New York Racing Association was formed in 1955 as the Greater New York Association to take over the assets of the individual associations that ran Belmont, Aqueduct, Saratoga and the late Jamaica Racetrack. A housing development, the Rochdale Village, now occupies the site of Jamaica Racetrack.
Around May of 2007, reports began to circulate that the then-Governor of the state of New York, Eliot Spitzer, was considering closing Ozone Park, New York’s Aqueduct race track and turning Belmont into a nearly year-round race track upon the expiration of the New York Racing Association’s lease on all three of New York State’s tracks at the end of 2007.
The plans for the renovation of Belmont included heated stands and additional barns for Aqueduct’s 400 horses. The track would also be modified for winter racing. Additionally, video lottery machines would be introduced. A new entity would operate Belmont from fall to spring and the New York Racing Association would operate Saratoga Race Course in the summer.
However, any plans Mr. Spitzer had for Belmont most likely died when he left office amidst scandal when he was caught using the services of prostitutes in March 2008.
