Belmont Park to host Breeders' Cup in 2027 after $455M renovation. Keeneland gets 2026 event
The Breeders' Cup world championships are returning to New York in 2027 at the rebuilt Belmont Park, following a massive renovation project to revitalize one of the most important horse racing tracks in the country.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with officials from the Breeders' Cup and the New York Racing Association, announced that the track on the edge of Queens and Nassau County on Long Island will stage the event in the fall two years from now.
Keeneland in Lexington was revealed as the 2026 host.
Belmont Park was last home to the Breeders' Cup in 2005, the fourth time in two decades after also being there in 1990, '95 and 2001. A goal of the $455 million teardown and reconstruction was to attract the major event and eventually get back into the rotation that has involved a Kentucky or a California track every year since 2008.
Del Mar outside San Diego has the Breeders' Cup later this year as a back-to-back host and for the fourth time since 2017. Santa Anita outside Los Angeles, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in Louisville — home of the Kentucky Derby — have become the regular sites for the two-day festival featuring the best thoroughbreds in the world and tens of millions of dollars' worth of races.
The Belmont Stakes also is set to return to its old home in either 2026 or '27, after a multiyear stint at historic Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York during renovations.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Why Sovereignty should be favored to win Belmont
Drew Dinsick shares why Sovereignty would be his "narrow" favorite to win the Belmont Stakes as the top horse in the three-year-old class and best closer amongst the field.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
What would a 2025 Belmont Stakes win mean for Journalism's legacy?
Ten years ago this Friday, 90,000 people rose to their feet and exhaled in catharsis. Even in the shadows of a city that knows how to celebrate big moments, the roar that rose from Long Island on June 6, 2015, rivaled anything a sports fan could conjure. As American Pharoah came around the final turn and bore down on the Belmont Stakes finish line, disbelief gave way to stupor. And when 37 years of Triple Crown futility finally and officially evaporated, the cheers for Pharoah somehow grew louder, the stupor turning into awe for the colt's incredible triumph. Advertisement When, just three years later, Justify matched American Pharoah's efforts to win his own Triple Crown, it felt like horse racing was entering a golden age. Instead, not only has the Triple Crown entered yet another dry spell, but no horse has won even two legs of the famed horse-racing gauntlet. Even more, of the 109 horses who have entered the Kentucky Derby since 2019, only two — War of Will in 2019 and Mystik Dan, last year's Derby winner — went on to race in both the Preakness and the Belmont. Which leads us to the present day, and a horse named Journalism. The bay colt's commitment to all three legs of the Triple Crown defies convention, and as he preps to load into the starting gate for the Belmont on Saturday, he's chasing his own little slice of history. Despite a messy start at the Derby and a harrowing ride down the stretch in the Preakness, Journalism finished second in Louisville and won in Baltimore. Were he to win on Saturday at the Belmont, he would be the first horse aside from Pharoah and Justify in 20 years (Afleet Alex did it in 2005) to win two and come close to winning all three Triple Crown contests. He'd also be the first to capture two wins and a place since the beloved Smarty Jones in 2004. (Smarty did it in reverse order, winning the Derby and Preakness before finishing second by a heartbreaking length at the Belmont). Only one horse since has even come close. In the mashed-up COVID season, Authentic won the Derby (run in September) and took second in the Preakness (run in October), but he did not run in the June Belmont. 'If [Journalism] were to win, it would confirm the suspicions that this is truly a special horse,' says David Grening, the New York correspondent for the Daily Racing Form. 'To run in all three is hard enough; to run well is truly rare.' Advertisement Special, however, lives a hair off the edge of great, and in any sport, greatness is the goal. In horse racing, greatness is defined by a three-race stretch run over a five-week period. So what, then, would be Journalism's legacy were he to go two for three in the Big Three? The answer, like a lot of things in horse racing, is complicated. The way he has run to date certainly shows a fierceness that is nothing shy of extraordinary. At the Derby, Bob Baffert's front-running Citizen Bull took a hard right to get clear of the rail from the one hole. That caused what could be best described as a horse bottleneck at the start of the race, forcing Journalism to come from much farther back than his trainer, Michael McCarthy, would have liked. 'Because of that, he was 10th and out of position, and in horse racing, position is everything,' says longtime horse racing writer Dick Jerardi. 'With that kind of field, the rider has to go sooner than he wants, and out of the final turn, he was only a length ahead of Sovereignty, and that brought the best closer into the race.' True to form, Sovereignty closed with gusto to beat Journalism by 1 1/2 lengths. Then at the Preakness, Umberto Rispoli kept Journalism on the rail to save some ground, but that also put the horse behind a wall of other horses. At the top of the stretch, the jockey somehow squeezed a 1,000-pound animal through the eye of a needle. Journalism bullied his way between Clever Again and Goal Oriented to find daylight and win. Clever Again's trainer, Steve Asmussen, less than thrilled with the contact, said Rispoli rode the Preakness favorite 'like a rented mule.' 'The bravery he showed going through that hole, whether you want to credit the jockey or the horse — that colt is tough,' says Ken McPeek, who trained Mystik Dan through three Triple Crown races. 'No question he is some kind of tough. And he's fearless, which is obviously a great thing.' In so many ways, Journalism is (or at least could be) just getting started. He is just 3 years old, and the Belmont will be his eighth start. To date, his worst finish came in his debut; he crossed third. Despite the opinions of the general public, whose interest peters out post-Belmont, his legacy may not be finalized at Saratoga, where the Belmont Stakes will be run this weekend while its namesake track completes renovations. Advertisement There is recent precedent for a great horse earning his stripes post-Triple Crown. In 2007, Curlin finished third in the Derby, won the Preakness and lost by a head to the filly Rags to Riches in the Belmont. Impressive but not great by Triple Crown standards. Yet Curlin then went on to place third in the Haskell that August, win the Jockey Club Gold Cup and win the Breeders' Cup Classic, two races that included older horses. At the end of the year, he was named Horse of the Year. He repeated the feat in 2008, winning Horse of the Year again before retiring as the highest North American money-winner at the time, with $10.5 million to show for his efforts. But Journalism, a son of Curlin, would be an odds-defier were he to keep racing and keep winning. Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex never raced after the Triple Crown season, both done in by injuries. Justify retired immediately after the Belmont, his entire racing career lasting a whopping 118 days. American Pharoah went on to win the Haskell, take second at the Travers and win the Breeders' Cup Classic, cementing his legacy before retiring for a lucrative breeding fee. 'Going 2-1-1 would make him special, but what he could do afterwards really elevates where he could measure up,' says Grening. 'To me, what can really determine this horse's legacy is what he does after the Triple Crown.' Though they are well aware of the rare company Journalism could join, those associated with the horse, of course, are not terribly interested in talking legacy or what's next. 'Needless to say, it would be an enormous honor,' says Aron Wellman, one of the majority owners. 'That said, we're not taking anything for granted or allowing ourselves to get too far out in front of ourselves.'' With good reason. While only an eight-horse field, the Belmont includes some legit contenders, top among them Derby-winner Sovereignty. McPeek, for one, is a Sovereignty fan and has been since Louisville. 'I thought he was one of the easiest selections or wagers for the Derby that I've ever seen in my life,' McPeek says. He likes Bill Mott's horse even more now, what with the extra rest he's received by not running in the Preakness, and he's running at the same Derby distance at which he's already won. Another contender horse people are keeping an eye on is Baeza, who finished third in the Derby. Advertisement For now at least, the line says that Journalism will go off as the favorite. Just as he did in the Derby. Just as he did in the Preakness. Whether a win will be good enough to cement his greatness is up for debate. 'But it would be great for the game,' Jerardi says. 'You don't have to sit out the Preakness. You can still do it. The really good ones, they can do it. That's really what it comes down to. If you have a good enough horse, it's doable. He's good enough.'' (Photo by Rob Carr / Getty Images)
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Two long shot picks to win the 2025 Belmont Stakes
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. Guessing where the prices will go ahead of a Triple Crown race can be a tricky endeavor. There will be a lot more casual money in the pool than in a normal stakes race, so things can get a little funky behind the window as punters back horses with their favorite name, story, or connections. But the betting handle for the 2025 Belmont Stakes should be pretty easy to project. Most of the money is going to show up on the two favorites, No. 7 Journalism (8-5) and No. 2 Sovereignty (2-1). In all likelihood, Journalism and Sovereignty will go off shorter than 2-1, which could make this the tightest margin between the favorite and second choice at the Belmont Stakes since Strodes Creek (13-10) and Go For Gin (3-2) in 1994, per Ed DeRosa of Horse Racing Nation. It is easy to make the case for either Journalism or Sovereignty to win this race — the morning-line odds suggest it's essentially a 75 percent chance one of the favorites comes out on top — but there's a reason there are eight horses in this field, and not just two. After all, Go For Gin and Strodes Creek finished second and third, respectively, behind third-favorite Tabasco Cat in 1994. Here are my 2025 Belmont Stakes long-shot picks: No. 1 Hill Road (10-1) This price should balloon on race day. Not only will the punters be lining up to back the two headliners, but Baeza will be a trendy third choice, and Rodriguez will get plenty of support given the fact he's trained by Bob Baffert. That should set up a situation where Hill Road, who began his career in Ireland, will fly under the radar and hit the board at a big number. To do that, he'll need the race to follow a specific script. Like Sovereignty, Hill Road is a closer who will want the pace to be hot, and then melt down in the business end of the race. Should that happen, Hill Road could pass plenty of tiring foes on his way to a surprising finish. Crudo in his stall after his morning workout at Saratoga Race Course. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images No. 5 Crudo (15-1) There are a couple of horses that could earnestly attempt to go from gate to wire in this field. Most pundits believe Rodriguez will be the horse that gets out into the lead from the jump, but Crudo could be right there with Baffert's entrant, or even jump out in front of the No. 3 horse. Rodriguez will be the trendier pick between the two front-running horses. Not only is he a Baffert-trained contender, but he will be fresh after he was scratched from the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness. Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps Those factors should keep his price in the single digits, while Crudo's odds hover around long-shot territory. But the real reason that Crudo, trained by Todd Pletcher, is a live long shot at Saratoga on Saturday is that he just wired the field in the Sir Barton Stakes three weeks ago on Preakness Day. The competition in that race was nowhere near what he'll face in the Belmont, but there's also a decent chance that this lightly raced horse owned by chef Bobby Flay and Jimmy Ventura continues to improve.
