Last summer, with the temporary relocation of the Belmont Racing Festival to NYRA’s northern track, Saratoga Race Course played host to a record 44 days of live racing. This summer, that number will be even higher.
For those who aren’t up on the current happenings at NYRA’s three New York racetracks, Long Island’s Belmont Park is currently undergoing a massive, multi-year renovation that will completely modernize the storied venue. Most of the races that are regularly held at Belmont are being run at nearby Aqueduct, but last winter NYRA announced that the Belmont would be hosted at Saratoga in both 2024 and 2025. Following a successful first “Belatoga,” NYRA CEO David O’Rourke broke the news that the 2025 Belmont Festival at Saratoga would include an additional fifth day (Wednesday, June 4), and that four more days of racing are coming to the Spa July 3-6. That’s right—in 2025, you can celebrate 4th of July weekend at the track. The question is, do you want to?
“I think most people already have solid July 4th plans,” says Saratoga racing super fan Kevin Lovett. “I’m OK with it, especially if it’s a one-time thing until the new Belmont is done and it helps local businesses. But I speculate it’ll linger past Belmont construction, especially if it brings in a lot of money. I won’t be going, whether it’s a one-time thing or permanent. I’ll stick with my traditional July 4th activities.”
One of Lovett’s concerns is that bringing racing to Saratoga beyond the traditional meet will dilute what he calls “the racing product.” Part of the allure of the Spa, historically, has been that it’s only open for a few weeks a year—four weeks before 2010, and six weeks since then. Will the fact that there’s racing from July 3-6 make the July 10 opening day of the Saratoga meet less special? Can our wallets and livers even handle any additional weekends of racing?
Saratogian Barry Potoker comes from an era when there were only 24 days of racing at the Spa. “I think it’s being overdone now,” he says, before admitting that he’ll most likely go to the July 4th Festival. And he won’t be alone: Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus told the Daily Gazette that he expects horse racing fans who otherwise would have gone to Aqueduct for 4th of July weekend to come to Saratoga, which will host its regularly scheduled All-American Celebration festivities, including the Firecracker 4 Road Race in the morning and a concert and fireworks in the evening. “They’re going to see that we have this tremendous celebration going on downtown and come on downtown,” Shimkus told the Gazette. “So for me, it’s another one of those must attend weekends in Saratoga.”
Heidi Owen West, who owns several boutiques downtown, is also hoping the Festival will be a boon for business, both from tourists coming for the races and locals. “The 4th of July weekend for retail is never a great one and can be very slow,” she says. “People usually like to go out of town. So I’m thrilled about that weekend of racing.”
Regardless of where you stand on this year’s additional days of racing, one thing’s for certain: This summer, the racing world’s eyes will once again be dead-set on Saratoga.