Sitting in his ground-floor office at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens on the afternoon of Wood Memorial Stakes Day in early April, David O’Rourke’s emotions ranged from nostalgic to exuberant anticipation. It was the last time the celebrated Wood Memorial—the New York Racing Association’s most important prep race on the road to the Kentucky Derby—would be contested at Aqueduct, and one of the final days of racing at the historic New York City track ever. Aqueduct, which first opened in 1894 and has seen such immortals as Man o’ War and Secretariat deliver legendary performances on its racing oval, will permanently close in June, making way for a new era of New York racing.
“Aqueduct has a tremendous history both in New York racing and nationally,” says O’Rourke, who joined NYRA in 2008 as its director of financial planning and was appointed CEO and president in 2019. “This place has been a huge part of my life for almost 20 years. I’ll miss it, but I also can’t wait for our next chapter.”
This year, NYRA will move into the final stage of consolidating its metropolitan racing into one facility—Long Island’s Belmont Park, which is scheduled to reopen following a $550 million renovation on September 18. After that, Aqueduct’s racing dates will transition to the new Belmont Park, as will the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and July 4th Racing Festival, which have been hosted in Saratoga since 2024 and 2025, respectively. Another marquee event, the Breeders’ Cup, will also be held at Belmont Park in the fall of 2027. The two-day Cup, Thoroughbred racing’s multi-divisional championship event, hasn’t been held in New York since 2005.
“The new Belmont Park will be one of the most beautiful sports facilities and destinations in the world,” says O’Rourke. “We plan to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience that is worthy of the world-class Thoroughbred racing we have in New York throughout the year and the elite international participants we attract for our big days and for major events such as the Breeders’ Cup.”
The new Belmont will feature a five-floor, 275,000-square-foot central building with 7,500 seats in the grandstand, which has been reduced in size to offer an enhanced visual experience and several additional acres of green space. The overall capacity on the grounds is expected to be in the 50,000 range.
“The sightlines that have been conceptualized for Belmont in the design process are absolutely stunning,” O’Rourke says. “There won’t be any poor vantage points to watch the races anywhere.” Previously, the backside of the grandstand was notable for its ivy-covered brick façade, but views of the paddock from the building were limited and inconvenient. The new sightlines, made possible by glass throughout the building, will allow for clear viewing of the paddock, which will be recessed to further enhance the visual experience and help offset wind on colder days.
The track will also feature tunnels for fans to access the infield and watch from that unique perspective on big race days. In addition to the traditional dirt and turf track surfaces, an all-weather, synthetic Tapeta course will also be added. The innermost of the racing surfaces, the Tapeta course is intended to be used extensively during winter racing, as it’s engineered to handle all types of weather.
Belmont joins Louisville’s Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby) and Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course (home of the Preakness Stakes) in making significant investments in the respective homes of the Triple Crown races. Churchill Downs has completed multiple phases of enhancement projects in the past decade, while Pimlico, similar to Belmont, is currently being rebuilt from the ground up. Pimlico is expected to welcome back the Preakness in 2027 after a one-year stint at Laurel Park.
“It’s great to see some of America’s most iconic tracks investing in their properties—especially the Triple Crown tracks,” O’Rourke says. “It demonstrates that racing has a bright future worth investing in. These are exciting times and we have a great opportunity to bring in new fans to the game. With an absolute gem Upstate at Saratoga and the new Belmont right around the corner, New York racing is ideally positioned for a prosperous future.”
