The interest surrounding the Belmont Stakes usually hinges on what happens in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and the Preakness Stakes. If the same horse can win the first two legs of the Triple Crown, then the finale will be a blockbuster event drawing a huge, enthusiastic crowd to Belmont Park.

Yet this year, it will not matter if there is a Triple Crown bid on the line. Or if either the run for the roses and Preakness winners are in attendance. Regardless of what happens on the first and third Saturdays in May, the June 8 Belmont Stakes is destined to be a special edition of the classic.

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The 156th renewal of the “Test of the Champion” will blend two of horse racing’s most popular commodities when the Belmont Stakes is contested at beloved Saratoga Race Course for the very first time and the Spa and the Triple Crown become a coupled entry.

“To have the 150th Kentucky Derby and the first Belmont Stakes at Saratoga in the same year is going to make it a special Triple Crown season,” New York Racing Association CEO and President Dave O’Rourke said. “We can already feel the excitement about the Belmont being in Saratoga for the first time.”

The buzz the June 8 edition of the Triple Crown finale has ignited is best reflected in the overwhelming response to tickets and hospitality areas during a pre-sale and the release of remaining seats last month. All of the Belmont Stakes day seating has been sold, and reserve seating for the Friday card also has been gobbled up.

“That we sold out the day we opened up sales to the public; it’s unprecedented. I don’t think that has happened with the Belmont or any horse racing event. It’s a really good sign,” O’Rourke said. “Even with our recent job fair we found people want to work there and be a part of it. We saw crowds at the job fair we’ve never seen before. The town is psyched about it. We’re used to having big events at Saratoga, we’re just doing it a little earlier than usual. It’s like a mini-Saratoga.”

All of that interest in seating goes hand-in-hand with a bonanza for the Saratoga economy. The four days of racing at Saratoga, June 6-9, are expected to provide a $50 million boost to area businesses.

“It’s a June Christmas present,” said Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

The Belmont Stakes is coming to Saratoga. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Or as Helen Watson, general manager of the Adelphi Hotel, one of Saratoga’s premier hotels, put it, “It’s going to be the summer meet on steroids.”

For NYRA, the decision to move the Belmont for two years was simple. Canceling the 2024 and 2025 spring-summer and fall meets at Belmont Park will provide three uninterrupted years of work so that construction of the new Belmont Park will be finished in 2026.

“We wanted to get ahead on the building at Belmont, and compared to running it at Aqueduct, it’s a no-brainer to go to Saratoga,” O’Rourke said.

Aware that there would be a voracious appetite for seating at the initial Spa Belmont Stakes, NYRA also endeavored to make it as fan friendly as possible. In addition to the excitement of the Belmont Stakes, the four days of racing will feature 23 stakes worth $10.1 million with three Grade 1 stakes June 7 and six the following day.

A pre-sale was offered to holders of seating for the Saratoga summer meet, preferred NYRA Bets account holders, and regular purchasers of Belmont Stakes tickets before seats were sold to the general public. This prevented ticket brokers from securing a large amount of tickets and re-selling them on secondary markets for inflated prices, which often happens with top sports and entertainment tickets.

“We wanted to ensure that our most loyal ticket holders had a chance to purchase seats by offering pre-sale opportunities,” said Kevin Quinn, NYRA’s vice president of sales and hospitality. “We also limited it to four reserved tickets and one table per account in most cases. With the steps we took, there were a lot of happy people.”

Given the twice-in-a-lifetime nature of the event and how Saratoga has only 4,000 chair-back seats as opposed to 20,000 at Belmont Park, a big response was expected. Yet the volume of requests turned out to be unprecedented.

Fans have responded to the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. (Eclipse Sportswire)

“The response was huge,” Quinn said. “The Belmont was sold out in a day. I thought general admission would last a few days, but it shows the demand for the event. A normal pre-sale for the Belmont Stakes might be 5,000 by May. We sold 30,000 in a few days, which is nuts.”

Quinn said roughly 90% of Saratoga season ticket holders bought Belmont seating, which means the June 8 crowd in the box seat area should resemble a typical Saturday in August.

NYRA also kept the pricing in line with past editions of the final leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont Park. The cost of a package for seats for all four days of racing at Saratoga ranged from $265 to $495. General admission is $50, the same as it was for last year’s Belmont Stakes.

“I paid $325 for two days at last year’s Belmont Stakes, so $495 for four days is reasonable. I was guessing it would be somewhere around $600,” said Mike Morrissey, whose family owns a home on Nelson Avenue that provides parking for about 100 cars on race days. “The Belmont is bigger than anything at Saratoga, so it’s going to be a unique experience.”

To put that pricing in perspective, the Kentucky Derby offers two-day reserved seating on the first turn at Churchill Downs, with a prime viewing of only a portion of the race, for $1,495 on Kentucky Oaks and Derby days.

Even routine sports events in the New York area are significantly higher than the cost of Belmont Stakes tickets. Seats behind home plate to watch the Yankees play the lowly Oakland A’s will cost roughly $325, and those attached to club seating can reach as high as $5,000.

To sit at the court level for a recent game at Madison Square Garden between the New York Knicks and the awful Detroit Pistons cost about $1,000.

“There was a positive response to the pricing,” Quinn said. “Our fans thought looking at comparable marquee events in horse racing and other sports it would be higher, but we kept general admission at $50 and kept the backyard and apron access to general admission buyers, which is rare for a major event in horse racing.”

The Belmont Stakes is coming to Saratoga. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The options for general admission customers will be similar to the summer meet, with a large number of picnic tables available on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, there will not be reserved seating on the apron, allowing grandstand patrons to stand there and get a close-up look at the races.

One customer said the cost for a clubhouse trackside table for two was close to $2,000 but that included food, beverage, and parking for the four days. In contrast, the cost of First Turn Dining with the same amenities at Churchill Downs on Oaks and Derby days is $2,745 per person or $5,490 for two persons.

Seating in Saratoga’s air-conditioned 1863 Club ranges from $425 to $1,100 with all-inclusive packages.

Reflective of how much NYRA could have charged for seating, the secondary market seats for Belmont Stakes day are being offered for $2,000, with general admission priced at around $100.

The same relative affordability is not being offered by area hotels. The cost of a room at the Adelphi for Thursday through Sunday is a little more than $4,000 per day, with a three-night minimum. With taxes, the cost of the three days rose to $14,165, according to its website.

The nearby Holiday Inn in downtown Saratoga is charging about $1,072 each day after taxes. The previous Saturday (June 1), the Adelphi had rooms for $767 a night and the Holiday Inn $379 before taxes.

“We’re thrilled. It’s huge for all of the businesses in Saratoga,” the Adelphi’s Watson said. “It’s going to be like the Super Bowl of horse racing and will put us on a national stage. People who normally don’t come to Saratoga will be here. If there’s going to be a Triple Crown possibility, all bets are off.”

Shimkus said the demand and pricing for housing is encouraging more owners than usual to offer their homes for rent during the week.

“More people are willing to do it than during the summer,” Shimkus said about rentals. “I live about a half-mile from the track and that’s all people are talking about. They would only have to give up their homes for a week and they see the premium rates hotels are charging.”

Some restaurants have already set fixed menus for Friday and Saturday. The popular Solevo Kitchen has posted on its website a $200 five-course meal for Friday and Saturday.

Eddie Fazzone, a horse owner who also owns the Eddie F’s Seafood restaurants and its booth at the racetrack, said he will charge his typical summer prices.

“It’s going to be a great event but I’m not upping my prices for Belmont week,” he said. “My prices are my prices. I won’t gouge people. Our prices at the track will be the same as at the 40-day meet.”

Morrissey expects to charge about $20-$25 for Belmont Stakes day parking.

The city will embrace the event with a series of celebrations. The post-position draw is expected to be a public event, and Shimkus said plans are being finalized for music and fireworks downtown on Wednesday, June 5.

Some restaurants such as Carson’s Woodside Tavern and the West Side Sports Bar and Grill are contemplating watch parties on Belmont Stakes day.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is also planning a series of events. Highlights are a Belmont Memories discussion with legendary track announcer Tom Durkin June 5, a Belmont Gala June 6, an Old Tavern Farm tour June 7, and a social on the morning of the race. There will also be tours of the Oklahoma training track.

“The Belmont Stakes coming to Saratoga Race Course is a landmark event for racing, NYRA, Saratoga Springs, and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame,” National Museum of Racing President John Hendrickson said. “The Museum will be at the center of it all with so many exciting events, including what promises to be a spectacular Belmont Ball at Canfield Casino. I’m really looking forward to all of the events at the Museum and throughout the city. Saratoga knows how to put its best foot forward when the spotlight is on. The Spa City will be ready to shine.”

Logistically, moving to Saratoga is never easy, but helping was NYRA’s belief at the end of last summer’s meet that the 2024 and 2025 Belmont would be held at the Spa. Finding lodging for employees for a short period of time has been a task, but keeping equipment at Saratoga and also moving it there in the winter in preparation for the June races has been a help.

“A lot of the stuff is already up there. It’s a challenge to get everyone back up there for staffing, getting the jockeys’ room ready. But with the anticipation of this, when we finished with the main track at Belmont last year a lot of the materials and trucks were moved up there. While it was a change for us, it was not monumental,” said Glen Kozak, NYRA executive vice president for operations and capital projects.

Kozak expects to open Saratoga’s main track for workouts during the first week in May to accommodate the June racing dates. That’s about a month earlier than usual.

Among the changes that visitors will find are improvements to the Jim Dandy Bar and first-floor mutuel windows.

“We’ve also added some more Spa Verandas at the quarter-pole, and on the backstretch there will be a new dormitory,” Kozak said.

It’s all part of something new to Saratoga that will also bring a novel and highly anticipated addition to the Triple Crown.