They're back racing at Belmont

Belmont Park’s 54-day spring/summer meet opened last Friday with heavy favorite Thebigfundamental taking the first race at the historic track in 2017 with an impressive 8 ½-lengths victory in a mile-and-one-sixteenth Maiden Special Weight event on the dirt.

“It was his second start, and he broke well and got into a nice rhythm in the backstretch,” jockey John Velasquez said. “I know he’s still a little green, so I kept him focused in the lane.

Highlighted by the 149th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, the oldest and most challenging leg of horse racing’s vaunted “Triple Crown,” the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will begin on Thursday, June 8 and conclude two days later on Stakes Day.

With the Belmont Stakes Draw scheduled for June 7 at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, the following day will open the 2017 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival with live-racing and “Community Day” at Belmont Park. The racing card will feature a trio of stakes with the Grade 3, $250,000 Intercontinental for filly and mare turf sprinters, the Grade 3, $200,000 Wonder Again for sophomore fillies on the grass, and the $150,00 Astoria for 2-year-old fillies.

On Friday, June 9, Day 2 of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will feature five stakes worth more than $1.5 million. A special post-race concert by Mike DelGuidice & Big Shot will close out the day by celebrating the music of Billy Joel. Taste NY vendors as well as the popular food truck village will be on-site offering fans a variety of food and beverage options for purchase. 

June 9 will also mark the start of the Belmont Stakes Challenge, a two-day live-money handicapping contest with a $10,000 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $110,000. For full contest rules and additional information please visit belmontstakeschallenge.com.

Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday June 10, will be comprised of five Grade 1 contests supporting the final and most elusive jewel of the Triple Crown: the $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap (“Met Mile”) for 3-year-olds and up, the $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan for older horses on the grass and the $700,000 Longines Just a Game for the turf female division, as well as the $750,000 Ogden Phipps for fillies and mares and the $700,000 Acorn for sophomore fillies.

Tickets for the 2017 Belmont Stakes Racing festival are selling fast and fans should act now to lock in discounted rates. General admission tickets are just $15 through April 30 and limited inventory remains for premium hospitality areas. Please visit belmontstakes.com for additional information.

Always a fan favorite, “Breakfast at Belmont” will return on the Saturday and Sunday of Mother’s Day weekend, where racing fans can enjoy breakfast in the Belmont Café while watching horses train on the main track. Beginning at 8 a.m. on select days throughout the spring/summer meet, “Breakfast at Belmont” will also be offered on Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 27 through Memorial Day, May 29; Father’s Day Weekend, Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18; as well as Stars & Stripes Festival Weekend, July 8 and 9.

Twilight racing returns with “Party at the Park,” taking place on five Fridays this summer: June 2, June 16, June 23, June 30 and July 7, with a special first-race post time of 3:05 p.m. and live post-race entertainment in the backyard.

With the exception of the twilight racing cards, Derby and Preakness Day, and the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the first race post time at Belmont Park generally will be 1:30 p.m. Admission to Belmont Park is $5, excluding Belmont Stakes Day.