Breeders Cup back to Belmont in '27

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Breeders' Cup will return to Belmont in 2027; Keeneland to host in 2026
David Grening | May 28, 2025

https://www.drf.com/news/breeders-cu...land-host-2026



PopulousThe 2027 Breeders’ Cup will be held at the rebuilt Belmont Park, which will have a capacity of 50,000, is modernized, and on target to open in September 2026.

NEW YORK – The Breeders’ Cup is returning to New York.

Belmont Park, which last held the Breeders’ Cup in 2005, will host the 2027 event on Oct. 29-30, it was announced Wednesday at a press conference in Manhattan. It was also announced that Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., will host the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 30-31, 2026. As has been previously announced, this year’s Breeders’ Cup will be at Del Mar on Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

The 2027 event will mark the fifth time that the Breeders’ Cup will be held at Belmont Park, though this one will be held at a venue that is currently under construction and significantly smaller than the previous incarnation. When complete, Belmont Park’s grandstand will be roughly 275,000 square feet. The previous structure was a 1.25 million square-foot building. Belmont Park is scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2026.

The last time the Breeders’ Cup was held in New York, it was a one-day event, consisting of eight races. It is now a two-day event with 14 Breeders’ Cup races, totaling $34 million in purses.

The announcement of the Breeders’ Cup to New York in 2027 and Keeneland in 2026 was made at The Vandy Club in Midtown Manhattan. In addition to officials from the Breeders’ Cup, the New York Racing Association, and Keeneland, Wednesday’s announcement was attended by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The awarding of the Breeders’ Cup to Belmont Park followed a promise Drew Fleming, president and chief executive officer of the Breeders’ Cup, made to Hochul when she announced in 2023 the state was loaning NYRA $455 million to rebuild Belmont Park.

“If you build it we will come,” Fleming said. “We’re excited to honor that promise and put on an exceptional Breeders’ Cup for New York. Our fans have been wanting this for a long time. We couldn’t be prouder to be back up here.”

Hochul said the loan to NYRA signifies her belief in an industry that has a $3 billion statewide economic impact for New York State.

“I believe in this industry, I believe in NYRA, I believe in [NYRA chairman Marc Holliday’s] leadership, I believe in the future of Belmont,” Hochul said.

The late October dates for the 2027 Breeders’ Cup are in line with the dates of previous Breeders’ Cups held at Belmont Park. By holding it then – as opposed to early November where it has been the last few years – it keeps it away from the weekend of the New York City Marathon, an event that fills a majority of the New York City hotels. Fleming said that was a consideration in selecting the late October dates.

Holliday said “it’s enormously important” for the Breeders’ Cup to be returning to Belmont Park.

“It’s an affirmation of the entire vision to create a compelling destination where people are going to want to come to visit, be entertained, have events, and the ultimate reward for that is to have Breeders’ Cup identify us a host site in 2027,” Holliday said. “It was our goal from the outset. Twenty years, New York deserves another Breeders’ Cup. We’re happy to bring it back and it’s a great day for New York racing.”

Holliday said the construction of the new Belmont Park is “on schedule and on budget,” Approximately 2 1/2 levels of the building have been built and he said the entire building should be “buttoned up by July 2026.

“With a little bit of luck, we’ll be open to the public in September of 2026 for new racing at Belmont,” Holliday said.

The renovation of Belmont Park includes a $100 million investment, separate from the loan, that NYRA has made into the racing surfaces. That includes a widening of the Belmont main track that will allow for a better and more equitable gate placement for the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic. In previous runnings at Belmont Park, the gate was placed on an angle in the middle of the clubhouse turn.

“We’re able to put in an actual full-width chute for the gate,” said Glen Kozak, NYRA vice president, racing surfaces. “Before, when they would break for the Classic, half the gate was over the crown, half the gate was on the inside of the track. Now it’ll be a like a chute.”

The awarding of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup to Keeneland marks the fourth time the event will be held at that track, all since 2015. Keeneland’s president and CEO Shannon Arvin, said a $100 million project to renovate the paddock will be completed in time for the fall meet this October.

“Keeneland is our Augusta National,” Fleming said. “Anytime you take someone to Keeneland they instantly become a racing fan. We have a great, long-storied partnership and friendship with Keeneland.

“Their values and mission are very similar to ours – to always put the horse first and to showcase racing at its finest.”