This past weekend Aqueduct said its final goodbyes and the next day the new Tapeta track at Belmont Park opened for training. As many mourned the closing of Aqueduct and a substantial life chapter for many, New York racing welcomed a new chapter just outside the city.

Celebrating 132 years of racing, Aqueduct saw 6,866 people bid farewell on Sunday June 28. It also saw a new course record by Highway Harmony in the final stakes to ever run at Aqueduct, one that will stand for the rest of time. The closure of Aqueduct will leave New York City without its own racetrack for the first time in over 200 years since the opening of Union Course in 1821.

The city plans to use the land Aqueduct sits on to help with New York’s housing crisis. The Hochul administration has begun the planning for mixed use redevelopment. This can include housing, retail, community facilities, and open spaces. New York’s downstate racing will all be consolidated to the newly renovated Belmont Park. The new Tapeta track will allow Belmont Park to host racing almost year-round.

Belmont Park will reopen for racing on September 18th after a 3-year renovation project costing over $450 million. The first two horses stepped on the track at 5:35am. The new Tapeta track joins a one mile dirt training track, covered jogging barn with synthetic surface, and a quarter mile Tapeta pony track.

Former jockey and trainer Michael Dickinson created the Tapeta track which is a mixture of silica sand, wax, and fibers. The Tapeta track is designed for safety and consistency. The track will vary with weather but not to the extreme of dirt or turf. We are excited to see how the New York racing scene adapts and evolves with the closing of Aqueduct and renovations of Belmont Park.