SARATOGA SPRINGS — City, county and tourism officials are discussing ways to ensure people visiting Saratoga Springs in June 2024 for the Belmont Stakes will have various festivities they can participate in leading up to the four-day event.
Gov. Kathy Hochul officially announced last Wednesday that the Belmont festival will take place at Saratoga Race Course June 6 to June 9 due to a $455 million renovation taking place at Belmont Park.
“We realize that folks are going to be coming that have never experienced our destination before, so we want to make sure that while they’re here they have a good time and that will be up to us to create a festive atmosphere during the four days of the meet,” said Darryl Leggieri, president of Discover Saratoga.
Discover Saratoga, the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, the city and the county are partnering to plan events for the entire week of the Belmont, “so that we can maximize the economic value of this historic opportunity, not just for businesses in Saratoga Springs, but businesses across the area,” said chamber President Todd Shimkus.
Shimkus said officials are expecting more people to come to the city and county than tickets will be available for the event. Because of that, officials are considering holding watch parties not only in the city but also in other towns.
The watch parties could take place similar to how it was done during the COVID-19 pandemic when fans were unable to attend meets in person, Shimkus said.
“At those watch parties, they set up big screens, some of them brought in handicappers, some of them had a bugler, red kettles from the Salvation Army, some of them gave away NYRA Bets cards, making sure people knew how to download the app, so that they could create a track-like experience,” he said.
Shimkus and Leggieri said the group is looking for ways to make sure people visit the county throughout the entire week of the Belmont.
“There’s so much to offer,” Leggeiri said. “There are still a lot of ideas on the table, but I just want people to know that we are definitely thinking about this, we are planning for this and we are going to have some fun things ready to roll out in the coming year.”
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is working with the New York Racing Association on activities for the event, said Brien Boyea, the museum's director of communications.
He said they haven’t finalized what they will offer, but have been discussing a number of ideas.
“We will have a presence at the track, we do have a space over there and we plan on staffing it during that time,” he said.
He also said this event provides a huge opportunity for Saratoga Springs.
“Obviously we’ll have a lot of events planned around this but it’s a great opportunity for racing in general,” he said. “It’s going to get a lot of attention, there’s going to be a lot of eyes on Saratoga at a time when we’re ramping up for a traditional season in July. It’s definitely something that’s going to bring a lot of tourism to town, a lot of media attention.”
He said people should keep a close eye on the museum’s website in the coming months for events around Belmont.
“Saratoga has always done very good things,” he said, “In 2013, we had the 150th anniversary of racing in Saratoga and that was a big collaboration between NYRA and the city and the county and the businesses and the museum, so I think we’re going to roll out the red carpet, something very similar to that.”
City Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi said the event could generate sales tax revenue similar to what is typically seen during Travers weekend in August.
She said the city doesn't have a breakdown of the economic impact of Travers weekend specifically but that the city typically sees anywhere from a $500,000 to $1 million bump in sales tax revenue during the month of August.