Belmont Stakes 2023 Diary: The sights, sounds and smells on raceday in New York

ELMONT, NY – It’s 75 degrees with sunny skies in New York, and on this Saturday, wearing shirts and pants with horses on them is not only acceptable, but preferred. 

For the 155th time, the running of the Belmont Stakes will happen tonight (7:05 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App). In a city that prides itself on tradition, The Stakes is a New York institution that brings fans and followers by the thousands to Belmont Park, which has hosted the third leg of the Triple Crown since 1905. 

After walking around the concourse areas and fan engagement sections, I’ll conclude with this: the Belmont Stakes is New York’s unofficial summer kickoff party with over 50,000 of your closest friends. 

 Having been to horse races before, but never to a leg of the Triple Crown, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to cover something different on Saturday. To put it simply, horse racing is a sharp contrast from the basketball, football and baseball that I’ve become accustomed to covering. 

As for the fashion involved on stakes day, you know I had to dress for the occasion. The light blue summer jacket was the play here along with the straw fedora. The button down and jacket is the suggested attire for the men while women wear sundresses. 

Walking up to the entrance of the park, the facing of it is covered in ivy, featuring flowers and pennants with signage of the 2023 stakes. This one feels different, because the logo of Secretariat is featured everywhere. That’s because this year marks 50 years since the greatest racehorse of all time broke a Belmont Stakes record with a time of 2:24, winning The Run for the Carnations by 31 lengths to complete perfection. 

 There are T-shirts, posters, magnets and everything in between honoring the legendary horse. There’s even a mini pop-up museum that you can walk through to look at the different pieces of memorabilia associated with Secretariat, including the saddle, which was purchased by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay and has been lent to Belmont Park for display this weekend. 

After getting a history lesson, I strolled over to Food Truck Village for some lunch. In New York fashion, Belmont Park has brought in businesses from around the metropolitan area to form a row of food trucks offering local delicacies ranging from sandwiches to pizza to Italian ice and everything in between. There’s no shortage of activity in this area, and once the patrons have grabbed their food, many are flooding out into the backyard, an area of grass with jazz bands and musicians playing tunes to delight the crowd. Once I wrapped up some lunch, New York Racing Association Vice President of Sales & Hospitality Kevin Quinn took me on a tour of the venue. 

The second floor is buzzing with activity. While some fans drive to Queens, thousands travel via the Long Island Rail Road, where there is a train stop that leads right into an exclusive entrance for these fans.

There’s definitely a younger segment of followers included in this group, and yes, they’re juiced for race day. This was the most entertaining – and loudest – people watch of the afternoon. The characters are out!

Directly a floor above those fans, they can indulge in local New York area breweries at a mini festival on the concourse. There’s also a crowd building on the concourse for American DJ Diplo, who will provide a pre-race show. I don’t think there will be any crowd-surfing, but based on some of the brewery fest activity, never say never. 

I went from the concourse to a special suite level, where the prize resides and is guarded by four security guards. The August Belmont Trophy is on display before being handed out tonight, a Tiffany-made silver bowl created in 1896 made up of 50 ounces of sterling silver, standing at 27 inches tall and sitting on a pedestal composed of the three Thoroughbred foundation stallions Eclipse, Matchem and Herod. 

 It’s back down to the trackside tent from this stop, where the New York Islanders hockey team begins filing in. With their home venue being UBS Arena, they are next door neighbors to Belmont Park and are taking in the sights and sounds of the day. "Saved by the Bell" actor and host of "Access Hollywood" Mario Lopez, New York City mayor Eric Adams and other high-profile folks are expected to be in attendance for the big race tonight. 

I’ve stopped by the betting window to submit a couple of plays on the afternoon card, joining others who are looking to make some coin before tonight’s big race. 

While we’re at it, my pick for the Belmont Stakes: the 8-horse, Angel of Empire (7-2). With three of the nine entrants in this race, I believe trainer Brad Cox has the cards set to dictate the pace from the outset, apply pressure to Forte and Preakness winner National Treasure, and come out on top. 

For now, it’s a break for a few hours and a couple sips of a Belmont Jewel, featuring some bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate juice. Don’t mind if I do!