NYRA / Coglianese Photo

Belmont Stakes Racing Festival tickets to go on sale May 6

by Pat McKenna

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced that a limited number of tickets for the 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will go on sale to the public on Thursday, May 6 starting at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.com.

Headlined by the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5, the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival kicks off on Thursday, June 3 and will include 17 stakes races in total with eight Grade 1 races to be contested on Belmont Stakes Day.

NYRA will offer advance pre-sale opportunities to 2020 Belmont Stakes ticket buyers, along with NYRA Bets Elite, Preferred and Bronze members, beginning on Wednesday, May 5. Eligible groups will be notified via email.

Beginning May 19, New York State will expand capacity at outdoor sports and entertainment venues to 33 percent of capacity. With required mandatory assigned seating and social distancing in place, Belmont Park is able to host approximately 11,000 ticketed spectators.

Accordingly, available ticket inventory is currently limited to reserved seats and hospitality areas. There will be no general admission tickets made available at this time. Additional ticket inventory will be released should capacity limits increase prior to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

In accordance with current New York State requirements, all ticketed spectators must submit proof of completed vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result in order to enter Belmont Park.

For additional information on health and safety protocols in effect for the 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, please visit: https://www.belmontstakes.com/tickets/know-before-you-go.

To reduce entry time, NYRA encourages all ticketed spectators who have been vaccinated or tested in New York State to retrieve secure proof using the New York State Excelsior Pass. To retrieve an Excelsior Pass, attendees can download the free NYS Excelsior Pass Wallet app onto their smartphone, available on the App Store and the Google Play Store, and follow the on-screen prompts.

Alternatively, attendees can also retrieve and print out a Pass through the Excelsior Pass Online Portal to bring to the event. Use of Excelsior Pass is free and voluntary. Attendees also have the option to provide their Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination card or lab results from a recent test upon entry. For more information on retrieving Excelsior Pass for out-of-state visitors, approved vaccinations, or approved tests visit the Excelsior Pass FAQs.

All tickets must be purchased in advance. In order to enter Belmont Park, tickets must be presented digitally via a mobile device through Ticketmaster.com or the NYRA Account Manager. For additional details, please view NYRA’s digital ticket guide.

The 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will mark the return of the Belmont Stakes to its customary spot on the racing calendar and its famed distance of 1 1/2-miles. In 2020, a readjustment to the stakes schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw the “Test of the Champion” run at a one-turn, 1 1/8 miles as the opening leg of the Triple Crown series for the first time in history.

The Belmont Stakes is an American tradition inaugurated in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack and moved in 1905 to its familiar home at Belmont Park. The final jewel of the Triple Crown series has showcased many of history's greatest thoroughbreds over 152 editions of the American classic.

The Belmont Stakes has been won by Hall of Famers from Sir Barton, Man o' War and Native Dancer to Secretariat, Affirmed and Easy Goer. That only 13 horses in history have achieved Triple Crown glory by winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes attests to its mystique as one of the rarest accomplishments in all of sports.

Two of those Triple Crown triumphs have come in the last six years with American Pharoah ending a 37-year Triple Crown drought in 2015 and Justify capping a perfect 6-for-6 career with a Triple Crown-clinching effort in 2018.

For additional information and details on hospitality offerings, ticket packages and pricing, visit BelmontStakes.com. For full terms and conditions, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/tickets.

Official logos for the 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival can be accessed at: https://www.belmontstakes.com/uploads/wysiwyg/assets/uploads/BS21_Logo_Set.zip