The Belmont Stakes 2026 runs Saturday, June 6 at Saratoga Race Course — the third and final stop on the Triple Crown trail, and the last time Long Island fans have to drive 183 miles north to see it. Belmont Park has been under renovation since 2024, and the new grandstand reopens September 18, 2026, which means the 159th running in 2027 comes home to Elmont. For this year, though, the race is in Saratoga Springs, and that's a real trip from Dix Hills or Garden City or anywhere on the Island.

I've been running people up to Saratoga for racing weekends for close to twenty years. Belmont at Saratoga is a different animal than a regular Saturday at the track. It's a 12-hour day when you count the drive, the dress code rules out anything casual, and the mint juleps start flowing around lunch. People ask me every spring how to handle the logistics. Here's how we do it.

What's Happening at the 158th Belmont Stakes

The 158th running of the Belmont Stakes goes off Saturday, June 6, 2026 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, NY. The full festival runs from Tuesday June 3 through Sunday June 7, with the big race anchoring Saturday's card.

Because Saratoga's main track is shorter than Belmont Park, the race is being run at 1 1/4 miles this year instead of the traditional 1 1/2 — same distance as the Kentucky Derby. Fox carries the broadcast nationally. The two horses to watch coming in are Napoleon Solo, who won the 2026 Preakness, and Golden Tempo, who's been the morning line favorite since the spring.

General admission starts around $75. Premium hospitality at the 1863 Club, Turf Terrace, and the box seat sections is mostly sold out, which is normal for any Triple Crown Saturday. If you don't already have your tickets you're looking at the resale market or a paddock pass.

Why Long Island Cares About This Belmont

The Belmont Stakes has been a Long Island race since 1905. It belongs at Belmont Park in Elmont. Watching it run at Saratoga the last two years has felt like a long-term loaner. That's part of why this one matters. June 6, 2026 is the last Belmont in Saratoga before the race returns home.

The new Belmont Park grandstand opens September 18, 2026. By summer 2027 the renovated facility will be hosting full meets again, and the 159th Belmont Stakes is expected to run there in June 2027. For Long Island, that's a real homecoming. Restaurants in Floral Park, Garden City, and Elmont have been waiting for the foot traffic to come back. So have we.

In the meantime, if you want to see Triple Crown horses run live this year, you're going to Saratoga.

The Drive from Long Island to Saratoga — Why It's Brutal

The route looks simple on a map. Real driving time is anywhere from 3 hours and 10 minutes to 4 hours each way, depending on where on the Island you start and what you hit on the way through the city.

From Dix Hills, the line is: LIE West to the Cross Bronx Expressway, north on I-87 (the New York State Thruway) to Albany, then onto I-87 again as the Adirondack Northway. You're getting off at Exit 13N for downtown Saratoga, Exit 14 for the Avenue of the Pines, or Exit 15 if you're heading to the Saratoga Polo Club side. From Garden City or Great Neck, knock 15 to 20 minutes off. From Westhampton, add 30 to 45.

A few things to know about driving it yourself on race day:

The Cross Bronx is the Cross Bronx. Saturday mornings in June are not as bad as a Friday at 5pm, but you're still going to lose 20 to 40 minutes there if you leave at the wrong time.
Albany construction is permanent. I-87 around the I-90 interchange has been a slow zone for two summers running.
Saratoga itself is a parking problem. Festival week pushes the local lots and the NYRA-managed lots to capacity. The free CDTA trolley between downtown and the track works fine, but you have to get to a trolley stop first, which means parking, which is the original problem.

Then there's the dress code. Saratoga isn't quite as formal as the old Belmont, but jackets and ties for men and dresses or hats for women are standard in the box seats and the clubhouse. Three hours behind the wheel in a jacket and tie, white-knuckling the Northway, is a fast way to arrive at the track looking like you already lost.

And the drive home is where it gets serious. Mint juleps start around noon. Champagne in the Turf Terrace boxes. By the time the feature race goes off in the early evening you've been there seven hours. Driving 183 miles back to Long Island after a day of drinking is not a decision a reasonable person should make, and every year somebody does it anyway. We've seen the stories.

What a Car Service Actually Solves for Race Day

A chauffeur on a Saratoga day takes the four hardest parts of the trip off the table:

The drive itself. You're not navigating the Cross Bronx or sitting in Northway construction. You can sleep on the way up, take work calls, or just watch the Hudson Valley roll by.

Parking. We drop you at the track entrance. No lot shuttle, no walk in dress shoes, no trolley wait. Pickup is at the same spot, on your schedule, when you're ready to leave.

Drinking. You can have the juleps and the champagne the way they're meant to be had. Nobody is the designated driver for an event that's specifically designed around drinking.

The dress. You get out of the car looking the way you got in. No three-hour wrinkle.

We've run this trip for groups of two, groups of four, groups of twelve. The logistics are the same. The chauffeur knows the route, knows where Saratoga drop-off works best for the gate you're entering, and knows what time to leave Long Island to clear the Cross Bronx before it stiffens up.

Sprinter Van for Groups, Sedan or SUV for Couples

For couples or a foursome heading up, we usually put a black SUV or executive sedan on it. Quiet ride, full luggage room for the cooler and the extra hats, and one chauffeur for the day.

For groups of six to twelve — bachelor parties, law firm client outings, family groups doing the festival together — the natural play is the Sprinter van. High-roof Mercedes Sprinter, captain's chairs, real legroom, room for the picnic basket and the cooler. Everyone arrives together, everyone leaves together, and nobody is squeezing into a back seat in a dress on the way home. It's the same setup we run for Hamptons charity galas and US Open Tennis days, and it's the right answer for a Belmont day at Saratoga.

For corporate groups entertaining clients, the corporate travel booking handles the billing the way you need it to. Law firms and financial advisors on the Island use this exact configuration every June.

Booking Window — Why You Shouldn't Wait

Belmont Stakes weekend is the busiest Saturday of June for Long Island car service. Saratoga is sold out on hotels. The good chauffeurs in the area are booked weeks out. We start filling up the Saturday of Belmont in early May, and by Memorial Day the Sprinter vans are usually committed.

If you have tickets to the race on June 6, get the ride locked down now. Whether it's a sedan for two or a Sprinter for ten, the spot only gets harder to hold the closer we get.

Request a quote and we'll get your Belmont day on the books. Door pickup on Long Island, drop at the Saratoga gate, no parking, no driving home tired. The last Belmont up north. Make it the easy one.

Belmont Stakes 2026 at Saratoga: Long Island Car Service to the Final Triple Crown Race Up North