Feature Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com
When celebrating the history of Aqueduct Racetrack, one can either take the official opening of September 27, 1894, or the September 14, 1959 inauguration of its newer design. Both dates played a significant role in the world of thoroughbred racing, and the story now has another historic date: June 28, 2026, when Aqueduct held its final day of live racing. As of August 31, 2026, the Big A remains open for simulcasting through September 7. Future downstate racing conducted by the New York Racing Association will take place at the rebuilt Belmont Park.
1894
The first Aqueduct Racetrack was a utilitarian-style venue that took its name from its South Ozone Park location in Queens. The Queens County Jockey Club established the track on property crossed by a conduit belonging to the old Brooklyn Water Works. The conduit carried water toward New York City from the Hempstead Plain on Long Island, making Aqueduct a natural name for the new racetrack.
At first, the racetrack met with a series of challenges as the city was loaded with similar venues, including the more prestigious Morris Park Racecourse in the Bronx and Saratoga. However, when wealthy tugboat captain William Carter provided financial support for a major race in 1895, the stage was set to establish Aqueduct as a more substantial racing attraction. The Carter Handicap was named in his honor and became one of the track’s signature events.
Starting Legacies
On July 5, 1926, Aqueduct Racetrack experienced a dead-heat finish when Harry Payne Whitney’s Macaw and Rancocas Stable’s Nedana completed their run in the Carter Handicap together.
In 1940, Aqueduct underwent another major rebuilding project, including a new grandstand. Four years later, the track became the site of one of the most unusual finishes in American racing history. On June 10, 1944, Bossuet, Brownie, and Wait A Bit crossed the finish line together in the Carter Handicap, producing the first triple dead heat for the win in a stakes race.
In the mid-1950s, the newly created New York Racing Association took control of Aqueduct along with Belmont Park, Jamaica Race Course, and Saratoga Race Course. Jamaica Race Course was eventually closed and its property sold for development, while Aqueduct was selected for a major rebuilding project. The old Aqueduct closed as work began on the modern facility that would open in 1959.
1959
With 42,473 fans in attendance, including New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the rebuilt Aqueduct was inaugurated on September 14, 1959, following a $34.5 million reconstruction project. Dubbed “the Big A,” the racetrack now featured a four-tier grandstand that could accommodate a much larger crowd than before.
The architects involved were Arthur Froehlich and Associates of Beverly Hills, California. At the time, the design was top-notch, with eighteen escalators and an elevator, 20,000 grandstand seats, and another 14,000 seats in air-conditioned restaurants and lounges. Contemporary accounts described it as one of the most modern and luxurious racing facilities in the world.
It was an era when horse racing was one of New York City’s greatest sporting attractions. On May 31, 1965, 73,375 spectators packed Aqueduct to watch Gun Bow win the Metropolitan Handicap, commonly known as the Met Mile. Contemporary reporting described it as the largest crowd ever to attend a thoroughbred racing event in New York at the time.
Adding Legacies
Aqueduct hosted many of New York racing’s most important stakes during the decades that followed its 1959 reopening, including editions of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. The Belmont Stakes was also held at Aqueduct from 1963 through 1967 while Belmont Park underwent a major reconstruction.
It was at Aqueduct that Secretariat made his final appearance on a racetrack on November 6, 1973. With Ron Turcotte aboard, the Triple Crown winner paraded before a crowd of roughly 30,000 fans before beginning his retirement at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.
The Wood Memorial Stakes became one of Aqueduct’s most important races and a major stop on the road to the Triple Crown. Eleven Wood Memorial winners went on to win the Kentucky Derby, including Gallant Fox, Twenty Grand, Johnstown, Count Fleet, Hoop Jr., Assault, Foolish Pleasure, Bold Forbes, Seattle Slew, Pleasant Colony, and Fusaichi Pegasus. Four of those horses—Gallant Fox, Count Fleet, Assault, and Seattle Slew—went on to capture the Triple Crown.
Secretariat was one of the great horses who did not win the Wood Memorial. He finished third behind Angle Light and Sham in 1973 before going on to sweep the Triple Crown. His 2:24 time in the Belmont Stakes remains one of the most celebrated performances in American racing history.
On October 28, 1994, Cigar began his legendary sixteen-race winning streak at Aqueduct after returning from turf to dirt. His next victory came in the NYRA Mile at Aqueduct on November 26, 1994. The race was renamed the Cigar Mile in his honor beginning in 1997.
On April 8, 2006, during a program that included the Wood Memorial Stakes, Aqueduct experienced a rare sequence of dead heats covering all three major finishing positions. Saint Anddan and Criminal Mind dead-heated for Place in the fifth race, Naragansett and Emotrin dead-heated for Show in the sixth, and Karakorum Tuxedo and Megatrend dead-heated for the Win in the tenth.
When Not Racing
On October 6, 1995, Aqueduct served as the setting for Pope John Paul II to celebrate Mass before a crowd of approximately 75,000 people. Brilliant sunshine broke through after poor weather had marked earlier portions of the papal visit, creating one of the most memorable non-racing events ever held at the Big A.
For decades, the racetrack’s north parking lot also served as the home of the Aqueduct Flea Market. Operating on Tuesdays and weekends, the market became a familiar part of neighborhood life before closing as the casino project moved forward.
New Challenges
Over the years, Aqueduct Racetrack underwent a series of renovations and upgrades. In 1975, a winterized one-mile inner dirt track opened on the former site of an inner turf course, allowing Aqueduct to become an important home for winter racing in New York.
In 1981, the track opened the multi-tiered Equestris Restaurant, one of the largest restaurants in New York City at the time. The renovations did not stop there, as Aqueduct continued adapting to changes in racing, wagering, and the way spectators used the facility.
When the New York State Legislature authorized video lottery gaming at racetracks in 2001, the legislation created the possibility of a new revenue source for Aqueduct. Turning that possibility into reality took years of political and legal debate.
In 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer’s administration considered plans that could have resulted in Aqueduct closing and the property being redeveloped after the expiration of NYRA’s racing franchise. The track ultimately survived that challenge as New York State and NYRA reached a new agreement that kept racing at Aqueduct.
The collapse of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation in December 2010 brought another change to the city’s racing landscape. With the city’s OTB parlors gone, Aqueduct saw renewed attention from bettors who had previously placed wagers away from the racetrack.
Resorts World Comes to Aqueduct
The biggest change Aqueduct experienced in the twenty-first century was the opening of the 415,000-square-foot Resorts World Casino New York City in October 2011. The project followed years of debate over installing video lottery terminals at the racetrack. Genting New York LLC ultimately won the right to develop and operate the casino.
Resorts World occupied portions of the former grandstand and transformed a large part of the property into a gaming and entertainment destination. A Hyatt Regency hotel later opened as part of the Resorts World complex.
In 2014, NYRA continued investing in Aqueduct with the opening of Longshots, a 24,000-square-foot sports bar and simulcasting center.
It was also in 2014 that the racetrack hosted a number of artists who decorated the grandstand’s interior and exterior with racing-themed murals. This included a massive image of Secretariat and jockey Ron Turcotte that became one of the facility’s most recognizable pieces of racing art.
In 2017, NYRA undertook one of the most important racing-surface projects at Aqueduct in decades. The winterized inner dirt track was replaced by a new outer turf course, while the main track was renovated to accommodate year-round racing. Additional work on the inner turf course followed.
The Final Years of Aqueduct Racetrack
For generations, Aqueduct remained New York City’s only thoroughbred racetrack. Its role became even more important during the reconstruction of Belmont Park, when Aqueduct carried much of NYRA’s downstate racing schedule.
That role was always intended to change once the new Belmont Park was completed. New York State’s redevelopment plan for Belmont called for all downstate racing and training to be consolidated there, allowing the state-owned Aqueduct property to be returned for redevelopment.
The final Wood Memorial held at Aqueduct took place in 2026, with Albus winning the historic race. The Big A then entered its closing stretch. NYRA held a farewell weekend on June 27 and 28, 2026, celebrating more than 130 years of racing history at the South Ozone Park track.
On June 28, 2026, the ninth race, fittingly named “It Was a Good Run,” became the final live race ever held at Aqueduct. Live racing at the Big A was over after 132 years.
Aqueduct did not immediately close its doors completely. NYRA kept the facility open for simulcasting through September 7, 2026. The rebuilt Belmont Park is scheduled to begin its new era of racing on September 18, 2026, after which all future downstate NYRA racing will be centered there.
The end of racing does not mean the end of the Aqueduct property’s story. New York State has begun a community planning process for approximately 100 acres of state-owned land at the site. Housing, public open space, retail, and community uses are among the possibilities under consideration, with a master plan expected in 2027. Resorts World New York City remains a major presence on the property.
For more New York racing history, readers can explore the history of Belmont Park Racetrack, the history of Saratoga Racetrack, Yonkers Raceway, and the history of the Meadowlands Racetrack.
Sources
New York Racing Association — History of Aqueduct
New York Racing Association — Secretariat and Aqueduct: Big Red Retires at the Big A
New York Racing Association — The Wood Memorial Celebrates 100 Years of Greatness
New York State — Aqueduct Racetrack Community Engagement and Site Planning Process
Updated August 31, 2026.
History Of Aqueduct Racetrack article published on ClassicNewYorkHistory.com © 2026
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