And it is beautiful, with lush ivy covering the brick rear facade of the clubhouse around high-arcing mullioned windows, and a huge iconic Japanese white pine in the middle of the paddock.

The tree isn’t going anywhere, but the building is. That is, straight to the ground. Pending the proper permitting, demolition will begin on the clubhouse and grandstand during the first week of April and will take a 4-5 months to complete.

Because the New York Racing Association is tearing down the grandstand to make way for a new one that will open in 2026, the 156th Belmont Stakes will be shifted to Saratoga Race Course this June, and the 157th will return to Saratoga in 2025.

The third leg of the Triple Crown, first run in 1867, has never been held on the current Spa grounds, which opened in 1864, and won’t be there again for the foreseeable future after 2025, even though the finishing touches on the new Belmont Park clubhouse and grandstand are not projected to be completed until the fall of 2026.

Although all 13 Triple Crown winners have finished that series at Belmont Park, 2024 won’t be the first time the Belmont Stakes has been run at a track other than Belmont. In fact, Saratoga will be the fourth venue besides Belmont to have hosted the race.

Here’s a look at the other three, which operated during an era when thriving racetracks were sprinkled all over the New York City metro area, Long Island and New Jersey (Belmont Stakes years in parentheses):

JEROME PARK RACETRACK (1867-1889)

Jerome Park opened in 1866 in a section of Westchester County that would become part of the Bronx and was named after Leonard Jerome, “The King of Wall Street.” The big race for 3-year-olds was named after Jerome’s fellow big shot businessman and Thoroughbred enthusiast, August Belmont, Sr. (When Belmont Park was built in 1905 and adopted the family name, August Belmont Jr. and William Collins Whitney were in charge)

Three horses who won the Belmont at Jerome Park, Cloverbrook (1877), Grenada (1880) and Saunterer (1881), also won the Preakness, well before the term “Triple Crown” came into vogue.

Jerome Park closed in the fall of 1894 after having been condemned by the city of New York and became home to the Jerome Park Reservoir in 1906, which served the city’s water supply system via aqueduct. In 1996, neighborhood residents successfully blocked an attempt by the city to convert the reservoir into a water treatment plant.

First Belmont winner at Jerome Park: Ruthless, who was also the first of three fillies to win the Belmont, followed by Tanya (1905) and Rags to Riches (2007). Ruthless also won the fourth Travers at Saratoga in 1867, the second of seven fillies who have won that race.

Fun fact: Leonard Jerome was the maternal grandfather of Winston Churchill.

MORRIS PARK RACECOURSE (1890-1904)

Opened in 1889 by prominent businessman John Albert Morris in the Bronx, which at the time was part of Westchester County. Leonard Jerome was a minority partner with Morris, whose father, Francis Morris, had owned Ruthless.

Besides the Belmont Stakes, Morris Park was the site of the Preakness in 1890 because of the Maryland Jockey Club’s financial difficulties.

Declining attendance forced Morris Park’s closure in the early 20th century, and the track was used for automobile racing and air shows after racing ceased in 1904, as Belmont Park became the primary venue for Thoroughbreds in New York.

The stable area was destroyed by a fire in 1910, and in 1921, the still-intact grandstand, which had accommodated crowds of up to 15,000, was converted to a factory manufacturing ornamental ironworks.

First Belmont winner at Morris Park: Burlington, who came right back two days later and won the Trial Stakes at Morris Park.

Fun fact: 1897 winner Scottish Chieftain is the only Montana-bred to ever have won the Belmont Stakes.

AQUEDUCT RACETRACK (1963-67)

Aqueduct opened in South Ozone Park, Queens, in 1894, eight miles from the future site of Belmont Park and even closer to land that would become John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The track was rebuilt from 1955-59, in plenty of time to accommodate New York racing while Belmont Park underwent a massive reconstruction in the 1960s after the grandstand was deemed unsafe because of structural defects.

First Belmont winner at Aqueduct: Chateaugay, who had won the Kentucky Derby but finished second to Candy Spots in the Preakness to miss a Triple Crown.

Fun fact: As Belmont Park was on the verge of reopening, Damascus won the last Belmont Stakes at Aqueduct, where he had an 11-2-1 career record from 14 starts. His career ended at the new Belmont Park in 1968 when he was second by a nose in the Woodward and suffered a bowed tendon while finishing last in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

In 1967, Damascus had a brush with becoming the only Triple Crown winner to complete it at Aqueduct, after he was third in the Kentucky Derby and won the Preakness. He also won the Travers at Saratoga that year by 22 lengths, still a record for winning margin.