By TERRY LYONS, Editor in Chief of Digital Sports Desk
BOSTON – Back in the 1970s, the weekly comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” would always incorporate a very simple segment within the show to change directions, usually to a rather bizarre topic. “And now, for something completely different” was the phrase and that theory incapsulates an attempt for this week’s column to bring a completely different series of notes, rather than the usual NFL, College Football, and Major League Baseball beat.
First up? It’s Horse Racing and the Grand Opening of the New Belmont Park in Elmont, New York – a stone’s throw away from the UBS Center, home ice for the New York Islanders. The new Belmont has a lengthy Fall meet, running from September 19 to December 6.
At this point, we’ve only seen the joint via artist renditions and a few new pictures provided by the New York Racing Association this week, but the “real thing” was unveiled this weekend and it looks gorgeous. New York State invested a ton of money to build the brand new horse racing track and it’s no minor renovation. It’s a complete do over.
A quick look for the facts had three different dollar figures listed under the first three stories referenced.
- MSN.com – Listed the investment at $450 million
- The Associated Press listed the price tag at $500 mil
- The Albany Times-Union – a paper of the record for NYRA – wrote it’s $550m
As we did with many a Peter Vecsey “Inside the NBA” column back in the day, let’s trust the New York Post which listed the grandstand re-do at $455m. (The Daily News wrote $550m).
NYRA wrote of its own Grand Opening news on Friday, stating: “Following a three-year project to transform the home of the Belmont Stakes into a world-class sports and entertainment destination, a new Belmont Park opened its doors to welcome the return of racing to Long Island.
“Friday’s unveiling of the new Belmont Park commenced with a ribbon-cutting ceremony where New York State Governor Kathy Hochul joined NYRA officials and guests prior to the first race to unveil the modernized venue.”
“It’s an extraordinary time for racing fans from around the globe as we welcome them back to Belmont Park for the first time in three years,” Governor Hochul said. “Here on Long Island, the new Belmont Park is a state-of-the-art, world-class facility with brand new fan amenities and huge expansions in accessible green space. And the improvements go far beyond the grandstand, with four brand new racing surfaces that will host not just the return of the Belmont Stakes and the 2027 Breeders’ Cup, but year-round racing for the first time in the history of this iconic track.”
Aqueduct Raceway is now a thing of the past and Saratoga will return to its wonderful mid-summer meet, including the running of the great Travers Stakes. That leaves Belmont.
NYRA history was made on Friday with Race 1 going off at 1:30pm a 1 1/4-mile maiden special weight event for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up, on the inner turf. The race was won by Andrew Rosen’s British homebred Lisa Joy for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Jockey Antonio Fresu was aboard for the historical win.
McGaughey, a stalwart member of the New York racing community and winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in 1989 with Easy Goer, expressed his happiness to be back racing on Long Island.
“I think it’s a beautiful place,” he said. “It’s different than what I expected. We just need to get the kinks out and get the people in it and it’ll be really special. I think it’s going to be great when everything gets settled in. I’m really excited about it and I think the track is great. I like the turf, and I’ve been training on the main track, too, and it’s been great.”
Friday’s nine-race card race generated total wagering of $13,997,422.99.
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The 2026 PLL season will come to a close (Sunday) September 20 with the championship game between the Denver Outlaws vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs. The game will be televised at 12:30pm (ET) on ABC and the ESPN app as it’s played at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
ESPN’s Drew Carter will handle play-by-play duties with Paul Carcaterra and Ryan Boyle as analysts and Quint Kessenich reporting. Dana Boyle will be on site to host halftime coverage and the trophy presentation.
Denver delivered an 11-5 semifinal win over Utah, sprinting to a 9-1 halftime lead behind Brennan O’Neill, Pat Kavanagh and a defense anchored by Logan McNaney. Philadelphia’s CJ Kirst, Michael Sowers and Kyle Lewis, who scored his first career hat trick, helped send the Waterdogs to their first title game of the Bill Tierney era.
Previously, Tierney led the men’s lacrosse team at the University of Denver. He became the first college lacrosse coach to win an NCAA DI Championship for a school located west of the Eastern Time Zone. All totaled, he coached seven NCAA DI championship teams, including six at Princeton University and one at the University of Denver.
MOTOSPORTS: Keeping with the “completely different theme,” the Monster Energy SMX World Championship is in its second of a three week, season ending playoff. The 22 best riders on the circuit are competing on the world’s most challenging track that feature big air jumps, fast straightaways, technical rhythm sections, and elevation changes. An escalating points system allows the racers the opportunity to remain in the hunt for the championship trophy until the winner is crowned. World Champions Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda are trying to defend their titles against Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Haiden Deegan, Cole Davies and the rest of the field. The entire season comes down to this and next weekend.
TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Election Day can not come fast enough. The election results are not the impetus for the wisg for the day to pass, but rather the need to rid ourselves of the New Hampshire Senatorial race advertisements plastered all over Boston TV channels. … Switchi ng gears, when a batter challenges a pitch and claims it’s a ball and the ABS system shows the entire baseball is within the strike zone, said batter should be ejected from the game.
A REMINDER FOR THOSE WHO VOTE: The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United Sates of America reads as follows:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Taken that a step deeper, it means: “News organizations and individuals can publish information and opinions freely without government interference.” … “It primarily stops the government from restricting these rights and protects journalists and media outlets as they have the right to investigate, criticize, and report on the government’s actions without fear of censorship or retaliation.”
This week, an authoritarian government official retaliated against CNN, Politico and MS Now TV and restricted access to the government of the USA as a whole.
All news media from all walks of coverage and life need to stand up and fight hard against a totalitarian government and unconstitutional acts. Individuals can exercise their rights and peacefully protest against these illegal actions and ultimately use their vote to vote out and reject those in power who act illegally.
In most cases, moves like those taken this week (Ban on media, or the Pentagon releasing its sixth batch of UFO files, and details on “secret military programs” of the past are blatant distractions to deflect coverage of the real news of the day.
THIS JEST IN: The Southeastern Conference stepped up to enforce its rules, regardless of the NCAA or other court rulings. Wrote the D-1 Ticker: The SEC announced it will enforce the following policy: “An SEC institution is not permitted to have an athlete on its roster who has: 1. previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA Draft, and did not appropriately withdraw, 2. signed a contract with an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) team, or 3. been listed on an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) roster. The commissioner is authorized to enforce this expectation with penalties against member institutions.”
Let the lawsuits begin.
CAN’T MAKE IT UP: The NHL’s Boston Bruins open their 2026-27 season with a preseason game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday at 5:00pm at TD Garden. The New England Patriots kick-off at 1:00pm the same day and five NFL games start between 4:05 and 4:25pm.
TABLE FOR EIGHT: It’s so difficult to get a reservation for a table at Rao’s in NYC that a New York Yankees Foundation auction has a current bid of $17,000 and that’s just for a table of eight. It does not include the money for dinner-drinks-gratuities. Back in the UES neighborhood, we called it a “Table for None.”
