SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association will begin looking for employees to staff the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival next month, according to a NYRA spokesperson.
Gov. Kathy Hochul officially announced Dec. 6 that the Belmont festival will take place at Saratoga Race Course June 6 to June 9 this year, due to a $455 million renovation taking place at Belmont Park.
Many hotel rooms for that weekend have been booked since the news broke three weeks ago, and local businesses, as well as city and county officials, are gearing up for the event.
With thousands expected to head to the track, NYRA will also be looking to staff the grounds in order to meet the needs of the masses that will descend on the Spa for the four-day event, which takes place five weeks before the usual 40-day meet.
“NYRA is deeply experienced when it comes to staffing the summer meet and this is obviously an adjustment when it comes to the timeline, but we certainly look forward to an event that will be successful in every measure and that obviously includes a fully-staffed facility able to hand the large crowds that are likely to be there throughout the four-day festival,” said Pat McKenna, NYRA's vice president of communications.
The organization is still determining exactly how many employees it will need, but anticipates staffing around 1,900 in total between NYRA staff and part-time and seasonal workers.
“To that end, we will have a series of job fairs beginning in January and continuing into May, as well as advertising throughout the Capital Region in order to properly and efficiently staff the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival,” McKenna said.
He said NYRA hosts job fairs annually for a wide variety of jobs, and also said the excitement surrounding the festival coming to Saratoga Springs will aid them in finding workers.
“We’re fortunate that we see summer workers who make the summer meet an annual tradition just like fans do,” he said. “It’s an exciting place to work. The enthusiasm that is surrounding the 2024 Belmont Stakes certainly will be helpful in terms of advertising and recruiting employees.”
When NYRA hosted a series of job fairs for the Belmont festival in May 2022, it sought 700 employees to staff that June's edition of the event.