Jockey Jaime Rodriguez rode Assume Nothing across the finish line at Aqueduct Racetrack on June 28, winning the final race at the 132-year-old Ozone Park track and ending a stretch of Queens horse racing that dates to 1894, according to QNS.
The track will stay open for simulcast wagering (live race broadcasts from other venues, piped in for betting) through September 7, then close for good. Fall, winter, and spring racing in the New York metro area will move exclusively to the renovated Belmont Park in Elmont, on the Queens-Nassau County border, which is scheduled to open September 18.
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo called the closure “bittersweet” and said the venue “represents much more than a racetrack.” He pointed to Aqueduct’s role during Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic, and noted that the site had hosted job fairs and drive-in movies over the years. “It was part of our community and really helped define Ozone Park,” Addabbo told QNS. “That partnership, I’m going to miss that.”
Queens Chamber of Commerce President Tom Grech said Aqueduct had formed an “enduring part” of the borough’s identity. “Countless memories were made here, and its impact on the economic and cultural life of southeast Queens will not be forgotten,” Grech said in a statement. He framed the upcoming Belmont opening as “a new and exciting chapter” for Queens sports, alongside ongoing renovations at the National Tennis Center and the construction of New York City FC’s Etihad Park near Citi Field.
The MTA and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) marked the end with a “nostalgia train” on June 26, running a vintage R9 subway car non-stop from Hoyt-Schermerhorn in Brooklyn to the racetrack. The Aqueduct Racetrack station on the IND Rockaway Line opened in 1959 to serve the track after extensive renovations. It remains the only subway station in New York City where trains stop exclusively in one direction. Only Manhattan-bound A trains serve the platform. On regular race days, NYC Transit had operated three special express trains to the track, two departing from 42 St-Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan and one from Hoyt-Schermerhorn.
New York City Transit Executive Vice President of Subways Bill Amarosa Jr. said the agency had “proudly served Aqueduct patrons over the years, helping connect generations of New Yorkers with the racetrack through one of the most unique and special subway services in transit history.” NYRA President David O’Rourke described the nostalgia train as a “fitting tribute” and said the association “looks forward to an exciting new era at a re-imagined Belmont Park.”
