In 1863, John (Old Smoke) Morrissey, seeing promise in an upstate town with natural springs and access to the rich and reckless from New York to Boston, held the first race at Saratoga Springs. Morrissey’s resume foreshadowed his vision: Old Smoke was a boxing champion, gangster, casino owner, gambler, and future United States congressman.

Since then, equestrians from around the world have made Saratoga a summer sojourn, knowing that their souls, their livers, and their bank accounts would surely take a beating due to events at the track.

Saratoga’s past has always been tied to its future. The Battle of Saratoga was pivotal to the American Revolution. This is where the fried potato was born. And a horse named Upset handed the immortal Man o’ War his only defeat in 22 races, earning the country’s oldest racetrack the nickname for him: the Graveyard of Champions.

On Saturday, when 10 horses line up for the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes, history and hope will be linked once again. America’s most historic track hosts the third leg of the Triple Crown at a time when safety advances and increased capital investment appear to be improving the prospects of a battered old sport.

The move was necessitated by a $455 million redevelopment and modernization of Belmont Park, a large former racetrack on Long Island, scheduled to reopen in 2026. But it also offers the opportunity to end what has been an exciting and victimless Triple Crown. Series with an elegant note.

This time last year, that was hard to imagine. Following a doping scandal that sent more than 30 people to jail and the failed drug test and disqualification of a former Kentucky Derby winner, a dozen horses suffered fatal injuries in the days leading up to the Derby. Two weeks later, on the undercard of the Preakness Stakes, another colt was euthanized on the track, further eroding public confidence in the safety and integrity of horse racing.

“This is a great stage and opportunity to showcase the power of big events in racing,” said David O’Rourke, executive director of the New York Racing Association. “This may be our polished jewel, but it’s also an opportunity to show how the sport of horse racing is evolving.”

To celebrate this year’s 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs unveiled a $200 million paddock that was much more than a saddle ring. Luxury suites, reserved seating and bars, even a speakeasy, are part of its design, making a day at the races a must-visit hospitality event for high rollers. It helped draw the race’s largest television audience since 1989: The average audience for the NBC broadcast was 16.7 million, up 13 percent from last year’s 14.8 million.

Last month, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland signed a bill passed by the state’s General Assembly that set aside $400 million in state bonds to rebuild Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness. At Keeneland, another of America’s top racetracks, in Kentucky, a $93 million renovation of its paddock is underway to expand dining and show options.

“Our sport is taking the steps that major sports take to prove they deserve a place on the world stage,” said Shannon Arvin, CEO of Keeneland, which is based in Lexington and is also an auction company.

Decades ago, Red Smith remembered Saratoga as a horseman’s Brigadoon with a casual answer to a simple question: How do you get there?

“You drive north for about 175 miles, turn left on Union Avenue and go back 100 years,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist wrote.

Victorian homes swathed in pastel hues and surrounded by wraparound porches evoke the timelessness of Saratoga, or the Spa, as it is commonly known. Racehorses cross Union Avenue each morning on their way to the track, where the morning fog rises and envelops them as they spin in circles as if gliding above the clouds.

However, in recent years, Saratoga Race Course has undergone a subtle but thoroughly modern renovation. While picnic tables still anchor the backyard for $2 punters and day-trippers with coolers, the racing association has spent $113 million since 2016 creating several experience options in hopes it will become a destination for a widest variety of sports fans.

The 1863 Club ($32.9 million), for example, offers great food and a club atmosphere for horse owners or those pretending to be one. The Post Bar and Paddock Suite ($3.6 million) host corporate events. The Finish Line Bar and Grill ($1.7 million) draws the drinks and beer crowd.

Along with the renovations, the racing association took advantage of what O’Rourke calls its “intellectual property” and, in 2016, launched its own online betting site, NYRA Bets. At the same time, he collaborated with Fox Sports on “Saratoga Live,” resulting in 80 hours of live coverage. Since then, the network’s coverage of horse racing has increased each year. In 2023, he broadcast 934 hours of racing (225 of them from Saratoga) and the Belmont Stakes for the first time.

Both bets are paying off.

Since improvements began at Saratoga, the annual meeting from July through Labor Day has surpassed one million attendees, excluding 2020, when it was closed to the public during the pandemic. Last year’s average daily attendance of 27,000 during the 40-day fixture made it one of the most attended sporting venues in New York, eclipsing the home dates of the Knicks, Rangers and Bills.

Better yet, increased television coverage and NYRA Bets’ expansion into new markets has increased revenue. In 2016, $306 million was bet on the platform; last year that figure increased 127 percent to $695 million. And despite 32 fewer racing days, the total amount of money wagered at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga last year rose to more than $2.2 billion.

The track has not been immune to the problems facing the industry as a whole. Last summer, 13 horses suffered fatal injuries at Saratoga, two of them at the finish line of nationally televised graded races. For weeks now, state veterinarians have worked alongside their counterparts at the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority, the federal regulatory agency, to examine horses and medical records. The goal is to ensure that only strong competitors make it to the starting gate.

“HISA has a year under its belt,” O’Rourke said, referring to the regulator. “We have more bodies up here. “Everyone is focused.”

For Chad Brown, the trainer of morning 9-5 favorite Sierra Leone, this edition of the Belmont Stakes offers an opportunity for him and for the sport in general. Brown has been named champion trainer four times, but is looking for his first win in the Belmont Stakes.

“It could be really huge for us,” Brown said of a potential Sierra Leone win.

But he also knows that the stakes are high. Brown grew up in nearby Mechanicville, New York, and lives as much as he can in Saratoga. Almost every morning he goes out into the mist and knows the charms of the Spa. He is eager for a new audience to fall under the spell of his city, of his sport.

“I got into horse racing just by going to Saratoga Race Course with my family,” Brown said. “I think everyone is really anticipating that this is going to be a really historic and exciting weekend.”