Jockeys ride their horses after a race at Aqueduct Racetrack on closing day in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
NEW YORK (AP) — Aqueduct Race Track ran its final races Sunday as the venerable New York City horse racing facility prepares to close its doors after more than 130 years in business.
The goodbye to “the Big A” included a long line of patrons, a cake commemorating the occasion and a final race aptly named, “It Was a Good Run.”
Aqueduct is closing as part of a consolidation of New York racing at Belmont Park, just outside the city limits on Long Island, and Saratoga Race Course upstate. It will remain open for simulcasting until September, when Belmont reopens following a half-billion-dollar reconstruction project.
The final day of racing at the Queens track was a bittersweet mix of sadness over the track’s closure and a celebration of the sport’s history and roots, including jockeys greeting the festive crowd after riding there for the last time.
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
A handler walks a horse at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A handler, unseen, walks his horse before a race during the closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A fan watches a race through a rolled-up racing program at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)Horses are washed after a race on closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A jockey’s silks are on exhibit inside Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A cake marking the closing of Aqueduct Racetrack is displayed on closing day in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A man picks up his glasses and track program next to discarded betting slips on closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)People gather outside the grandstand at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A man lights a cigar outside the grandstand at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)People watch races inside Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A man watches the races inside Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)Horses race on closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)People watch the races inside Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)Jockey Omar Hernandez Moreno races on horse Neuschwanstein at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday, June 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)People watch a race at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)Jockey Christopher Elliott guides his horse Run Quiet Run Fast during a race on closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)Jockey Kendrick Carmouche greets the crowd following the final race on the closing day at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)A journalist interviews a Jockey inside the paddock at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Queens borough of New York, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
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