The Racaroon

About The Racaroon

The Tapeta surface will be used exclusively for winter racing, allowing Belmont to take over Aqueduct’s former winter schedule as NYRA consolidates its operations at Belmont and Saratoga.

The Belmont Stakes, which was staged at Saratoga during construction, will return to its traditional Long Island home in 2027. Belmont will also host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in October 2027, bringing the event back to New York for the first time since 2005.

Belmont represents NYRA’s vision of a new operating model for racing in the state—a smaller, modernized venue capable of absorbing the entire downstate racing calendar. And with almost $14 million wagered on its opening card, it’s off to a flying start.

What is The Racaroon?

According to LSR, NFL teams combined for 791 points—tying 2012 for the highest opening-week total ever—while setting Week 1 records for total touchdowns (93), offensive touchdowns (90), and rushing touchdowns (37). Favorites went 12-4 straight up, while the Over hit in nine of 16 games (9-6-1).

At Caesars Sportsbook, seven of eight early afternoon favorites won outright, and six games went Over the total—many hitting the mark by halftime.

Joey Feazel, head of football at Caesars Sportsbook, told Casino.org that favorites, Overs, and anytime touchdown scorers combined to create a bettor-friendly trifecta. Bettors only faced major resistance when the Los Angeles Chargers were upset by the Arizona Cardinals.

How to play The Racaroon

Harrison Barrett, VP of business development, spoke to the iGB team at iGB L!VE 2026 to discuss the evolution of Soft2Bet’s MEGA platform, which started out as a purely gamification layer but has become “much more compelling than simply leaderboards, missions and point-based rewards”.

As Barrett puts it, MEGA is “ultimately a retention tool that helps our partners move away from heavy bonus and costs”.

With ice hockey and UFC-themed initiatives driving engagement in North America and a 45% lifetime value increase seen with the launch of MEGA Shoot, a player-versus-player simulation penalty shootout game initiative which launched during the World Cup, it is an exciting time for the Malta-based platform provider.