Celebrating Belmont's Japanese White Pine on Arbor Day

While Belmont Park, the beautiful neighbor of
UBS Arena
, is known for being home to one of the most iconic and historic horse races - the Belmont Stakes - it is also home to one of the most iconic trees.
The Japanese White Pine tree that is the centerpiece of the paddock not only predates the race storied track itself - which opened in 1905 - but has also contributed to and created traditions unique to the track and has fittingly been on the Belmont Park logo since 1968.

"We know that it's very old and believed to be just under 200 years," Jim Reisler, the Employee Communications Manager for the New York Racing Association (NYRA) said. That's older than Belmont Park itself and we're thankful thatpeople had the foresight to preserve it. It's a beautiful tree andhelps make Belmont Park and its paddock really special."
The White Pine, proudly beams in the middle of the paddock, near the Secretariat statue. Its stout trunk and wiry limbs spread in all different directions and span nearly 25-feet long. With bristles of fresh pine needles, the tree generously casts bountiful shade. It's a perfect congregating place for visitors or race watchers, especially in on hot and humid summer days.

Some of the most iconic traditions of Belmont Park are centered around the tree itself. Before each race, a precession of horses and jockeys make their way to the paddock.
"It's where the horses gather before they go out to the track and where they come back after the race," Reisler said. You have the gorgeous paddock combined with the daily ritual of horse racing: the horses coming in, the jockeys coming out, talking to the trainers, getting on the horses before The Call to the Post goes off and everyone heads to the track. ,This happens eight or nine times a dayhowever many races there are on the card. It's a classic site."
As breathtaking of a sight as the pine tree is, the maintenance and upkeep of the enormous and ancient specimen is tedious. Evan Harmon, the Landscaping Supervisor of NYRA, is one of three workers whose duties are almost focused on the tree.
Every single day I'm here, I put my eyes on that tree," Harmon said. It's one of my biggest focal points here, and I have to make sure it's in good shape, watch for cracks, and help examine new growths on it. I spend a lot of man hours taking care of that tree, inspecting it, and making sure it's growing and still healthy."
Evan and his team have gone through immense measures to help preserve the White Pine. They've done everything from air spading the base of the tree to prevent root rot, drenching the tree roots in hydraulic soil while injecting 200 gallons of balanced organic fertilizer with bio stimulants, and even doing a radial trenching to break up the compacted soil around the tree.

Outside of the preservative measures, Evan and his team are actively maintaining the White Pine, and for a tree of that stature, it can be hard work. They have to be diligent about clearing up its fallen pine needles, pruning the tree to stimulate new growth and monitoring the tension cables that were placed on the tree to support some of the larger branches.
"It definitely requires a ton of man hours," Evan said. There's so much work that goes into that tree in particular, but it's one of the most popular parts of visiting Belmont. You constantly see people stopping and taking photos or posing in front of it. Honestly, it's a miracle it's still around and we're doing our best to make sure it keeps doing well for the foreseeable future."
While the tree requires a lot of attention, it continuously provides bountiful gifts of shade, serenity and beauty to the visitors, spectators, racers and employees of Belmont Park, just as it has for nearly two centuries.
"There are times when I want to take a break during the day, so I head to the paddock," Reisler said. It's really peaceful out there.. Even on a Belmont Stakes Day, with 60,000 or 80,000 people there, you go down to the paddock and it's still that way."