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I'll still have another and so will you!

Best seats in the city to watch and toast the Belmont Stakes

  • Last Updated: 12:16 AM, June 13, 2012
  • Posted: 12:55 AM, June 9, 2012

So I’ll Have Another was scratched from today’s Belmont Stakes. Eleven other horses are still in the running! At Belmont Park on Long Island, equine enthusiasts will watch — and bet on — which horse will stride across the finish line first at the 144th annual race. Grandstand tickets are still available, but you don’t have to trek to the track to get in on the action. Gallop to some parties here in the city instead.

“It’s going to be a beautiful day,” says Martin O’Shea, owner of Chelsea’s Triple Crown Restaurant & Ale House, which is hosting a Belmont bash.

There won’t be a Triple Crown winner at Belmont Park, but horse fans can still enjoy a Belmont Cocktail (left) or an appletini (inset, above left) at the Triple Crown Restaurant in Chelsea.
If you want track atmosphere but not the Belmont crowds, Jersey’s Meadowlands is the place.

So slip into some seersucker and watch the race at these posh parties.

SIPS AND CELEBS

* Siro’s of Manhattan, 12:15 p.m. at 885 Second Ave.; 212-486-6400, sirosny.com; free

This swanky establishment, which opened about a month ago (and includes The Post’s publisher among its owners), is an outpost of the original 75-year-old Siro’s, located trackside at Saratoga Springs upstate. With a floor-to-ceiling horse mural and velvet drapes, the two-story venue is swathed in luxury fit for a winner. Wet your whistle with cherry vodka-based Belmont Swizzles and nibble on a Caesar salad or pasta at the pre-race lunch party ($5.95). After the equine excitement, Yankees closer and Siro’s co-owner Mariano Rivera hosts a bash at 7 p.m. Chow down on lobster mac and cheese or an open-face steak sandwich — the two specially priced dinner entrees ($15.95).

HORSE AROUND IN HELL’S KITCHEN

* Brickyard Gastropub, 4:30 p.m. at 785 Ninth Ave.; 212-767-0077, brickyardnyc.com; free

This beer-centric yet elegant bar, with wood and leather upholstery, is airing the races on nine TVs and a projector. During the pre-show and race it’ll serve $5 White Carnations (vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, cream and soda) and Belmont Jewels, the “original signature drink of the Belmont Stakes,” says manager Addis Manly, (top-shelf bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate juice).

Pair them with themed appetizers “I’ll Have Another” Mussels ($10), Prince Edward Island mussels steamed with bacon, fennel, shallot, garlic and Crispin Cider; Union Crabs ($14), three crab-cake sliders served with avocado-lime aioli and pico de gallo; and Coop Life ($8), buttermilk fried chicken strips with apple-fennel slaw.

You’ll need to jockey for a seat — so make a reservation. “The atmosphere is always festive because people are always excited about the races,” Manly says.

RACE OVER TO THIS TRACK

* Meadowlands Racetrack, 10 a.m. at 50 Route 120, East Rutherford, NJ; 201-460-4061, meadowlandsracetrack.com; free before 4 p.m., $2 after

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