NEW YORK (AP) – Guess Jay-Z wasn’t just talking smack when he boasts in the rap portion of “Empire State of Mind” that he’s “the new Frank Sinatra.”

The song he recorded with Alicia Keys has bumped Sinatra’s “New York, New York” out of a key spot at a landmark New York sporting event. The New York Racing Association said it will play “Empire State of Mind” as the horses are brought out on the track for tomorrow’s Belmont Stakes.

A racing official said the new anthem for the Big Apple is the “quintessential 21st century theme song for New York City.”

Sinatra’s song itself bumped “Sidewalks of New York” back in 1997.

It isn’t the first time Empire State of Mind has had a high-profile appearance at a New York sports event. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed it live before one of the World Series games at Yankee Stadium last fall.

Teenage singer Jasmine Villegas will perform the song Saturday at the Belmont.