The 156th running of the Belmont Stakes will take place Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. This third leg of the Triple Crown, which normally takes place at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, is happening for the first time in Saratoga due to renovations.
Belmont Park is undergoing a $455 million renovation to improve track surfaces and build a newer, smaller grandstand, according to The Associated Press.
Saturday’s location is different in more than just the name. Belmont Park is a 1 ½ mile marathon race around America’s largest racing oval. Saratoga Race Course, by comparison, is a shorter distance at 1 ¼ miles, the same as the Kentucky Derby.
With two different winners for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, there will not be a Triple Crown champion in 2024. Only 13 horses in horse racing history have won all three races, most recently Justify, in 2018.
The Belmont Stakes, which will begin at 6:41 pm ET, still offers plenty of intrigue.
Sierra Leone, trained by Chad Brown and skippered by Flavien Prat, enters the race as 9/5 favourites. The 3-year-old has already won the Blue Grass Stakes and the Risen Star Stakes and finished second in the Kentucky Derby.
Brown, who is from nearby Mechanicville, New York, has never won the Belmont Stakes.
Mystik Dan, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, has the second best odds of 5/1. Trainer Kenny McPeek is aiming for his second career victory in the Belmont Stakes, having won with Sarava in 2002.
Legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas will attempt to earn his fifth career win at Belmont (1994, 1995, 1996, 2000). His hopes rest on Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey, who is at odds of 8/1.
If either of them wins on Saturday, Mystik Dan and Seize the Gray would become just the 53rd horse in history to win both legs of the Triple Crown.
Two long shots with strong betting value include Mindframe and Resilience.
Mindframe (7/2 odds) is one of the most inexperienced horses in the field, but he has dominated both of his previous races: the inaugural race at Gulfstream Park and the third race on Kentucky Derby Day. This could be Todd Pletcher’s fifth victory at Belmont (2007, 2013, 2017, 2022).
Resilience, trained by Bill Mott and skippered by Junior Alvarado, enters the race at odds of 10/1. The 3-year-old finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby and has won two of his four races in 2024. Mott previously won this race with Drosselmeyer in 2010.
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