The 156th running of the Belmont Stakes is set to take place at the Saratoga Race Course, with the event being moved from its usual location of Belmont Park in Elmont, New York due to renovations. The $455 million renovation of Belmont Park aims to improve track surfaces and build a newer, smaller grandstand. This year’s Belmont Stakes will be run at a distance of 1 ¼ miles, as opposed to the traditional 1 ½ miles at Belmont Park. With different winners for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, there will not be a Triple Crown champion in 2024, with Justify being the most recent horse to achieve this feat in 2018.
Sierra Leone, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, enters the Belmont Stakes as the favorite at 9/5 odds. The 3-year-old has previously won the Blue Grass Stakes and Risen Star Stakes, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby. Brown, a local from Mechanicville, New York, has yet to win the Belmont Stakes. Mystik Dan, the Kentucky Derby winner, has the second-best odds at 5/1, with trainer Kenny McPeek aiming for his second Belmont victory. D. Wayne Lukas will be looking for his fifth Belmont victory with Seize the Grey, the Preakness Stakes winner, who has 8/1 odds. A win by either horse would make them just the 53rd horse in history to win two legs of the Triple Crown.
Two long shots with strong betting value in the Belmont Stakes include Mindframe and Resilience. Mindframe, with 7/2 odds, is relatively inexperienced but has shown dominance in his previous races at Gulfstream Park and on Kentucky Derby Day. Trainer Todd Pletcher, aiming for his fifth Belmont victory, will be looking to guide Mindframe to success. The Belmont Stakes, set to start at 6:41 p.m. ET, promises plenty of intrigue with a competitive field and potential for new champions to emerge. With the race at Saratoga Race Course offering a different challenge than the traditional Belmont Park course, fans can expect an exciting and unpredictable event.
