Betting the Belmont Stakes is one of the most lucrative opportunities of the year, and the race is coming up Saturday, June 8. The third and final jewel of the Triple Crown, the race draws the best of the sophomore class, and both Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness winner Seize the Grey will be in the starting gate for the Test of the Champion.
The Belmont Stakes will be a little different in 2024: with construction happening at Belmont Park, the race will instead be contested at Saratoga in upstate New York. In order to avoid putting the starting gate on a turn, the race will be run at 1 ¼ miles: shorter than the usual 1 ½-mile distance, but still a significant test of stamina.
The purse will also be more in 2024 than in 2023: the Belmont now offers a $2 million purse, making it one of the richest races of the year. The winner gets the lion’s share of that, the iconic blanket of white carnations, and a place in horse racing history.
Keep reading to see where to get real Vegas odds on the Belmont Stakes online!
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These are the official entrants for the 2024 Belmont Stakes, along with their post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning line odds:
Keep in mind that the morning line is only the track handicapper’s estimate of the betting board: it is not a list of guaranteed Belmont Stakes betting odds. A morning line can be a useful reference to track which horses are taking more or less betting action than they are expected to. But, at the track, you are stuck wherever the odds move by post time.
Your best bet is to play the Belmont Stakes online from a trusted online sportsbook. These sites offer real Vegas odds on races all year long. And, like in Vegas casinos, they offer fixed-odds wagering on major events so you can be confident about your price and maximize your profit by locking in Vegas odds the moment you bet.
These are Belmont Stakes Vegas odds at the leading betting sites:
Sierra Leone | +175 | +180 | +180 |
Mindframe | +250 | +350 | +325 |
Seize the Grey | +500 | +800 | +750 |
Mystik Dan | +650 | +500 | +750 |
Resilience | +1000 | +1000 | +1100 |
Handicapping the Belmont Stakes is a little different than usual: unlike the traditional 1 ½-mile distance of the race, the race in 2024 and 2025 covers 1 ¼ miles at Saratoga. The change in distance means that any horse who ran in the Kentucky Derby has at least tried the distance.
However, horses who have not run in the Kentucky Derby have not tried it and even some horses who did try the Kentucky Derby may have had trip chaos. This means the race is still a distance challenge, and it is still important to figure out the running styles and distance pedigrees of each runner.
The best bet in the 2024 Belmont Stakes is Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan. Even though he has tables to turn on Seize the Grey from the Preakness, Seize the Grey had an easy lead in Baltimore. This time, he’ll have to deal with the likes of Dornoch, The Wine Steward, and Mindframe, meaning he’ll have to go fast and stretch out longer than he has ever gone.
This honest pace should set up perfectly for Mystik Dan’s inside middle move. From the near-inside gate Brian Hernandez should be able to get a run much like he had in the Kentucky Derby and even his blowout Southwest (G3) win. And, if the rain in the forecast materializes? All the better, since he has shown he can be at his best over a wet track, too.
Although Sierra Leone is the favorite in a competitive field, he is too consistent to toss. In five starts, he is just two noses short of perfect. This is particularly impressive for a closer, since he has proven he can come running whether the pace is fast or modest. He can launch a big bid on the far turn and keep on running strongly, and the Kentucky Derby proved he has 1 ¼-mile stamina.
Honor Marie is another late runner with upside. Well bred for the 1 ¼-mile distance, he comes off of a Kentucky Derby where early trouble forced him to settle too far off the lead and may have left him with less than he otherwise could have had at the end. A smaller field could help him get a better start, and a switch to more experienced dirt jockey Florent Geroux can help as well.
Especially if speed is holding during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, Resilience has a lot of appeal. He was mired toward the outside in the Kentucky Derby, further off the pace than he likes to be early, moved early, and faded. But, with a near-inside post this time he should be able to get a trip more like he did in his winning Wood Memorial (G2), a stalking trip just behind the runners actually contending on the pace.
Sending a maiden to a Classic race is an unconventional move, but Todd Pletcher may have a point with sending Protective, his third-stringer, here. He has run in stakes races twice and ran third in two different styles: rallying from well off the pace after a troubled start in the Wood, and then in a stalking spot in the Peter Pan (G3).
He has to turn tables on Antiquarian and The Wine Steward from the Peter Pan, but his pedigree gives him upside with distance and experience. As the longest shot on the board, there is enough to suggest he can make the trifecta or superfecta to play him there.
Here are your best bets for the 2024 Belmont Stakes!
For 10 years, Rowan Ward has been handicapping and betting horses in Chicago. For almost as long, they has also been writing about horse racing. They are aware that the best handicapping approaches for a given race rely on a variety of variables, but they frequently discover that the proverb "the pace makes the race" can yield profitable betting opportunities. Local Chicago races, national stakes races, and two-year-old maiden races with intriguing pedigrees are some of their favorite events to handicap.