The 1-1/2-mile Belmont Stakes, the final race of the Triple Crown series, attracts the nation’s top 3-year-old horses and takes place on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The Belmont runs three weeks after the Preakness Stakes and five weeks after the Kentucky Derby.
The 2025 Belmont Stakes is June 7.
This is your guide on how to bet the Belmont Stakes this year, including types of bets that can be made to handicapping techniques that could net you a big windfall on race day.
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2025 Belmont Stakes odds and betting favorites
Here are the early odds for the 2025 Belmont Stakes on June 7, according to US Racing.
| Horse | Trainer | Early Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Seize the Grey | D. Wayne Lukas | 4-1 |
| Resilience | Bill Mott | 12-1 |
| Mystik Dan | Kenny McPeek | 6-1 |
| The Wine Steward | Michael J. Maker | 15-1 |
| Antiquarian | Todd A. Pletcher | 10-1 |
| Dornoch | Danny Gargan | 14-1 |
| Protective | Todd A. Pletcher | 17-1 |
| Honor Marie | D. Whitworth Beckman | 12-1 |
| Sierra Leone | Chad C. Brown | 2-1 |
| Mindframe | Todd A. Pletcher | 7-1 |
How to bet on the Belmont Stakes in NY
For bettors in New York who want to get in on the Belmont Stakes action, look no further than the FanDuel Racing horse betting app. The platform allows bettors to place wagers via their phones, computers, or tablets. Its “No Sweat” deal is enticing, and the app is easy to navigate, which aids newcomers to horse betting.
Besides online or at the track in Elmont, bets can be made at racetracks throughout the Empire State and at simulcasting facilities.
Here are the New York tracks open to bettors:
| Facility | Address | City |
|---|---|---|
| Aqueduct | 11000 Rockaway Blvd | Ozone Park |
| Belmont Park | 2150 Hempstead Turnpike | Elmont |
| Buffalo Raceway | 5600 McKinley Parkway | Hamburg |
| Finger Lakes | 5857 NY-96 | Farmington |
| Monticello Raceway | 204 NY 17 B | Monticello |
| Saratoga Race Course | 267 Union Ave | Saratoga Springs |
| Tioga Downs | 2834 W. River Rd | Nichols |
| Vernon Downs | 4229 Stuhlman Rd | Vernon |
| Yonkers Raceway | 810 Yonkers Ave | Yonkers |
Common types of bets
There are several different types of bets that fans in New York can make on the Belmont.
- Win: Bet on the winning horse. Odds are reasonable for any winner in this race, given the top competition. Minimum bet is usually $2.
- Place: Pick a horse to finish second or higher.
- Show: Pick a horse to finish third or higher. Place and show bets pay less than the win wager but offer better odds at winning.
- Exactas: Select the top two finishers. It’s always good to box them so that you win no matter their order of finish.
- Trifectas: Pick the top three finishers in order. Wagered via straight bet, a box of three or more horses or a partial wheel.
- Trifecta box: A $1 trifecta box with three horses costs $6. Any combination of these three horses in the top three positions is a winner.
- Trifecta key: For the same $6, bettors can place a horse in the first spot, followed by three others to finish in the second and third slots. Example: A $1 trifecta key with the “1” over the “2-3-4” means the 1 horse must win and any combo of the “2-3-4” in the next two slots is a winning ticket.
- Superfecta: Pick the top four horses in the correct order. Same combinations for trifectas can be used. The superfecta is often lucrative but extremely hard to hit. This is where keying a horse could pay off. This strategy worked out for several bettors at the 2019 Belmont.
Handicapping the Belmont Stakes
The first consideration for bettors should be pedigree. What is the horse’s ancestry? Are there winners in the horse’s family roots?
Whether a horse has won the Kentucky Derby and/or Preakness Stakes should be considered next. That’s especially true if a horse is going for the Triple Crown, the distinction given to a horse who wins all three races.
Really, all horses that competed in the Derby or Preakness should be considered, but there’s good and bad with that. On one hand, if they finished high at either of those races, they could be poised to do the same at Belmont. On the other hand, horses that didn’t run in either of the races could be fresher for the Belmont. That’s been a source of disgruntlement for some trainers who run horses in all three Triple Crown events.
The training angle is important too. For example, Bob Baffert trained two previous Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah and Justify. Also, Todd Pletcher has trained three Belmont winners over the years.
Distance is tricky to consider because the 1-1/2-mile route is unique. There is no horse circuit regularly running that distance, and it’s the longest track of the Triple Crown.
Speed is another consideration. The distance at Belmont is usually too long for a horse to break in front, fight off other horses and win. Many winners use the first mile and a quarter to keep contact with the pace, then roll to the outside and overcome the leaders down the stretch.
Most times, the eventual winner is not leading at the top of the stretch; a well-timed move often determines the outcome.
The Belmont’s prestige
The Belmont, first run in 1867, has an iconic industry presence. It is not only the oldest Triple Crown competition but also the fourth-oldest race in North America behind the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland (1831), the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine (1860), and the Travers at Saratoga Springs (1864).
On 36 occasions, the Belmont has hosted a Triple Crown attempt. Just 13 horses, however, have been able to complete the sweep to win the Triple Crown. Unfortunately, there will no bid for the Triple Crown in 2025, as Sovereignty, winner of the Derby, will not compete at the Preakness.
The race is named after August Belmont, who had been a leading banker and racing figure of the 19th century. He was also the first president of the Jockey Club in 1867. In 1869, his horses took first and second at the Belmont.
There have been a handful of horses with low odds to win the Belmont. Here are the five Belmont winners who had the longest odds of winning:
- Sarava: 70-1 (2002)
- Sherluck: 65-1 (1961)
- Temperence Hill: 53-1 (1980)
- Da’Tara: 38-1 (2008)
- Birdstone: 36-1 (2004)
We’d be remiss not to mention 1973, year of the legendary Secretariat. Completing one of the most amazing six-week runs by any thoroughbred ever, Secretariat prevailed by a Belmont-record 31 lengths. He also established the Belmont Stakes and world record for 1-1/2 miles on dirt, 2:24:00, which stands today.
The Belmont enjoyed a record 120,139 fans in 2004 for Smarty Jones’ unsuccessful Triple Crown bid. Organizers capped the number of spectators to roughly 90,000 in 2015 for parking and logistics purposes. That was the year American Pharoah ended the Triple Crown’s longest drought of 37 years. Without the attendance cap, the event may have drawn 150,000 spectators or more.
Average attendance on years with no Triple Crown attempt is around 50,000.
Belmont’s grueling distance
The race returns to 1-1/2 miles in 2025 after being run at 1-1/4 miles last year, when the race was run at Sarasota Race Course because of renovations at Belmont. The race was also shortened to 1-1/8 miles in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. That stopped a nearly 100-year stretch of the Belmont running its grueling 1-1/2-mile distance.
The main track is the longest dirt thoroughbred racecourse in North America.
Belmont Stakes FAQ
In 2024, the Belmont purse was $2 million, rising from $1.5 million, the amount from 2021 to 2023 and from 2014 to 2019. Because of COVID-19 concerns that shut out spectators, the Belmont chopped its purse to $1 million for the 2020 race.
Belmont winner Dornoch collected $1.2 million of the $2 million purse in 2024. The winning horse of the Belmont generally wins around 53% of the overall purse.
Horses in pole position No. 1, surprisingly, have won the most races at Belmont with 24.
Just three. At the inaugural Belmont Stakes in 1867, Ruthless was the first filly to win the race. The other two fillies to collect wins at Belmont were Tanya in 1905 and Rags to Riches in 2007.
Secretariat, in 1973, prevailed in 2:24:00 and had the largest margin of victory at 31 lengths.