The 158th running of the Belmont Stakes goes tonight at Saratoga Race Course. Post time is 7:04 p.m. ET. Nine horses. No scratches. A rematch between the Kentucky Derby winner and the horse that finished a neck behind him. This is what spring horse racing is supposed to feel like.
Renegade drew Post 4, is trained by Todd Pletcher, and Irad Ortiz Jr. gets the call. He goes as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. Golden Tempo, who won the Derby, comes back at 9-2 and is facing real questions about whether that deep Churchill Downs closing kick translates to Saratoga without the same pace collapse that set him up perfectly three weeks ago. We will get into all of it below, including how to watch, where to bet, what the field looks like, and how to build the right exotic ticket for tonight.
The simplest answer: turn on FOX. The network carries the full broadcast. If you are streaming, FOX One has you covered. Post time is 7:04 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 6. The race goes from Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York, which is hosting the Belmont Stakes while construction work continues at the old Elmont, New York, home of the race.
FOX Sports is all over Belmont Week. According to Blood Horse, the network is running a full five-day TV and radio schedule live from Saratoga. If you want to watch the Belmont Stakes live and do not have cable, FOX One is your cleanest option. Get it sorted before post time, as the window between 4 and 8 p.m. ET carries a risk of precipitation. Know your setup before the field hits the track.
For bettors who want to track the Belmont Stakes odds in real time and get their tickets in, US Racing has you covered. Check the BUSR racebook for official entries, post positions, and any late changes to the card.
Here is where everyone breaks from the gate tonight at Saratoga:
| 2026 Belmont Stakes Odds | ||
| Official post positions set following the post-position draw on Monday, June 1, 2026. | ||
| PP | Horse / Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitruvian ManAntonio Fresu · D. O'Neill | 30/1 |
| 2 | PowershiftLuis Saez · T. Pletcher | 12/1 |
| 3 | Chief WallabeeJunior Alvarado · W. Mott | 3/1 |
| 4 | RenegadeIrad Ortiz Jr. · T. Pletcher | 2/1 |
| 5 | OttinhoDylan Davis · C. Brown | 20/1 |
| 6 | Growth EquityManny Franco · C. Brown | 12/1 |
| 7 | CommandmentJohn Velazquez · B. Cox | 6/1 |
| 8 | Emerging MarketFlavien Prat · C. Brown | 6/1 |
| 9 | Golden TempoJose Ortiz · C. DeVaux | 9/2 |
Last Updated on 06/01/2026
The main track is fast, and the turf is firm as of this morning. Watch that precipitation window closely. If the track gets any moisture between 4 and 8 p.m., the pace shape and trip dynamics could shift. Keep an eye on the Belmont Stakes weather report as post time approaches.
Good news for the main event: the nine-horse Belmont Stakes field is fully intact. Zero scratches. Every horse confirmed in the entries is going. That is not always the case, the morning of a Triple Crown race, so no scrambled tickets in the feature tonight.
The undercard is a different story. Race 3 on the Saratoga card took a significant hit with 11 horses scratched. If you are playing multi-race exotics that include the undercard, go back and review what is left in those fields before you build your tickets. A Pick 4 or Pick 5 that runs through a depleted field can look very different from what you mapped out last night. The structure of your race of the week needs to reflect the actual field, not the original entries.
This is the core handicapping question for tonight. US Racing analyst Richard Rosenblatt went on record saying he is not sure Golden Tempo is the right horse for this race, and that skepticism is grounded in pace analysis. At Churchill Downs, Golden Tempo got an absolute gift. The pace collapsed. The front-runners tied each other up, the splits came back to the closers, and Golden Tempo swooped in from deep in the field to get up in the final yards. That is a legitimate race, but it is also a pace-dependent performance.
At Saratoga, with a nine-horse field and Renegade likely to be ridden aggressively by Irad Ortiz Jr. from Post 4, you are not necessarily getting that same rapid pace collapse. Renegade is a stalker. He can sit just off the pace, rate comfortably through the mile and a half distance, and still have a horse turning for home. Post 4 is a clean draw. Not on the rail, fighting for position, not wide enough to burn extra ground. It is a workable post for a horse that needs to settle early and run late.
For Golden Tempo at Post 5, the outside draw relative to the favorite is manageable, but he needs the fractions to come up fast. If Commandment, out of the one hole, wants to be a factor on the front end and the early pace is genuinely contested, Golden Tempo has a shot. If this race is run at a measured clip with no true speed to burn the leaders, he is sitting on a closing kick that may never fully engage. That is the scenario to handicap, and right now the field shape leans toward a pace scenario that suits Renegade more than it suits the Derby winner.
For bettors interested in how handicapping stakes races like this one differs from standard allowance and claiming work, the pace question is always the starting point in a Triple Crown finale. Distance, pace, and class layer on top of each other in ways that a simple speed figure comparison cannot fully capture.
Renegade is the play. Pletcher is one of the best trainers in the country at pointing horses to specific moments, and he had this date circled the morning after the Derby. Irad Ortiz Jr. is as good as anyone in the country at rating a horse through a long route. The Belmont Stakes odds at 2-1 will tighten. He will likely go off somewhere between 7-5 and 2-1 by post time. That is not a juicy price, but it is the right horse in the right spot, and you need him in your tickets regardless.
Chief Wallabee at 3-1 is the second choice that makes sense to use in exotics. He is attracting plenty of action in the exacta and trifecta slots and represents a logical alternative scenario if Renegade gets into any trouble or the pace sets up differently than projected.
Commandment at 6-1 out of the one hole is interesting from a trip perspective. A horse that breaks cleanly from the rail in a big mile-and-a-half route and gets a comfortable lead through the first turn without burning too much energy can be very dangerous in the Belmont. If Commandment gets a stolen lead and the pace stays honest without anyone challenging early, he could hang on for a piece. He belongs underneath in trifectas and superfectas.
The longshot angle is the Vitruvian Man with Belmont Stakes odds at 30-1. The exotic community has picked up on him, and he is drawing some celebrity attention with rapper Lil Yachty and Rauw Alejandro reportedly making the trip to Saratoga specifically to support this colt. Set aside the celebrity noise and look at the actual form. At 30-1, you are paying almost nothing to sprinkle him into superfecta wheels. If this race unfolds in an unexpected way, a price horse in the superfecta slot turns a moderate ticket into something substantial.
If you want to play this race across the board on Renegade, that is a defensible play given the class and connections. The win price will be modest, but the place and show returns give you coverage if something goes sideways in the stretch.
Here is how to think about building the right ticket structure tonight:
Exacta: Key Renegade on top over Chief Wallabee and Commandment. A two-horse exacta box with Renegade and Chief Wallabee costs $4 for a $2 base. Adding Commandment to a three-horse box with Renegade and Chief Wallabee runs $12 at the $2 base. Given Chief Wallabee is 3-1 and Commandment is 6-1, the exacta returns here are worth the exposure.
Trifecta: Key Renegade in the win slot, use Chief Wallabee and Commandment in second, and spread Golden Tempo, Vitruvian Man, and Ottinho in third. That ticket covering the main scenarios runs you around $24 at a $1 base and gives you multiple live combinations in the final turn.
Superfecta: Use Renegade on top, Chief Wallabee and Commandment in the second and third spots, and open the fourth slot to Vitruvian Man, Golden Tempo, and Ottinho. A $0.10 superfecta gives you serious coverage at a fraction of the cost. If Vitruvian Man shows up in fourth and the top three run as expected, that $0.10 ticket can pay very well.
In the meantime, you can build your winning ticket below
Bettors in Maryland and Rhode Island can get all of these wagers in through US Racing. The Triple Crown bonus is also worth checking before you place your tickets tonight. And if you are still tracking the Kentucky Derby odds or reviewing the Kentucky Derby replay to re-examine Golden Tempo's closing move, those are useful resources as you finalize your read on the pace question in tonight's race.
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"Expert picks: See how HRN writers are playing the 2026 Belmont Stakes — get their win, exacta, and trifecta selections for the $2M Grade 1 finale at Saratoga. #BelmontStakes"
2026 Belmont Stakes picks thread: Renegade vs. Golden Tempo debate
Most posters siding with Renegade as the logical favorite after his Derby near-miss, with several noting Golden Tempo may not get the fast pace collapse he needed at Churchill Downs. Longshot players looking at Commandment and Chief Wallabee underneath.
Belmont Stakes 2026: best bets, longshots, and exotic plays for tonight
Discussion centered on trifecta construction using Chief Wallabee and Commandment underneath Renegade. Several bettors fading Golden Tempo entirely over the outside post and slower projected pace at Saratoga.
Want to see what the broader betting community is saying in real time? Check the conversation on X and Reddit for live discussion as the post time approaches.
The 158th Belmont Stakes airs live on FOX with post time at 7:04 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 6, 2026. If you do not have cable, you can stream it on FOX One. Coverage is running all five days of Belmont Week live from Saratoga Race Course.
Renegade is the 2-1 morning-line favorite trained by Todd Pletcher with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons from Post 4. Golden Tempo, the Kentucky Derby winner, is second choice at 9-2. Renegade finished a neck behind Golden Tempo at Churchill Downs and is widely considered the logical reversal candidate given the pace scenario expected at Saratoga tonight.
The nine-horse Belmont Stakes field is fully intact with zero scratches confirmed as of this morning. The undercard is a different situation, with significant scratch volume including 11 horses pulled from Race 3. If you are playing multi-race exotics that run through the undercard, check current field conditions on Equibase before submitting any tickets. A precipitation window between 4 and 8 p.m. ET is also worth monitoring for potential track condition changes heading into post time.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
