Saturday at Belmont Park gives you two legitimate graded-caliber turf stakes for 3-year-olds on the same card, and that kind of setup does not come around every weekend. Race 8 is the inaugural $175,000 Bricks and Mortar Stakes, seven furlongs on the Widener turf. Race 10 is the Grade 3, $200,000 Hill Prince Stakes, 1 3/16 miles on the inner turf. Both are sophomore turf events. Both have legitimate favorites. Both have enough depth to make the exotic wagers worth building carefully. Let's get into it.
Nine horses. 1 3/16 miles on the inner turf. This distance rewards horses with good tactical position and a sustained kick, not blinding early speed. The fractions here tend to be honest without being brutal, and closers who need a truly hot pace can get stranded if the tempo is modest. That pace scenario matters a lot in how you weigh the contenders.
| # | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricardo Santana Jr. | Robert Ribaudo | 8/1 | |
| 2 | Protect and Defend | Samuel Marin | Shug McGaughey | 8/1 |
| 3 | Heeere's Johnny | Dylan Davis | Raymond Handal | 10/1 |
| 4 | Lennox the Grey | Antonio Fresu | Arnaud Delacour | 8/1 |
| 5 | Bull Shoals | Kendrick Carmouche | Jena Antonucci | 15/1 |
| 6 | Caroline St. Beat | Manuel Franco | Miguel Clement | 7/5 |
| 7 | Versailles Road | Edgard Zayas | Todd Pletcher | 12/1 |
| 8 | Chambersville | Javier Castellano | Kenny McPeek | 5/1 |
| 9 | Third Coast | Jose Lezcano | Thomas Proctor | 6/1 |
Last Updated on 10/09/2026
The full nine-horse field and updated entries are available at BUSR, which is your go-to source for official scratches and morning line updates before you finalize any ticket.
Caroline St. Beat posted a 106 Equibase Speed Figure in the Nashville Derby. That number leads this field on paper, and it is not particularly close. Trainer Miguel Clement is running hot at NYRA right now, Manny Franco is a confident booking for any distance on this turf course, and post 6 on the inner turf at this distance is not a problem. You are not going to get a price here. This horse is going to be 7-5 to 9-5 in the windows, and the public is going to hammer him. The question is whether the figure holds up as legitimate or whether it was a product of pace and trip circumstances in Nashville.
If you take the figure at face value, Caroline St. Beat wins this race the majority of the time. Clement has a way of pointing horses precisely to spots like this one. This is not a horse being thrown into the deep end; this looks like a calculated placement at a distance and surface where the horse has already shown he can produce elite numbers for his age group. Franco is the right call in the irons. The post is workable. Back him with confidence as your primary key on any ticket.
Print and Protect and Defend are getting the most attention from sharp bettors looking to fill out their exacta and trifecta tickets under Caroline St. Beat. Neither figure to challenge the favorite if he returns to his Nashville Derby form, but turf routes at 1 3/16 miles can create chaos if the favorite gets caught in traffic or has a troubled trip. At a longer price, either one makes sense as the second key in an exacta wheel. You don't need to bet them to win; just make sure they show up somewhere in your trifecta.
The inaugural Bricks and Mortar Stakes is a seven-furlong Widener turf sprint for 3-year-olds, and the name alone suggests it's built for horses with tactical speed and a big finish off a forward position. Seven furlongs on turf is not a pure sprint. It rewards horses that rate well in the first half and accelerate through the turn and into the stretch. That is exactly the profile that Two Out Hero fits.
| Horse | Trainer | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|
| Two Out Hero | K Attard | 8/5 |
| Learntodiscover | B P Walsh | 6/1 |
| Big Destroyer | M Clement | 5/1 |
| Proton | H G Motion | 12/1 |
| Iron Palace | G Weaver | 10/1 |
| Six O Clock | A Delacour | 15/1 |
| Intricate Spirit | M Clement | 6/1 |
| Doubting Thomas | M J Trombetta | 6/1 |
| Feline Curious | K Danner | 12/1 |
Gold Square's Two Out Hero is Grade 1-placed and has finished no worse than second in three turf sprint tries. That kind of consistency in a small sample is the exact stat line you want to see from a horse being pointed to a sprint stakes. The distance feels right. Seven furlongs on a firm Widener turf course is a comfortable ask for a horse with that tactical profile, and the workout heading into this one has the sharp money feeling confident.
The one thing worth monitoring is the Clement factor in this race. The trainer runs three horses in this field. Big Destroyer and Intricate Spirit are both listed as Clement runners, which means the barn has options and could influence how Two Out Hero is ridden depending on where each settles early. That said, if Two Out Hero is clearly the top horse in the barn and the Grade 1-placed runner in the group, Clement is going to put his best foot forward with him. The connections at Gold Square do not mess around. Back Two Out Hero on top, use Big Destroyer as a live second option in the exacta, and do not ignore Doubting Thomas if the price gets to 8-1 or better.
Seven furlongs on turf sets up differently than a six-furlong dirt sprint. The distance is long enough for early speed to sustain, but short enough for a good stalker to roll. If Two Out Hero has the tactical speed to sit second or third early and then punch through in the final furlong, the race sets up perfectly for him. Watch for horses who want to go straight to the lead out of the gate. If Learntodiscover or another runner wants the front, Two Out Hero can sit a length or two off and let the race come to him through the far turn.
Both races fall in the same late sequence, and sharp bettors will concentrate their action on the Pick 3 anchoring Race 8 through Race 10. Here is how to build the tickets intelligently.
Key Two Out Hero on top. Use Big Destroyer, Intricate Spirit, and Doubting Thomas underneath. A four-horse exacta wheel with Two Out Hero on top costs $12 for a $2 base. If you want to go the other direction too, put Big Destroyer on top with Two Out Hero underneath as your safety net. A $2 exacta box with Two Out Hero, Big Destroyer, and Doubting Thomas costs $12. That is manageable and covers the most likely outcomes.
Key Caroline St. Beat on top. Use Print and Protect and Defend as your primary second and third options. A $1 trifecta key with Caroline St. Beat over two horses costs $2. If you want to expand, put four horses underneath for the third spot and your ticket cost moves to $6 at $1 base. The field is only nine horses, so don't overextend. A clean, focused trifecta with three to four legitimate second options is the right construction here.
If the races fall in sequence with a third leg in between or after, your structure should be Two Out Hero single or double in the Bricks and Mortar, a connector race in the middle where you spread to two or three horses, and Caroline St. Beat as the anchor in the Hill Prince. A standard single-single-single Pick 3 on those two keys, with a spread in the connector, comes in around $6 to $12, depending on your middle leg. That is a clean, low-cost way to attack the sequence without getting cute.
Bettors in Texas, Florida, and California can access this entire card and build these exact tickets through US Racing's Belmont Park hub. The platform gives you full card access and the rebate structure at 10% is meaningful when you are playing multi-race sequences at real cost.
If you enjoy turf racing and want to explore other major stakes around the country, the Del Mar Handicap and the Long Island Stakes are two events worth keeping on your radar for turf handicapping depth. The Jim Dandy Stakes page at US Racing also gives you great background on how NYRA builds its summer and fall turf schedule leading into cards like Saturday's.
If you are newer to multi-state wagering, US Racing also covers horse betting in Maryland and horse betting in Rhode Island for bettors outside the traditional NYRA footprint who want access to the same Belmont Park card. And if the 3-year-old turf scene has you thinking ahead, check out the Sunland Derby page for how some of these sophomores got their footing earlier in the year, or the Rachel Alexandra Stakes for comparable female turf action. The Triple Crown bonus and BC free bet offers at US Racing are also worth checking before Breeders' Cup season kicks into full gear.
The conversation on X and Reddit is as focused and unified as you will see for a non-Breeders Cup Saturday. The public has settled on Caroline St. Beat and Two Out Hero as legitimate horses to build tickets around, and chatter about the Late Pick 3 sequence connecting both races is louder than usual for a mid-October Belmont card. Worth scrolling both platforms before you finalize anything.
Caroline St. Beat, trained by Miguel Clement and ridden by Manny Franco, is the morning line favorite at 7-5 to 9-5 in the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes going 1 3/16 miles on the inner turf at Belmont Park. He posted a 106 Equibase Speed Figure in his last start at the Nashville Derby, which leads this nine-horse field on paper.
The Bricks and Mortar Stakes is an inaugural $175,000 turf sprint for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on the Widener turf at Belmont Park on Saturday, October 10, 2026. It is Race 8 on the 11-race card. Two Out Hero is the top contender at 8-5 on the morning line, with Big Destroyer and Intricate Spirit also trained by Miguel Clement filling out the top of the form.
Inthe Bricks and Mortar, key Two Out Hero on top in the exacta over Big Destroyer, Intricate Spirit, and Doubting Thomas. In the Hill Prince G3, use Caroline St. Beat on top with Print and Protect and Defend as your second and third options in the trifecta. The Late Pick 3 connecting both races is the best multi-race play on the card. Key both favorites and spread to two or three horses in the connector leg for a clean, low-cost sequence ticket.
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.
