Will Walden and Miguel Clement have a lot in common. Each has a father who trained a Belmont Stakes winner that derailed a Triple Crown bid. Elliott Walden denied Real Quiet with Victory Gallop in 1998, and the late Christophe Clement upset California Chrome with Tonalist in 2014.
Their sons have made splashes early in their training careers. Will Walden has earned two Grade I turf trophies with Rhetorical. Miguel Clement picked up his first in last year's Manhattan Stakes with Deterministic, whom he inherited from his father's stable. That was a particularly poignant triumph, coming only two weeks after Christophe's death.
Deterministic will defend his Manhattan title on Saturday at Saratoga, where Rhetorical (post 7) is the 2-1 favorite in the $1 million, 1 3/16-mile stakes that immediately precedes the Belmont Stakes.
| 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
Rhetorical comes off a front-running romp by 3 1/4 lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Turf Classic (G1) on the Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard. Deterministic led throughout last year's Manhattan and usually races up front.
âI don't know if the lead will come as easily in this race with Miguel's horse in there,â Walden said. âWe'll let it all work out. Rhetorical's last race was extremely impressive. If it had been a sixteenth or an extra quarter-mile longer, he still would have won.â
Rhetorical rallied from fourth to take the Turf Mile (G1) last October at Keeneland, so he's more versatile than Deterministic (post 7, 7-2). He held on by three-quarters of a length over Battle of Normandy to take his 5-year-old debut last month in the Fort Marcy Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct. It wasn't a strong field. Battle of Normandy (post 9), a loser of six consecutive stakes, is a 20-1 shot in the Manhattan.
Deterministic's recent workouts have boosted Clement's confidence. âHe's doing spectacularly well,â he said. âIt's a great race, but he's doing as well as he can be.â
H. Graham Motion's pair of Test Score (post 2, 12-1) and One Stripe (post 8, 6-1) are also Grade 1 winners. Turf Classic runner-up Make Me King (post 3, 8-1) and Integration (post 4, 12-1), second in last year's Manhattan, have Grade 2 victories. âThere are a lot of horses to respect in here,â Walden said. âThis is a tough race.â
The wild card is French shipper Bright Picture (post 6, 3-1), a 5-year-old gelding trained by all-time great Andre Fabre.
Bright Picture is 7-for-12 lifetime against the top company. He just finished second, 3 1/2 lengths behind 2025 Arc de Triomphe hero Daryz in the 1 5/16-mile Prix Ganay (G1) at Longchamp. Coming in third was the mare Aventure, a multiple-stakes winner who ran second in the 2024 Arc. Daryz is ranked among the world's best grass horses, and no one in the Manhattan can match Bright Picture's company lines.
Fabre rarely runs at Saratoga, where he won the 2015 Sword Dancer (G1) with Flintshire. The chance for Bright Picture's first Grade 1 win and the million-dollar purse brought him back, and the brilliant Flavien Prat picks up the mount on the strong closer.
âI'm very pleased with Bright Picture,â Fabre said. âHe was only just beaten by Daryz, and I'm happy with his preparation since.â
Post time for the Manhattan is 6:11 p.m. ET (race 12)
Ed McNamara is an award-winning racing writer who has covered the sport since 1981 for The Bergen (N.J.) Record, Newsday, ESPN, Thorocap, and USRacing. He is the author of Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown and Racing Around the World, and a contributor to The Most Glorious Crown and The Racetracks of America. He has also written for racing publications in France and Italy.
