The Ultimate Guide to the 2026 Belmont Stakes

The 2026 Belmont Stakes will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at Saratoga Race Course. This year’s race marks the 158th running of the Belmont Stakes.

Note: The race is being held at Saratoga Race Course for the third and final consecutive year while renovations continue at Belmont Park. Beginning in 2027, the Belmont Stakes is expected to return to the newly renovated Belmont Park.

The Belmont Stakes is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, traditionally run several weeks after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in 2026.

It’s important because it represents the ultimate test for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds, deciding whether a horse can complete the coveted Triple Crown. With Derby and Preakness contenders returning alongside fresh challengers entering the field, the Belmont Stakes consistently delivers one of the most strategic, demanding, and exciting races of the year.

With the race being contested at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga instead of the traditional 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park, many handicappers now view the Belmont Stakes as arguably the most “formful” race of the Triple Crown series. The smaller field size compared to the Kentucky Derby often leads to cleaner trips and fewer traffic issues, while the overall quality of the field is typically deeper than the Preakness — creating a race where the best horse frequently wins.

The top contenders are expected to include Golden Tempo, Renegade, Commandment, Ocelli, and several other key Triple Crown runners — along with fresh shooters targeting the final leg of the Triple Crown at Saratoga Race Course.

With the Belmont Stakes now contested at 1 1/4 miles, many horses exiting the Kentucky Derby and Preakness are expected to fit the race especially well, while lightly raced newcomers can also make a major impact. The combination of elite proven runners and fresh challengers regularly creates one of the deepest and most competitive fields of the Triple Crown season.

See the full early contenders breakdown here.

You can place bets on the Belmont Stakes through licensed racetracks, betting windows at Saratoga Race Course, online wagering platforms such as TwinSpires, and approved mobile apps. Options range from simple win, place, and show bets to exotic wagers like exactas, trifectas, superfectas, and multi-race sequences. Be sure to use trusted, legal betting providers and always wager responsibly.

Early Belmont Stakes odds typically begin to appear shortly after the Preakness Stakes, with the official morning line released a few days before the race once the final field is set at Saratoga Race Course.

Official post time for the 2026 Belmont Stakes has not yet been announced. However, the race is expected to take place in the early evening on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at Saratoga Race Course. Final post times and the complete race-day schedule will be released closer to Belmont Stakes weekend.

The 2026 Belmont Stakes will be broadcast live on FOX, with additional coverage throughout Belmont Stakes weekend airing on FS1 and FS2. Fans can also stream the race live through FOX Sports and the FOX Sports app.

Coverage is expected to begin several hours before post time from Saratoga Race Course, featuring live analysis, handicapping coverage, undercard races, and Triple Crown storylines leading into the main event.

The purse for the 2026 Belmont Stakes is expected to be $2 million, matching recent editions of the race held at Saratoga Race Course. The winner will receive the largest share of the purse, along with a place in Triple Crown history.

The winner of the Belmont Stakes is expected to receive $1.2 million from the race’s $2 million purse, with the jockey also earning a percentage of the winnings. Second place receives $400,000, third place $200,000, fourth place $120,000, and fifth place $80,000.

Recent editions of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course have drawn crowds of more than 46,000 fans on Belmont Stakes Day, with the full multi-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival attracting over 110,000 attendees in 2025.

Attendance at Saratoga is naturally smaller than the race’s traditional home because Saratoga Race Course has a more limited capacity. The newly renovated Belmont Park is expected to accommodate crowds approaching 90,000 fans for future Belmont Stakes events once the race returns to Long Island in 2027.

Unlike the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes does not use a formal points system to determine the field. Instead, horses are selected through the standard graded stakes nomination and entry process used for most major races.

The race is open to the top 3-year-old Thoroughbreds in the country, with the field typically made up of runners exiting the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, along with fresh horses specifically targeting the Belmont Stakes. Trainers and owners must nominate and enter their horses before entry deadlines set by the New York Racing Association (NYRA).

The maximum field size for the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course is 14 horses.

In recent years, Belmont Stakes fields have generally featured between 8 and 12 starters, creating a more tactical and manageable betting race compared to the larger 20-horse field in the Kentucky Derby.

Sovereignty, a bay colt trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, won the 2025 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. He finished ahead of Journalism, with Baeza, Rodriguez, and Hill Road rounding out the top five.

Sovereignty entered the race after skipping the Preakness Stakes following his Kentucky Derby victory, reigniting debate throughout the horse racing industry about the modern Triple Crown schedule and whether elite horses should bypass a chance at racing for the Triple Crown in favor of spacing and long-term campaign goals.