No Triple Crown winner but plenty of intrigue remains at Belmont Stakes
The 156th running of the Belmont Stakes is taking place Saturday at the Saratoga Race Course. This third leg of the Triple Crown, which is normally held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, is now for the first time happening in Saratoga due to renovations. Belmont Park is undergoing a $455 million renovation to improve track surfaces and build a newer, smaller grandstand, according to The Associated Press.
Saturday’s venue is different in more than just name. Belmont Park is run at the marathon 1 ½-mile distance around the largest racing oval in America. Saratoga Race Course, by comparison, is a shorter distance at 1 ¼ miles, the same as the Kentucky Derby.
With two different winners for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, there will not be a Triple Crown champion in 2024. Only 13 horses in horse racing history have claimed all three races, most recently Justify, in 2018. The Belmont Stakes, which will begin at 6:41 p.m. ET, still offers plenty of intrigue.
Sierra Leone, trained by Chad Brown and jockeyed by Flavien Prat, enters the race as the **9/5 favorite**. The 3-year-old previously won the Blue Grass Stakes and Risen Star Stakes, and finished second in the Kentucky Derby. Brown, who is from nearby Mechanicville, New York, has never won the Belmont Stakes.
Mystik Dan, the Kentucky Derby winner, boasts the second-best odds at **5/1**. Trainer Kenny McPeek is aiming for his second career Belmont Stakes victory, having won with Sarava in 2002. Legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas will look to claim his fifth career Belmont victory (1994, 1995, 1996, 2000). His hopes ride on Seize the Grey, the Preakness Stakes winner, who has **8/1 odds**.
If either wins on Saturday, Mystik Dan and Seize the Gray would become just the 53rd horse in history to take two legs of the Triple Crown. Two long shots with strong betting value include Mindframe and Resilience.
Mindframe (**7/2 odds**) is one of the most inexperienced horses in the field but had dominated both of his previous races: the maiden race at Gulfstream Park and the third race on Kentucky Derby Day. This could be Todd Pletcher’s fifth Belmont victory.
Resilience, trained by Bill Mott and jockeyed by Junior Alvarado, enters the race with **10/1 odds**. The 3-year-old finished sixth at the Kentucky Derby and has won two of his four races in 2024. Mott previously won this race with Drosselmeyer in 2010.
Greg Rosenstein is the sports editor for NBC News Digital.
