The culmination of the Triple Crown in Horse Racing will once again have a unique feel in 2025.th Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA BETS It is scheduled to be held on June 7th at the Saratoga Race Course. The $2 million grade 1 race moved to the iconic Upstate New York Track last year, with Belmont Park launching a reconstruction and modernization project, which continues this year and in 2026. Saratoga’s main dirt track.
Regardless of the distance, the Belmont Stakes remains one of the sport’s crown jewel events, and although there are no triple crown bids this year, the race has some serious star appeals. The top three finishers of this year’s Kentucky Derby announced by Woodford Reserve – Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza are set to begin with the Belmont Stakes, with journalism coming from a brave victory in the Preakness Stakes. He faces Vaeza with sovereignty who has the advantage of two weeks of extra rest. The future field also includes the highly rated Rodriguez, who won the Wood Memorial Stakes presented by the resort’s World Casino, but missed it due to the Kentucky Derby and minor injuries.
The Belmont Stakes is the main event of the five-day racing festival, June 4th to 8th, and perhaps American carriage racing town Saratoga Springs will be revived all week as thousands of fans arrive and celebrate the King’s sport. The Belmont Stakes will air nationwide on FOX, with a second broadcast on FS1, and coverage of all action in Saratoga will air on the Fox Sports Channel throughout the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
For more information about Belmont Stakes candidates, go back to the evening of June 2nd to check out the updated cheat sheets listed in post-post order and with added morning line odds.
Baeza
Jockey: Flavien Plat
trainer: John Silef
Owner: CRK Stable and Grandview Horse
Career Record: 5 Starts – 1 Win – 2 Seconds – 1 Third
Career Revenue: $648,500
Top Equiver Speed Number: 107
Bloodline: McKinzie – Puka, Big Brown
color: bay
Running Style: Stalker
analysis: A potential rematch between sovereignty and journalism will take for granted coverage of Belmont’s stakes headlines, but Baeza should not be overlooked. This burgeoning Colt ran very well in the 1¼ mile Kentucky Derby presented by the Woodford Reserve, overcame several collisions on far turns, and raced big on stretches, but still slowly sprinted through the surface of the race, putting on a neck that captured the second most exhausting journalism. Baeza was on the eligible list for the Kentucky Derby, but was drawn in after a wound on the main field, and he examined the decision of trainer John Sileffs to move him away from a base in Southern California to Louisville. Baeza returned to Santa Anita Park after the Derby and trained well for the planned Belmont start. He was able to sit down in a groundbreaking effort in his third attempt in a Grade 1 race (he finished second in journalism in the 1/8 mile Santa Anita Derby before starting the Kentucky Derby). Flavieen Platt will be riding a Baeza for the first time in Louisville and holding the mount. If Baeza wins, he will become the second Belmont Stakes Victor produced by Big Brown Marle Puca after Dornoch at Saratoga last year, following the third winner of the three-year triple crown race from Puca, and the winner of the 2023 Kentucky Derby Mage.
raw
Jockey: TBA
trainer: Todd Plecher
Owner: Bobby Frey and James Ventura
Career Record: 3 Starts – 2 Wins – 0 seconds – 1/0
Career Revenue: $130,148
Top Equiver Speed Number: 100
Bloodline: Justification – Flowering by the Vice Minister
color: bay
Running Style: Pacesetter
analysis: Crudo entered the Belmont stakes and started his three careers, with everything coming in from February 8th this year. He has improved in each, finishing fourth in his sixth furlong debut at Gulfstream Park and significantly improved in his second appearance in the race held at Furlong at Keeneland. In Start Number 3, Justify, the son of the 2018 Triple Crown winner, stretched to compete for about two turns in the 1 1/16 mile Servantton Stakes at Pimlico, Preakness Stakes on May 17th. Crudo still has the potential to be undeveloped and needs to continue improving to finish in the top three against this small, high quality field, including stable Grande. At the very least, his front-running style should put pace pressure on Rodriguez after recovering from minor injuries after more than two months of layoffs.
Grande
Jockey: John Velazquez
trainer: Todd Plecher
Owner: repole stable
Career Record: 3 Starts – 2 Wins – 1 Second – 1/0
Career Revenue: $228,200
Top Equiver Speed Number: 106
Bloodline: Carlin – Go home, it was in front
color: Dark Bay or Brown
Running Style: Stalker
analysis: Grande qualified for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve by finishing a solid two-second finish to Rodriguez at the 1/8 mile Wood Memorial Stake presented by Resorts World Casino in March, but was scratched from Derby Field a day before the race due to a cracked heel. He was formed as a live long shot of the Derby based on his timber memorial efforts. This came after two consecutive wins at Gulfstream Park at 1 and 1/8 mile early in the year. Another jump of 5-10 points is not an issue as Grande’s Equibase Speed figure is set to jump 17 points at Wood Memorial and is set to begin his fourth career start in the Belmont Stakes. But this is a difficult place to come back after a missed race, and Grande actually needs to move forward in a big way to get upset by sovereignty, journalism and Baeza. Two-time Belmont Stakes winner, Hall of Fame’s Jockey John Velazquez, will need to have a mount in the stalker position behind Rodriguez and the steady Kurdish, and will likely race third in the backstretch. Fellow Hall of Fame Todd Plecher won the race four times. Most recently, he won in 2022 with Mo Donegal, co-owned by Lepool Stubble. It would certainly be a sweet victory if the second Belmont Stakes could win together after Pletcher and Mike Repole missed the Grande opportunity in the Kentucky Derby.
Heart of Honor
Jockey: Saffie Osborne
trainer: Jamie Osborne
Owner: Jim and Claire Inc.
Career Record: 7 start – 2 wins – 4 seconds – 1/0
Career Revenue: $400,919
Top Equiver Speed Number: 97
Bloodline: Honor AP – Ruby Love, Scat Daddy
color: Dark Bay or Brown
Running Style: Closer
analysis: The Heart of Honor was shipped from the UAE for the 1 3/16 mile Preakness Stakes start at Pimlico and finished fifth in nine runners by overtaking the odds of 19.70-1. It was a good effort considering he was a fractis at the starting gate, slowly breaking, chasing 15½ length after three-quarters of the mile, then raced very widely in the stretch, making up the late ground to finish the 8¾ length behind the winner’s journalism. Obviously, this English-grown AP Colt requires much better efforts to become a factor in Belmont. It is worth noting, however, that Heart of Honor was not worse than second place in the previous six starts. This includes two runner-up finishes by head and nose at the UAE Stakes race held at 1 1/8 miles. He runs behind Jamie and Saffy Osborne’s father-daughter team, and if he reaches a new career peak, he will have the opportunity to win minor awards in this major race, but it also requires some US-based horses with low performance numbers.
Hill Road
Jockey: TBA
trainer: Chad Brown
Owner: Amo Racing USA
Career Record: 5 start – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 2/2
Career Revenue: $336,496
Top Equiver Speed Number: 99
Bloodline: Quality Road – Exotic Concepts by Lemon Drop Kid
color: bay
Running Style: Closer
analysis: Hillroad turned his head last fall with its first start in the US. He met up late in the stretch and finished third in the boys of the 1 1/16 mile Fan Duel Breeders Cup, which Del Mar’s TAA presented as a 61.10-1 long shot. Coltion Colt had won one of his two starts in Ireland before the race on the grass. After his encouragement against some of North America’s best two-year-olds, he was moved to Chad Brown and took part in the path to the 2025 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve earlier this year. Hillroad debuted in the Lamboholm Southernpa Bay Derby, held 1 1/16 miles in March, closing again late, finishing third in the final Kentucky Derby fifth place finisher Owen Anomity. He was out of qualifying points for the Derby itself and instead was redirected to the start of Brown’s Belmont Stakes. In the preparations for Belmont, Hill Road still put his best efforts into breaking through the stretch and earned the 1 1/8 mile Peter Pan Stakes at Big A Belmont, three-quarters long. This colt is bred to run all day long and can reach peak shapes at the right time to make noise in the Belmont stakes. But he will need to continue his fast pace and effort to close down by sovereignty, journalism, and Baeza, and attract upset.
Journalism
Jockey: Humberto Rispoli
trainer: Michael McCarthy
Owner: Eclipse Solrbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert Lapenta, Elayne Stables 5, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith
Career Record: 7 start – 5 wins – 1 second – 1 third
Career Revenue: $2,838,800
Top Equiver Speed Number: 110
Bloodline: Carlin – Mopotism, by Uncle
color: bay
Running Style: Stalker
analysis: At the time of this writing, journalism has not been confirmed for Belmont’s interests. But his connections say he is a possible starter as long as he continues to train well out of Preakness stakes. If he shows up on a three-week rest, it will be testament to both the elite talent of this Colt and his willingness to challenge him on the biggest stage of the sport of 2025. 1 3/16 miles win at Preakness. In that race, journalism forced the path to a small opening between horses early on, pinballing between them, passing through the gaps, accelerating, passing the Gosgar just before the finish line. Now journalism is set to face his Derby conqueror and third-place finisher in the Derby at 1¼ mile Belmont (he was the neck behind him). Based on the training patterns of triple crown hose in recent years, such a rapid shift makes Preakness winners consider themselves vulnerable to two appropriately rested high-ranking enemies. this year However, the winner of Preakness is an exceptional racehorse, and if he shows no signs of fatigue and can maintain his current form, journalism would be extremely difficult to beat at Belmont.
Rodriguez
Jockey: Mike Smith
trainer: Bob Baffert
Owner: SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madakette Stable, Stone Street Stable, Diana Bashaw, Resolved Stable, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan
Career Record: 5 start – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third
Career Revenue: $522,800
Top Equiver Speed Number: 111
Bloodline: Authentic -Cayala, Cherokee Run
color: Dark Bay or Brown
Running Style: Pacesetter
analysis: After a decent but apparent effort in the first two Kentucky Derbys announced by California’s Woodford Reserve Prep Race, Rodriguez put it all together in the 1 1/8 mile Wood Memorial Stake presented by Resorts World Casino in early April, leading from start to finish with a 3½ length score. As a result, he was promoted to the roster of the 2025 Kentucky Derby prospect Hall of Fame trainer Bob Buffato, and McKinsey Colt was formed as a live long shot of the Derby until he unfortunately withdrew from the race for Foot Breeze. Rodriguez has since resumed his normal training schedule for trainer Baffert, who won three Belmonts in California. After more than two months apart, you should be ready to build on that timber memorial effort. He is predicted to be one of the early leaders of the Kentucky Derby, and his speed could be even more advantageous in the Belmont stakes as the light racing Kurds are the only competitor with a running style placed ahead. Rodriguez will likely set out as a fourth stock option behind Derby 1-2-3 finisher sovereignty, journalism and Baeza, but he must be able to lead the field a long way and respected under Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith (three-time Belmont winner) on June 7th.
sovereignty
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
trainer: Bill Mott
Owner: Godolphin
Career Record: 6 start – 3 wins – 2 seconds – 1/0
Career Revenue: $3,672,800
Top Equiver Speed Number: 103
Bloodline: To the mischievous – crowned by Bernardini
color: bay
Running Style: Closer
analysis: Horse racing fans were naturally disappointed when they announced that the Kentucky Derby connection presented by Woodford Reserve winner Sovereignty would bypass the start of the Preakness Stakes and the bid to become 14.th Instead, he points to the start of the Belmont Stakes. But when Bill Mott, the stunning quality hall of fame trainer, is more known than anything else, and he has many more. Mott said he had already planned a campaign three years ago of sovereignty over winning the Derby as the ultimate goal, which was achieved in an impressive way as Colt was attacked from the 16thth Of the 19 horses to equip journalism, win at 1½ length. Since then, Sovereignty has been shipped to Saratoga and has steadily worked for the Belmont Stakes on June 7th. He should compete for journalism for post-time favors, and in addition to his extra vacation, he has the minor advantage of racing on Saratoga’s dirt main track before, but that made many grounds last summer when he finished fourth in the six-fur long sprint. In Belmont, you’re facing a small field with dangerous frontrunners at Rodriguez, so look for regular rider Junior Alvarado to get sovereignty a little closer to a faster pace than you did in the Kentucky Derby. All systems are set to “GO” for this elite racehorse, giving Alvarado his first Belmont victory, with owner breeder Godolphin and trainer Mott for the second time, respectively.
