How To Bet On The Belmont Stakes

The Belmont is known as ‘The Test of the Champion’, in part because of its grueling distance and the truly legendary three-year-old thoroughbreds that have competed in it. The race usually draws small fields of Triple Crown hopefuls or distance runners for the marathon quest, usually with starters from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes among them.

Now 153 years old – Ruthless won the first installment just two years after the Civil War ended - the Belmont Stakes purse is $1.5 million, with $800,000 going to the winner. The dirt race is contested by qualified three-year-old thoroughbreds over 1 1/2 miles, in front of crowds often in excess of 100,000. The throng is even larger if a Triple Crown – wins in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont – is in play. Such was the case in 2018 when Justify became the 13th to accomplish one of the most difficult feats in sports. It is a big day out, particularly for New Yorkers, ready to test their luck on Belmont Stakes betting.

The Belmont Stakes day total horse racing betting handle is regularly in excess of $130 million, reaching a New York Racing Association single-day record of $151 million when Tonalist denied California Chrome the Triple Crown in 2014.

The Belmont Stakes is the second-most popular thoroughbred race on which to bet in the United States, beaten only by the Kentucky Derby in appeal for wagering. The Belmont Stakes betting markets include the ‘win’, ‘place’, and ‘show’ standard horse racing wagers, and also have these exotic bets:

1. Exacta - Pick the first and second horse to finish in the correct order.
2. Trifecta - Predict the first three horses to finish in the exact order.
3. Superfecta - Select the first four to finish the race in the right order. This is a thrilling and lucrative feat.
4. Quinella - This bet ‘boxes’ an Exacta, meaning you still win as long as the two picks finish in the first two, regardless of their order. You can also box a Trifecta and Superfecta.

Most top NJ betting sites and top PA betting sites in the United States, even where sports betting is now legal, do not offer thoroughbred racing. So-called pari-mutual wagering is conducted through off-track betting parlors or online sites licensed through state horsemen’s associations.

Top Belmont Stakes Betting Trends

The Belmont Stakes is defined by its unique dirt course. It is nicknamed ‘Big Sandy’ because it is the biggest dirt course in North America, at a full 1 1/2 miles around. Belmont Stakes betting strategy often revolves around deciding which horse will handle this best, and it is rarely the Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes winner. These colts will have never and almost certainly will never attempt this race again. These betting tips can help:

• The draw - Post 1 on the rail has produced almost 40 of winners since 1905. Fellow odd numbers 3, 5, and 7, have all achieved more than a 20 percent win-rate. It does pay to be drawn in below Gate 10.
• The ground - Belmont Park’s dirt course is notoriously deep and can become very heavy. Look for horses with experience on this type of surface, and plenty of stamina. Distance in the bloodlines is a plus.
• Favorites - This is the Triple Crown race to look for a big-price winner with favorites winning about 40 percent throughout history, and just 22 percent in the past 30 years. Look for horses that finished down the field in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes. Horses coming off a rest – even with the Preakness three weeks prior – often have an advantage.
• Top jockey - Mike Smith and Gary Stevens lead the active jockeys for most Belmont Stakes wins, with three each. Smith has won all of his since 2010, including his triumph to seal the Triple Crown aboard Justify in 2018.
• Top trainer - Bob Baffert has won the Belmont stakes three times, twice since 2015, including with Justify.
• Triple Crown - Justify last year became the 13th horse in history to win the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes. Twenty-three tried and failed before him, including California Chrome in 2014, Big Brown and I’ll Have Another failing in 2008 and 2012, respectively. It is a tall order, so don’t let the wish to see history sway you beyond your handicapping.

Recent Belmont Stakes Winners

The Belmont Stakes Course Information

The Belmont Stakes is run over 1 1/2 miles on the dirt track at Belmont Park in the state of New York. It’s the longest dirt track in North American horse racing, earning it the nickname ‘Big Sandy’. Its vast breadth and sweeping corners provide plenty of routes for jockeys and make this immense track – which has an actual small town inside of it – look like an even bigger place than it is.

It opened in May, 1905, having been built by August Belmont, Jr., Williams Collins Whitney, and a host of smaller investors. Belmont’s father created the Belmont Stakes at his friend Leonard Jerome’s track, Jerome Park in 1867, but when Belmont Park opened, the Grade 1 moved.

It has been run at Belmont Park every year since, with the exceptions of 1911-12 when betting was banned in New York State, and between 1963-67, while grandstands were reconstructed.

How is the Belmont Stakes field decided?

The largest field to ever compete in the Belmont Stakes was 15 in 1983. The next-largest was 14 in 1875. In short, the challenge of the Belmont has dissuaded trainers and owners for more than a century despite the sizeable purse and lure of glory.

If more than 16 horses are entered, the final lineup will be decided by prize money already won. The first eight places are filled by horses accumulating the highest earnings in Graded races at 1 mile or further. The next five places go to horses accumulating the highest earnings in stakes races whose conditions contain no restrictions other than age or sex.

The final three places are selected by the Belmont Stakes Selection Committee, with Triple Crown nominees preferred. In addition, any horse earning prize money in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes shall be included in the initial eight starters.

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