Who are the Belmont Stakes 2024 Favorites?

Which of the Belmont Stakes horses will be in position to “let it go” Saturday?

Famed singer and actor Idina Menzel, who made “Let it Go” (from the movie “Frozen”) a household favorite, will take the lead entertainment role as part of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

She’ll be among the thousands at Saratoga Race Course and millions worldwide who will be trying to find the winner in the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

The Belmont Stakes post time is 6:41p.m. ET on Saturday, June 8.

Traditionally a 2,400m thoroughbred race for 3-year-olds, called The Test of Champions, this edition has a shorter 2,000m distance at its temporary home in upstate New York.

Belmont Park on Long Island is undergoing renovations, so horse racing fans face a 300km drive north from The Big Apple to see this event.

Favorites for the 2024 Belmont Stakes

Betting on Belmont Stakes Favorites

The post position draw, held Monday, June 3, determined the position for each of the 10 horses in the starting gate. At the time of the draw, the Morning Line odds were revealed. These are just guide prices.

Separate Belmont Stakes betting pools are available at all the best horse racing sportsbooks.

We’ll talk about Belmont Stakes horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and give reasons for and against some Belmont Stakes favorites.

We’ll also provide a couple of longshot possibilities.

Sierra Leone, 9-5, Post 9

Why Sierra Leone can win: Certainly has a capable trainer, representing the local Chad Brown brown, and narrowly missed last time out in the Kentucky Derby.

Sierra Leone lost out by a nose in a three-way photo finish, splitting Mystik Dan and Japanese horse Forever Young.

A winner of the Blue Grass Stakes, Sierra Leone is a deserving morning-line favorite and already has handled the distance.

Flavien Prat replaces regular rider Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle. Prat is a gifted jockey who has won the other legs of the Triple Crown before with successes in the 2019 Kentucky Derby and 2021 Preakness.

Why Sierra Leone might not be the best bet: It’s all about the value. Do you take the most likely winner at such a short price? If you’re only just learning how to bet on racing maybe getting behind a favorite is a good place to start.

If that’s your play it might be worth waiting until the day to place your bet, as it will be interesting to see how Sierra Leone’s odds fluctuate close to race time.

Mindframe, 7-2, Post 10

Why Mindframe can win: Four-time Belmont winner Todd Pletcher trains this colt, who is part-owned by Mike Repole. On March 30, at Gulfstream Park, Mindframe was sensational in winning his track debut maiden by 14 lengths.

Mindframe has since followed-up in a Churchill Downs claimer and owns the best speed figure of any Belmont Stakes entrant. He worked so well at Saratoga alongside Florida Derby hero Fierceness in the leadup to this race that connections are confident of a big run.

Why Mindframe might not be the best bet: Wide-margin wins in minor races are all very well, but he now faces some pretty serious competition. There are Triple Crown winners and placed horses in the Belmont field.

Mindframe is in at the deep end here. He’s a lightly-raced colt but, after just two track starts, a lack of experience is a negative. We’ll only know whether Mindframe handles the occasion at Saratoga on raceday itself.

Mystik Dan, 5-1, Post 3

Why Mystik Dan can win: The Kentucky Derby champ lost the second leg of the Triple Crown to Seize the Grey, again his rival in the Belmont. Mystik Dan trainer Ken McPeek feels he’s ready to compete here, favoring him over Kentucky Oaks heroine Thorpedo Anna.

She might’ve deputized and represented the barn, but instead races against fellow fillies in the Acorn Stakes the day before. So why would we doubt the consistent and durably Mystik Dan on his recent runs?

Why Mystik Dan might not be the best bet: Running in all three Triple Crown events leaves a mark on any horse. Three races in the space of five weeks, combined with all the travel across America, from Kentucky to Baltimore and now upstate New York, means it’s tough to peak every time on the track.

Seize The Grey, 8-1, Post 1

Why Seize the Grey can win: He is the in-form horse. Seize The Grey didn’t make the cut for the Kentucky Derby, but showed his ability by winning the Grade II Pat Day Mile on the same day at Churchill Downs.

He was ten better than ever in the Preakness Stakes with a gutsy victory under different tactics. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Seize The Grey came out of his Pimlico success in great shape.

Unlike most of his main market rivals, he is also familiar with Saratoga Race Course. Seize The Grey won here last year and made the show in another race over a distance way sharp of his ideal.

The barn also has four previous wins in the Belmont Stakes. Lukas may be a veteran among trainers aged 88, but the old magic is still there.

Why Seize the Grey might not be the best bet: Much like Mystik Dan, who ran at both Churchill Downs and in Baltimore, this is a third race in just five weeks for him.

Seize The Grey may not be allowed to dominate and make most of the running like he did in the Preakness this time either.

When is the Belmont Stakes?

The 2024 Belmont Stakes is set for Saturday, June 8, at Saratoga Race Course in the spa town of Saratoga Spring in upstate New York. The Belmont Stakes post time is 6:41p.m. ET.

Belmont Stakes outsiders

Looking for a price to entice you into an each way bet or Across the Board wager? Given that relative longshots won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, we don’t blame you.

These two longshots bear a closer look in the Belmont Stakes.

First, The Wine Steward has been very close in highly competitive races. He ran second in last year’s Breeders’ Futurity, then the Lexington Stakes, and the Peter Pan Stakes.

If this price drifts out beyond 25-1 or so, he’s certainly an option to single for your longshot bet, or use in an exotic wager like a quinella.

Second, it could pay to look at horses that finished down the field in the Kentucky Derby. Were there any hard luck stories? Well, the sixth, eighth and tenth horses home at Churchill Downs all head for the Belmont too.

Resilience achieved the best finishing position of this trio, but Honor Marie had no luck in the race at all. Squeezed out and forced to the back of the field at any early stage, he could never get into contention.

Honor Marie stayed on through beaten horses, including Dornoch, so there’s hope with a clearer passage he might turn the finishing order about with Resilience. Maybe there won’t be a need for any more excuses this time around.

Record of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Winners

Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey will try to become the 53rd horse to have won two Triple Crown races.

In the sport’s history, 11 have won the Derby and Belmont, 18 have taken both the Preakness and Belmont and 23 scored wins in the Derby and Preakness.

No horse has won two Triple Crown races since Justify won all three in 2018.