The field for the 158^th Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets has been finalized, and the final jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown will run Saturday evening, June 6, at Saratoga Race Course in front of tens of thousands of fans on site and a national television audience on FOX. The 1 ¼-mile Belmont features a rematch of the one-two finishers in the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Golden Tempo and Renegade.

Read on for Belmont Stakes trifecta betting strategies from the team at America’s Best Racing (use ABR’s handy Gambling Calculator Presented by NYRA Bets to construct your tickets):

Mike Curry:

I hate to go chalky in a race that has produced 12 double-digit longshots over the last 30 editions, but I felt like #4 Renegade was the best 3-year-old entering the Kentucky Derby but just could not overcome the dreaded No. 1 post position ... and I think it absolutely cost him. I still believe in Renegade. He is the most talented horse in the race, in my opinion, so I’ll key him on top. #7 Commandment feels like the forgotten 3-year-old after he ripped off four straight wins before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby. I’ll bank on him finishing second or third and play #3 Chief Wallabee, #8 Emerging Market, and #9 Golden Tempo in the other slots. I just don’t buy any of the non-Derby runners at all. 

Mike Curry’s Belmont Trifecta ($30 budget):

$5 trifecta: 4 with 7 with 3,8,9 ($15)

$5 trifecta: 4 with 3,8,9 with 7 ($15)

Noel Michaels:

The pace could be the deciding factor in the 2026 Belmont Stakes, and it figures to play out completely differently than it did in the Kentucky Derby. Unlike in the Derby, which had a fast pace that set the race up for the closers, the Belmont Stakes appears to be a race almost completely devoid of early speed. Maiden winner #2 Powershift is the lone speed in the field and should be the leader of the race for a long way, if not all the way. Thanks to this pace advantage, he should not be overlooked at 12-1 odds on the morning line. Powershift finished within three-quarters of a length of #8 Emerging Market in the first career start for both horses this February at Tampa Bay Downs, and Emerging Market went on to win the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby in his following start. Speaking of Emerging Market, he won that maiden race by launching his move going into the far turn and has much more stalking ability to stay within a few lengths of the pace than the Belmont’s favored deep closers, Kentucky Derby 1-2 finishers #9 Golden Tempo and #4 Renegade. Much was made of Emerging Market’s lack of experience in the Kentucky Derby when he was making only his third lifetime start, but he’ll benefit from the experience he gained at Churchill Downs. Now he’ll no doubt be ready to roll in his first race at the Saratoga base of his trainer Chad Brown and he’s the horse to beat.

Of the closing top duo from the Kentucky Derby, I prefer Renegade over Golden Tempo to use in trifecta tickets. Neither horse has even an iota of tactical speed, which hurts them both at Saratoga, but Renegade’s overall body of work stacks up better than Golden Tempo’s despite his neck defeat in the Derby with a tougher trip. The remaining main contenders we still haven’t talked about are #7 Commandment and #3 Chief Wallabee who ran 1-2 in Gulfstream Park’s Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes and 1-3 in the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa. Commandment, just like Golden Tempo and Renegade, is a closer that will be at a tactical disadvantage in the Belmont Stakes; however, Chief Wallabee is a horse with much more tactical speed than most in the Belmont field and is the much more interesting contender of the two. The knock on Chief Wallabee is that he has lacked a decisive late kick in his races to out-finish other, deeper, closers, but he’ll be in a better position closer to the pace in the Belmont Stakes, which could give him an edge against the horses in the race who’ve beaten him in the past. In the Belmont Stakes, Chief Wallabee should be right back in the mix at the finish.

Noel Michaels’ Belmont Trifecta ($54 budget):

$1 trifecta box: 2,3,4,8 ($24)

$5 trifecta: 8 with 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 ($30)

Patrick Reed:

I could try to talk myself into favoring a longshot to win the Belmont Stakes but I think, even with a projected moderate pace, the race sets up for #4 Renegade to put a tough trip in the Kentucky Derby in his rear-view and prove himself the best of his age group at this point in the season. As such, I’ll key him atop a $2 trifecta over five horses and then put him second in a 50-cent bet for a total spend of $50. The horses I’ll use underneath are #3 Chief Wallabee, #6 Growth Equity (my favorite of the double-digit morning-line runners), #7 Commandment, #8 Emerging Market, and #9 Golden Tempo. I backed Chief Wallabee and Emerging Market as top win selections in the Kentucky Derby and am not totally fading them now, but Emerging Market in particular might be overbet in this spot (I wouldn’t take win odds of lower than 10-1 on him). I would not be surprised at all to see the Derby top-two finishers make up the exacta once again in Belmont 158, but in reverse positions.

Patrick Reed’s Belmont Trifecta ($50 budget):

$2 trifecta: 4 with 3,6,7,8,9 with 3,6,7,8,9 ($40)

50-cent trifecta: 3,6,7,8,9 with 4 with 3,6,7,8,9 ($10)

Dan Tordjman:

Powershift (outside) and Renegade train at the Spa. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)

Well, let’s give this one more shot. I couldn’t have been more spot-on with my Kentucky Derby analysis, and more off-base on Preakness Stakes picks. I’m going to go with a strong opinion here to call this tiebreaker of a Belmont Stakes in my favor. My confident top selection is #4 Renegade. Even in defeat in the Derby, he reaffirmed what most experts have thought this spring, which is that Renegade is the best 3-year-old horse in the country. He had to deal with dreaded rail, got hit hard after the break and managed to pass the entire field only to be denied by a surging Golden Tempo (who ran the race of his life).

That said, I still have plenty of respect for #9 Golden Tempo this Saturday. He’s got arguably the best distance pedigree in the field for this mile-and-a-quarter distance (same as the Derby) and he too comes in fresh after skipping the Preakness. The only downside is that he won’t have the benefit of a lightning-fast early pace to close into in the Belmont Stakes. One of the horses who I do think will be gunning it early, and who just might be able to slow things down to his benefit, is #2 Powershift. He’s 12-1 on the morning line and is my “value” horse to include on your trifecta tickets. I’ll box those three in a $5 trifecta and then key Renegade above Golden Tempo and Powershift and add #3 Chief Wallabee, #6 Growth Equity, and #7 Commandment underneath.

Dan Tordjman’s Belmont Trifecta ($50 budget):

$5 trifecta box: 2,4,9 ($30)

$1 trifecta: 4 with 2,3,6,7,9 with 2,3,6,7,9 ($20)