The 2024 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets is shaping up to be a tremendous race, and it will headline an incredible and unique day of racing and wagering at historic Saratoga Race Course.

Thanks in part to a sensational undercard, Belmont Stakes Day Saturday, June 8 at Saratoga will essentially equate to a sort of mini-Breeders’ Cup in June. The 14-race card will include a total of nine graded stakes. Three of the Belmont Stakes day undercard races will have extra prestige. They’re part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series, which ensures the winners of a spot in the starting gate at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 1-2.

These races will be the $1 million, Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Mile Handicap (Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile division), the $500,000, Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes Presented by Ford (Longines Distaff), and the $500,000, Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes Presented by Resolute Racing (Turf Sprint).

Here is a closer look at the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” races on the 2024 Belmont Stakes undercard.

Ogden Phipps Stakes Presented by Ford, 1 1/8 miles, fillies and mares 4-years-old and up

Officially a prep race for the Longines Distaff, the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps has drawn a six-horse field set to run 1 1/8 miles for a purse of $500,000. The field is short but sweet and will be headlined by defending champion distaffer #5 Idiomatic (3-5), who exits a win in her 5-year-old seasonal debut in the May 3 Grade 1 Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs. That was her sixth straight victory and her ninth win in her last 10 races. Idiomatic ran perhaps the best race of her career at Saratoga last summer when she won the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes by four lengths with a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Her presence alone makes this an important, must-watch event. The fillies and mares in the field attempting to make a race out of this are topped by last year’s 3-year-old filly champion #3 Pretty Mischievous (6-1), who was soundly beaten by Idiomatic last time in the La Troienne. Other contenders, at least for a spot in the exacta, are #1 Randomized (6-1), who won the 2023 Grade 2 Beldame Stakes for trainer Chad Brown and finished a close second to Idiomatic in last year’s Longines Distaff, #4 Soul of an Angel (8-1), who exits a win in the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes, and Brown’s other entrant, #6 Raging Sea (9-2), who won Keeneland’s Grade 3 Baird Doubledogdare Stakes last time out.

Jaipur Stakes Presented by Resolute Racing, 5 ½ furlongs on turf, 3-year-olds and up

Turf sprinting is a big part of the day-to-day racing at Saratoga, and the Jaipur has attracted the fastest turf sprinters around in this “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. At Belmont Park, this race is run at six furlongs, but it will be contested at 5 ½ furlongs this year at Saratoga. As you would expect for a rare Grade 1 turf sprint with a $500,000 purse, the starting gate will be filled to the brim with 12 horses plus four also-eligibles. This figures to be perhaps the toughest race on the card to handicap. The field will be led by the top tree finishers in last month’s Grade 2 TwinSpires Turf Sprint Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve undercard topped by the winner of that race, #8 Cogburn (2-1), who won the Grade 3 Troy Stakes at Saratoga last summer when he beat eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Nobals. Speaking of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, the second-place finisher from that race, #5 Big Invasion (8-1), and the sixth-place finisher, #2 Arzak (9-2), will both be in the Jaipur field. Even against all that firepower, the horses to beat could end up being the Godolphin duo of #6 Star of Mystery (6-1) and #12 Mischief Magic (8-1), both trained by Charlie Appleby. Star of Mystery exits a runner-up finish in Dubai’s Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Azizi Developments, and Mischief Magic, who won the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and finished third behind Cogburn last out in the TwinSpires Turf Sprint, will race as a first-time gelding and will be ridden by Appleby’s go-to international jockey William Buick.

Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap, one mile, 3-year-olds and up

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The Belmont Stakes is all about the 3-year-olds, but older horses are not to be overshadowed on this national spotlight day when a field of six will take their turn on center stage in the $1 million, Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Above and beyond serving as a ‘Win and You’re In’ race for the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, the “Met Mile” is always one of the most important stakes races of the year. The best demonstration of the stature of this race can best be pointed out by reviewing the last two runnings of the Met Mile, which were both won by the eventual Horse of the Year – Flightline in 2022 and Cody’s Wish in 2023.

This year’s Met Mile has drawn only six entrants, but the race will be defined in terms of quality, not quantity. The field is led by 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner #6 White Abarrio (6-5), who will be challenged by the 1-2 finishers from the 2023 Preakness Stakes, #2 National Treasure (8-5) and #4 Blazing Sevens (8-1), as well as #6 Hoist the Gold, who was the winner of the 2023 Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap, and #3 Post Time (7-2), who won the Grade 2 Carter Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets in April. Any contender from that group would be a worthy winner and could place their name atop the 2024 handicap division with a victory on Saturday. White Abarrio is the horse to beat, but he is coming off a subpar clunker last time out when he traveled halfway around the world to no avail for the $20 million Saudi Cup. If you are looking for an upset, a hot pace scenario between National Treasure and Hoist the Gold could set this up for a stalking Blazing Sevens to run past them in the stretch.

The Belmont Stakes, along with these three “Win and You’re In” races on the road to the Breeders’ Cup and the rest of the big-time stakes races on the card, should make this upcoming Saturday program at Saratoga one of the best racing and wagering days of the year. Enjoy the races and good luck!