2025 Belmont Stakes Contenders & Odds

157th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga | Saturday, June 7

Highlighted by the 157th edition of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7, the five-day 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will include 27 stakes races with purses totaling $11,275,000, the richest purses and highest number of stakes offered since the launch of the multi-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in 2014.

Eight horses have been entered. The post-position draw will be Monday at 5 p.m. EDT.

May 29 - The field for the 2025 Belmont Stakes on June 7 is now coming into focus. All eyes are towards a potential rematch between Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner, and Journalism, the Preakness winner!

Sovereignty

Kentucky Derby winner in impressive fashion, closing from well off the pace to best Journalism. First-ever Derby win for owner Godolphin and jockey Junior Alvarado. Connections decided to skip the Preakness and train towards the Belmont Stakes instead.

Journalism

Heroic winner of the Preakness, overcoming massive trouble and bumping in the stretch to chase down Gosger. Valiant second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby two weeks prior. Set for a potential rematch with Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes.

Baeza

Drew into the Kentucky Derby as an also-eligible, finishing third behind Sovereignty and Journalism. His prior start was a hard-fought second to Journalism in the Santa Anita Derby.

Hill Road

Last-out winner of the Peter Pan, the traditional local prep for the Belmont Stakes. A win in the Belmont Stakes would be the first for all connections.

Rodriguez

Frontrunning winner of the Wood Memorial in early April. Entered in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but scratched from both due to a foot bruise. Returns here in the Belmont Stakes.

Heart of Honor

Narrowly second-best in the UAE Derby in April. Most recent start came in the Preakness, closing from the back to finish fifth.

Crudo

A newcomer to the Triple Crown trail, Crudo enters off of two consecutive wins, including in the Sir Barton on the Preakness Day undercard. This aptly named colt is owned in part by celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Uncaged

Broke his maiden on debut here at Saratoga in August. Most recent start came in the G3 Peter Pan, a well-beaten sixth to Hill Road.

Heart of Honor Preps for Belmont Stakes at Saratoga

May 22 - Jim And Claire Limited's Heart of Honor, fifth in the Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course, arrived at Saratoga Race Course and walked the shedrow as he begins preparations for the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes.

Trained by Jamie Osborne, Heart of Honor, who was piloted in the Preakness by Osborne's daughter Saffie Osborne, was fractious in the gate and off a step slow. The Honor A.P. colt was last-of-9 and 15 lengths off the pace through three-quarters in 1:10.23 and made a wide rally down the lane to finish fifth, defeated 8 3/4-lengths by the victorious Journalism.

He graduated at second asking at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai where he landed first or second in five outings, including a win in the one-mile Dubai Maritime City on January 10 and a close second in the one-mile Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas on January 24.

Heart of Honor entered the Preakness from a heartbreaking nose second in the Group 2 UAE Derby in April to Admire Daytona, who was subsequently off-the-board in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

Jamie Osborne said Heart of Honor will work on his gate issues in the weeks leading up to the Belmont.

"He gave himself a massive disadvantage on the day in the gate," Osborne said of the Preakness effort. "We've got a couple of weeks to work on that and try and improve that again. He improved while we were in Dubai and got a lot of practice into the UAE Derby. We did a fair amount of practice into the Preakness and it didn't work. So, we need to do a bit more practice and get him to relax in the gate and if he goes in there and relaxes, he should jump out all right."

Osborne said the $172,341 purchase at the 2024 Arqana 2-Year-Old Breeze Up Sale exited the Preakness in good order.

"He's eating well and done well since the race. He's pretty bright," Osborne said. "It's a nicer preparation for him [heading into the Belmont] than he had going into the Preakness. Most of the weeks before the Preakness he either spent it on an airplane or a lorry."

Osborne said the team will monitor Heart of Honor's progress in Saratoga before deciding whether or not to breeze him.

"We wouldn't be massive fans of breezing him too tight to a race, but we'll see how he is," Osborne said.

Heart of Honor is out of the winning Scat Daddy mare Ruby Love. His third dam is the dual graded-stakes placed Wild Rush mare Vous. Heart of Honor has banked $400,919 via a 7-2-4-0 record.

Journalism - Preakness Winner Belmont Status TBD

May 18 - McCarthy and Aron Wellman, founder and president of Eclipse Thoroughbreds and the managing partner of the ownership group, said that since Journalism will be considered for the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7 at Saratoga Race Course, he could be shipped to Saratoga or to McCarthy's Kentucky base at Churchill Downs.

McCarthy, whose main stable is at Santa Anita Park in Southern California, said a decision on where to go will be made in a day or two. In his remarks Sunday morning Saratoga sounded like a more likely destination.

"It puts him in a position to run," McCarthy said. "He could go back to Churchill Downs and hang out for a week or two and then make his way to Saratoga. But it seems a little counterproductive to go 12 hours by van back to Kentucky to head back to New York, whether it be by plane or by van. Aron's here to talk about it."

In the Belmont Stakes, Journalism could meet Sovereignty, who beat him by 1½ lengths in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 3.

G3 Peter Pan Winner Hill Road eyes Belmont Stakes

May 11 - Hill Road (Amo Racing USA) announced his presence in the sophomore division when closing to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, contested over nine furlongs at Belmont at the Big A.

The Peter Pan Stakes is the traditional prep for the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes, which will be contested at a distance of 10-furlongs at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, June 7 as part of the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. NYRA will waive the entry and starting fees to the Belmont Stakes, excluding the supplemental fee, for the first three finishers in the Peter Pan.

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown did not have a starter in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, but he believes Hill Road could appear in the last leg of the Triple Crown.

"He bounced out of the Peter Pan in good shape," Brown said. "Hopefully once we get him back under tack and he's healthy and good, we will go onto the Belmont."

Hill Road, piloted by reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat, closed from 8th-of-9 to a three-quarter lengths victory over McAfee, who had just overtaken his Rick Dutrow, Jr.-trained stablemate Captain Cook for the lead. The victory in a final time of 1:49.22 earned a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure, and note that the Quality Road bay stumbled at the start and did not switch leads in the lane.

"He ran really well. He got a little bit of pace, which was nice. I didn't think on paper that there would be any pace. We still have to work on switching his leads a bit in the lane, but the horse ran really good and came out good," said Brown.

Hill Road improved from a pair of thirds in his two previous stateside outings, finishing 4 3/4 lengths back of Citizen Bull in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar for trainer Adrian Murray before being transferred to Brown and finishing 6 1/4 lengths behind Owen Almighty in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 8.

Of the slow start Saturday, Brown said, "That is him. To be honest, he was in a better position than in his first start for me [in the G3 Tampa Bay Derby], so I was happy where he was down the backside."

Hill Road was initially targeting the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 5 here, but was forced to miss the race with a fever. Brown said he was expecting a big comeback effort in the Peter Pan despite scratching from the Wood.

"I was not surprised - it was a good spot for him," said Brown. "After a little bit of a layoff, it was a reasonable spot for him to get going again. It wasn't too difficult of a race, it was at the right distance, at least off a layoff, and I think at a mile and a quarter you'll see the best of him. That's what he's been looking for."

Bred in Kentucky by Lynch Bages LTD and Camas Park Stud, Hill Road was a $350,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Exotic Notion, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning multimillionaire and top sire City of Light.

Sovereignty skipping Preakness, will target Belmont Stakes

May 6 - Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner, will skip the Preakness Stakes on May 17 and point to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga, according to a release from the Pimlico press department.

"We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness," Mike Rogers, the executive vice president of 1/ST Racing, said in a release. "Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is being held at Saratoga for the second time to allow for the uninterrupted construction of a new Belmont Park. Due to the configuration of Saratoga's main track, the 2025 Belmont Stakes will be contested at 1 1/4-miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2-miles.

A blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga awaits on Saturday, June 7 with a program to include five Grade 1 events among eight stakes in total, culminating with the Belmont Stakes and featuring the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap going one mile out of the Wilson Chute for 3-year-olds and up, and the 5 1/2-furlong turf Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur Stakes also for 3-year-olds and up. The prestigious and historic Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day also includes the 1 3/16-mile turf $1 million Resorts World Casino Manhattan for older horses and the seven-furlong $500,000 Woody Stephens for sophomores.

Belmont Stakes Day will be bolstered by the Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again for sophomore fillies traveling 1 1/16 miles on turf, as well as a pair of Grade 3s, including the 6 1/2-furlong $400,000 True North for older dirt sprinters and the $300,000 Pennine Ridge for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on grass.

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