Feature

2026 Belmont Stakes

Thursday, June 4, 20260 races

The 158th Belmont Stakes runs Saturday, June 6, 2026 at Saratoga Race Course — 1¼ miles, nine horses, and a Kentucky Derby rematch at its core. Derby winner Golden Tempo returns to face runner-up Renegade and a deep field of sophomores in the third and final Belmont at Saratoga before the Test of the Champion heads home to a rebuilt Belmont Park in 2027. There’s no Triple Crown on the line — but there’s a wide-open classic to solve.

Race at a glance

Race	158th Belmont Stakes (G1), pres. by NYRA Bets
Date	Saturday, June 6, 2026
Post time	7:04 p.m. ET (Race 12)
Track	Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY
Distance	1¼ miles (10 furlongs), dirt
Purse	$2 million (winner’s share ~$1.2M)
Field	9 three-year-olds
TV / Stream	FOX, FS1 / FOX Sports App, FOX One
Morning-line favorite	Renegade (2-1)

Race	158th Belmont Stakes (G1), pres. by NYRA Bets
Date	Saturday, June 6, 2026
Post time	7:04 p.m. ET (Race 12)
Track	Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, NY
Distance	1¼ miles (10 furlongs), dirt
Purse	$2 million (winner’s share ~$1.2M)
Field	9 three-year-olds
TV / Stream	FOX, FS1 / FOX Sports App, FOX One
Morning-line favorite	Renegade (2-1)

The field & TrackWiz Stamina Scores

Every runner gets a TrackWiz Stamina Score — our 0–100 rating of how well a horse projects to handle the trip, from sire and broodmare-sire distance profiles, proven distance, and running style. Odds are morning line from the June 2 draw.

Elite stayer (90+) Should handle (80–89) Questionable (70–79) Likely to tire (<70)

Golden Tempo

#9 · 9-2 · Elite stayer

91.5

Renegade

#4 · 2-1 · Should handle

83.3

Emerging Market

#8 · 6-1 · Should handle

80.0

Vitruvian Man

#1 · 30-1 · Questionable

76.5

Chief Wallabee

#3 · 3-1 · Questionable

75.5

Ottinho

#5 · 20-1 · Questionable

73.6

Commandment

#7 · 6-1 · Questionable

72.0

Growth Equity

#6 · 12-1 · Likely to tire

64.0

Powershift

#2 · 12-1 · Likely to tire

60.8

Golden Tempo (91.5) stands alone as the field’s only Elite Stayer. Renegade (83.3) and Emerging Market (80.0) form the next tier. The 70s are a logjam of live closers, and lone-speed Powershift (60.8) is the stamina outlier.

How the race sets up

On the lead

Powershift

Stalk & press

Commandment, Chief Wallabee, Emerging Market, Growth Equity, Ottinho, Vitruvian Man

Closers

Renegade, Golden Tempo

Powershift is the only confirmed early speed. If nobody presses him, the fractions go soft — which hurts the deep closers (Golden Tempo, Renegade), who want a fast, collapsing pace, while helping the forwardly-placed types. Golden Tempo’s Derby win came off an honest pace; he may not get that same meltdown here, the central question on the favorite tier. At 10 furlongs around Saratoga, pace and trip are the swing factors — read them alongside the Stamina Score, not instead of it.

Storylines to watch

The Sovereignty blueprint

Like 2025 Belmont winner Sovereignty, Golden Tempo won the Derby, skipped the Preakness, and pointed straight at Saratoga. Cherie DeVaux, the first woman to win the Kentucky Derby, chases a second classic.

The Derby rematch

Golden Tempo beat Renegade by a neck at Churchill; Renegade is the morning-line favorite with arguably the stronger overall résumé.

Pletcher’s two

Todd Pletcher saddles favorite Renegade and pacesetter Powershift — the likely rabbit-and-closer team tactic.

Chad Brown’s three

Emerging Market, Growth Equity, and Ottinho all come from the Brown barn.

The defending team

William Mott trained 2025 winner Sovereignty and sends out Chief Wallabee; Junior Alvarado, who rode Sovereignty, is aboard.

Curlin everywhere

Curlin is the sire of Golden Tempo, the broodmare sire of Renegade, and the sire of Vitruvian Man’s sire — the dominant stamina influence in the field.

Also on the Belmont Day card

The Belmont anchors a loaded program: the $1M Metropolitan Handicap (G1), $1M Manhattan (G1), $500K Jaipur (G1), $500K Woody Stephens (G1), $500K Just a Game (G1), and the $400K True North (G3). The full Belmont Stakes Racing Festival runs June 3–7 — 25 stakes races worth over $11 million.

Belmont Stakes 2026 FAQ

When is the 2026 Belmont Stakes?

Saturday, June 6, 2026, post time 7:04 p.m. ET.

Where is it run, and why Saratoga?

Saratoga Race Course, for the third and final year while Belmont Park is rebuilt; the race returns to Long Island in 2027.

How long is the 2026 Belmont?

1¼ miles (10 furlongs) — shorter than the traditional 1½ miles because of Saratoga’s track dimensions.

Who is the favorite?

Renegade at 2-1 on the morning line; Derby winner Golden Tempo is 9-2.

Is there a Triple Crown on the line?

No — Golden Tempo won the Derby but skipped the Preakness.

Want every horse’s full Stamina Score breakdown, the pace-adjusted read, and where the numbers disagree with the market? Unlock the premium analysis below.

Post-race update · June 6, 2026

How it played out

Golden Tempo did it. The Kentucky Derby winner stumbled leaving Gate 9, dropped to last, and still closed clearly to win the 158th Belmont in 2:03.49 over a fast track — completing the Derby–Belmont double for trainer Cherie DeVaux and jockey Jose Ortiz, the same Preakness-skipping path Sovereignty used in 2025. Commandment ran second and favorite Renegade faded to third after leading into the stretch, his second Triple Crown near-miss of the season.

Result vs. our Stamina Score

Finish	Horse	Our SS rank	Score
1st	Golden Tempo	#1 — top-rated ✓	91.5
2nd	Commandment	#7 — flagged as 6-1 overlay	72.0
3rd	Renegade	#2 — led, then faded	83.3
4th	Chief Wallabee	#5 — value pick, just missed	75.5

Payouts

Horse	Win	Place	Show
Golden Tempo	$14.00	$7.32	$3.88
Commandment	—	$7.02	$4.08
Renegade	—	—	$2.52

$2 Exacta (9-7) $111.34 · $1 Trifecta (9-7-4) $102.64 · $1 Superfecta (9-7-4-3) $237.90

The TrackWiz scorecard

Nailed: the top of the ticket

Our #1-rated horse and the field's only Elite Stayer won outright, paying $14.00. Key-Golden-Tempo-on-top exotics cashed across the board — the $2 exacta returned $111.34 and the $1 trifecta $102.64.

Nailed: the pace map

We tagged Powershift as the lone speed. He carved out :23.96, :48.29 and 1:12.38, the front end collapsed exactly as projected, and the deep closer pounced. Pace read: correct.

Half-credit: the runner-up

Our raw Stamina Score ranked Commandment 7th — but our premium betting read called him a live 6-1 overlay who could "flip past several rivals" on a clean trip. He ran second. The narrative caught what the number missed.

Held up: the honesty flags

We warned Emerging Market's 80 was "softer than the number looks" on a 10f Derby fade — he ran out. Renegade handled the trip (3rd) but couldn't outkick the winner. Chief Wallabee, our value pick, closed for a clean fourth, just off the board.

What we're changing

The clear lesson: the Stamina Score is a distance-aptitude rating, not a win-probability model. It correctly identified the winner and the pace shape, but it buried Commandment — a four-time winner with over $1M banked — because a speed-leaning sire (Into Mischief) and a non-closing style dragged his composite down. His class and current form weren't in the equation. The next build (v4) blends a class/form factor on top of the stamina rating, so genuinely live, in-form horses aren't ranked behind pure pedigree. The engine got the headline right; this is how it gets sharper.

Pari-mutuel payouts per the official NYRA chart, 158th Belmont Stakes, Saratoga, June 6, 2026. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Must be of legal age; wagering availability varies by state.

Full Card Analysis

How the Stamina Score is built

A weighted 0–100 blend: Sire Distance Index (35%), Broodmare Sire Index (25%), Proven Distance (25%), and Running Style (15%) (closers 100, pressers 50, speed 0). Proven Distance credits the longest trip a horse has shown it stays — full credit for a win, −3 for a finish within ~2 lengths, −8 for staying on mid-pack without flattening, and no credit for a faded or empty finish. Bands: 90+ Elite Stayer, 80–89 Should Handle, 70–79 Questionable, under 70 Likely to Tire.

Horse-by-horse breakdown

1. Golden Tempo

91.5 · Elite stayer

Curlin × Carrumba (Bernardini) · 5: 3-0-2, $3.43M · Last out: 1st, Kentucky Derby (10f)

Sire95

Damsire90

Proven83

Style100

Curlin over a Bernardini mare is one of the most proven classic-stamina crosses in American breeding, and he’s the only horse here with a 10f win on his card. Deep closer who needs pace — the worry is that Saratoga, with a single pacesetter, may not collapse the way Churchill did.

2. Renegade

83.3 · Should handle

Into Mischief × Spice Is Nice (Curlin) · 6: 2-3-1, $2.03M · Last out: 2nd, Kentucky Derby (10f)

Sire70

Damsire95

Proven80

Style100

Into Mischief caps his sire term, but the dam side (Curlin, then Bernardini) is pure stamina, and he proved 10f with a neck-loss second in the Derby. Irad Ortiz Jr. chose him; stablemate Powershift gives him a target.

3. Emerging Market

80.0 · Should handle

Candy Ride (ARG) × Wild Empress (Empire Maker) · 3: 2-0-0, $618K · Best: 1st, Louisiana Derby (9.5f)

Sire85

Damsire92

Proven79

Style50

Candy Ride and Empire Maker is a genuinely route-friendly page, and his 9.5f Louisiana Derby win was visually strong. The honest flag: his score equals Renegade’s, but it’s built on a 9.5f win plus a 10f Derby fade — the distance evidence is softer than the number looks.

4. Vitruvian Man

76.5 · Questionable

Vino Rosso × Caradini (Bernardini) · 6: 1-1-2, $142K · Best two-turn: 3rd, Santa Anita Derby (9f)

Sire85

Damsire90

Proven67

Style50

Pedigree reads stamina (Vino Rosso/Curlin top, Bernardini bottom), but he’s never done it at a route — a distant third at 9f is his best two-turn effort, and his figures sit well below this group. The score is propped up by breeding, not performance.

5. Chief Wallabee

75.5 · Questionable

Constitution × A La Lucie (Medaglia d’Oro) · 4: 1-1-1, $466K · Last out: 4th, Kentucky Derby (10f)

Sire80

Damsire85

Proven75

Style50

The one to like at a price. He ran on for fourth at 10f in the Derby through traffic, drew a clean trip in post 3, and the Mott/Alvarado barn just won this race. Lightly raced with upside.

6. Ottinho

73.6 · Questionable

Quality Road × Quiet Giant (Giant’s Causeway) · 4: 1-1-2, $324K · Best two-turn: 2nd, Blue Grass (9f), beaten ~11L

Sire78

Damsire88

Proven67

Style50

Route-friendly pedigree (Quality Road, Giant’s Causeway), but he’s been beaten double digits both times he tried two turns, which is exactly why the model won’t credit his route form. Needs a leap.

7. Commandment

72.0 · Questionable

Into Mischief × Sippican Harbor (Orb) · 6: 4-0-0, $1.02M · Last out: 7th, Kentucky Derby (10f), bumped

Sire70

Damsire85

Proven75

Style50

Beat Chief Wallabee twice early and won the Florida Derby; the Belmont answers whether his Derby seventh was a bad trip (he was bumped) or a class ceiling. A cleaner, forward trip could flip him past several rivals.

8. Growth Equity

64.0 · Likely to tire

Nyquist × My Dear Venezuela (Wildcat Heir) · 4: 2-2-0, $187K · Last out: 1st, Peter Pan (9f)

Sire72

Damsire50

Proven75

Style50

Improving, but the Wildcat Heir broodmare sire is a sprint influence that drags the bottom of the pedigree. His Peter Pan win came in a five-horse field over soft fractions — a steep class and stamina test here.

9. Powershift

60.8 · Likely to tire

Constitution × Free Flying Soul (Quiet American) · 3: 1-1-0, $82K · Last out: 1st, maiden (8.5f)

Sire80

Damsire60

Proven71

Style0

Likely deployed as the pace to set up Renegade. Three career starts, the weakest broodmare-sire stamina in the field, and zero style credit in a stamina model. How honest a pace he sets is the biggest variable for the closers above him.

The betting read

Handicapping analysis, not a guarantee — bet within your means.

In a nine-horse field with a clear top tier and a pack of live mid-tier closers, the value sits in exotics that key the top scorers over a spread rather than a straight win bet on a short price. The pace-adjusted view nudges slightly toward the forwardly-placed horses if Powershift gets loose on a soft lead.

Where score & market agree

Golden Tempo and Renegade are correctly the class of the field.

Overlay watch

Chief Wallabee (3-1) and Commandment (6-1) grade out better on stamina + trip than their prices suggest, in a pace setup that may not fully favor the deep closers.

Structure idea

Single or double the top tier on top of exotics, then spread to the 72–76 band underneath rather than chalk-only tickets.

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Bottom line

The TrackWiz Stamina Score makes the shape of this race clear: Golden Tempo is the standout stayer, Renegade and Emerging Market are the supporting tier, and a cluster of live closers sits a notch below. But this is a 10-furlong Belmont at Saratoga, not the traditional 1½-mile test — so pace and trip carry as much weight as raw distance aptitude. Read the score and the pace together.

A note on method: our sire and broodmare-sire indices are TrackWiz-assigned from each runner’s distance profile, so treat the rankings as the takeaway rather than the exact decimals. Lines and the final field can move — confirm before post.

Post time 7:04 p.m. ET, Saturday, June 6 on FOX.

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