3 Reasons Why The Belmont Stakes is a Must-Watch Event

For casual horse racing fans, the Belmont Stakes is irrelevant if a Triple Crown is not on the line. Let me tell you why that should not be the case for Saturday’s race.

Saratoga Race Course will serve as the host of the Belmont Stakes for the second straight year, as Belmont Park undergoes renovations. The scenic course is the Keeneland of New York racing, considered one of the most beautiful racing settings in the country.

By making the move to a smaller track, this race will be at a shorter distance than the traditional “Test of a Champion.” Instead of 1 1/2 miles, it will be the distance of the Kentucky Derby at 1 1/14 miles. The Belmont Stakes has a $2 million purse, and post time is set for 7:04 PM ET this Saturday on Fox.

A Great Horse Racing Rivalry Emerges

The great Triple Crown debate returned when Bill Mott and Godolphin’s connections elected for Sovereignty to skip the Preakness, giving the Kentucky Derby winner more time to rest up for the Belmont. We’re not here to debate whether or not the Triple Crown schedule needs to be changed. This weekend is all about two of the best three-year-old horses in America.

Sovereignty is a late-closer who went toe-to-toe with Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism in the homestretch at Churchill Downs. On the first Saturday in May, Journalism wasn’t the best horse. It was just the second time in his career he didn’t finish first.

Two weeks later at the Preakness, Journalism showed why he’s considered the best three-year-old in North America. Umberto Rispoli rode the horse through traffic. He took a bump and still found an extra gear to win.

On Saturday at Saratoga, the Derby winner will face off against the Preakness winner. Journalism lost the first bout, but he’s the favorite this time around. Like Affirmed and Alydar, Secretariat and Sham, Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, this is horse racing’s next great rivalry in the 21st century.

The Belmont Stakes Is Just the Beginning

The Belmont Stakes feels like the final chapter in a great rivalry. I’m here to tell you it’s only getting started.

Horse racing’s biggest problem is that the sport’s best stars have short careers. They quickly rise to stardom, before they are retired to stud. Horses significantly make more money as breeders than racers.

If the horses remain healthy, Sovereignty and Journalism will face off on Saturday in what should be the second of four major races. This race alone will not determine who has the upper hand in this rivalry. They will likely meet again at Saratoga later this summer in the Travers Stakes, then take the field at Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. If the final three races are anything like the first at the Kentucky Derby, it’s five minutes of your Saturday that you don’t want to miss.

The Graveyard of Champions

All of the talk ahead of the race will be centered around Journalism and Sovereignty. There’s a good chance neither is in the Winner’s Circle.

Saratoga is known as the Graveyard of Champions. This is where the term “Upset” was coined. That’s because in 1919, Man o’ War lost the only race of his career to a horse named Upset. Two other legendary horses were stunned at Saratoga. Secretariat lost the Whitney Stakes in 1973 and it was the site of American Pharoah’s only loss as a three-year-old, falling to Keen Ice in the Travers.

This is the first time since 2013 that the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby raced in the Belmont Stakes. Third-place finisher Baeza was finishing strong at Churchill Downs and is certainly capable of pulling off the upset. There’s also Rodriguez, who scratched out of the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Front-running speed has held up early this week at Saratoga and Bob Baffert will have his horse out in front early. It would not surprise me if either played spoiler at the Graveyard of Champions.

Belmont Stakes Post Positions

Post	Odds	Horse	Jockey	Trainer
1	10	Hill Road	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad Brown
2	2	Sovereignty	Junior Alvarado	Bill Mott
3	6	Rodriguez	Mike Smith	Bob Baffert
4	30	Uncaged	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher
5	15	Crudo	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher
6	4	Baeza	Flavien Prat	John Shirreffs
7	8/5	Journalism	Umberto Rispoli	Michael McCarthy
8	30	Heart of Honor	Saffie Osborne	Jamie Osborne

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