Belmont Stakes Betting Guide

The Belmont Stakes started in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack and moved to Belmont Park in 1905. As the third leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is traditionally the race where the world’s greatest thoroughbreds cement their legacy.

As a result, Belmont Stakes has become known as the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion.” Belmont has seen two Triple Crown winners in the last 10 years, following a 37-year Triple Crown drought: American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018.

The Belmont Stakes is normally scheduled for either the first or second Saturday in June. The 158th running of the Belmont Stakes is Saturday, June 6, 2026.

You’ll find all the information you need here, including the Belmont Stakes odds and how to wager online in New Jersey.

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2026 Belmont Stakes odds

Here are the early odds for the 2026 Belmont Stakes:

How to bet on the Belmont Stakes in NJ

There are several places where you can place a bet on the Belmont Stakes, including the privacy of your home in one of the 33 states that allow online horse race betting.

Mobile apps, like FanDuel Racing, represent the most convenient way to bet on the 2026 Belmont Stakes.

As long as you have access to the internet, you can wager on the race wherever you are in NJ or in any of the states FanDuel Racing operates in.

FanDuel Racing provides an iPhone and Android app, in addition to its website. The website and app offer similar functionality. No matter what type of device you are using, betting on the Belmont Stakes with FanDuel Racing is as simple as:

• Signing up for an account.
• Depositing funds using a variety of banking methods.
• Clicking on the selections that you want to make.

Belmont Stakes betting at a track or OTB site

Of course, you can always choose the less-convenient route of traveling to a local racetrack or off-track betting (OTB) facility that offers pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast races and Belmont Stakes betting at a ticket window.

There are two racetracks currently operating in New Jersey.

• Meadowlands Racetrack (East Rutherford)
• Monmouth Park Racetrack (Oceanport)

There are also two OTB facilities operating in New Jersey.

• Favorites at Woodbridge (Fords)
• Winners Bayonne (Bayonne)

Types of Belmont Stakes horse bets

Betting on the Belmont Stakes, or any other race, isn’t as complicated as you may think.

Straight bets

First off, you have your straight bets on the Belmont Stakes, including:

• Win: A wager on a single horse to win the race. Once all the wagers are in, the race pays out at the set odds.
• Place: A wager on a single horse to finish first or second.
• Show: A wager on a single horse to finish first, second, or third.
• Across the Board: Three separate wagers, including a selection to win, one to place, and one to show, each placed on the same horse.

Exotic bets

Next up are the Belmont Stakes exotic bets. They have complicated names but are pretty simple to understand. These include:

• Exacta: A wager on two separate horses to finish first and second, in that order. Payouts improve drastically when you can pick the first and second place horses, in the exact finishing order.
• Quinella: A wager on two separate horses to finish first and second, in any order. As you can imagine, these selections pay less than exactas.
• Trifecta: A wager on three separate horses to finish first, second, and third, in that order. Payouts improve even more when you can pick the top three finishers, in exact order.
• Superfecta: A wager on four separate horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth, in that order. You can place wagers on the horses in order, or box your selections, which pays out if all the horses finish in the top four places but in any order.

Wheeling your Belmont Stakes bets

You can also “wheel” any of these bets at Belmont Stakes or any other race. Essentially, this is fixing the positions of the various horses you think will win, place, or show. You can add more horses to later finishing positions and make multiple combinations.

The trick is to narrow down which horses you like at the top and incorporate more possibilities for later finishing positions. It saves you money over box wagers while giving you more chances to win.

Historic wins in the Belmont Stakes

Here’s a look at what is considered the five greatest Belmont Stakes races:

Affirmed: 110th Belmont Stakes (1978)

Affirmed became just the 11th horse in history to win the Triple Crown when he did it in 1978, a year after Seattle Slew accomplished the feat. Affirmed beat the favorite Alydar in the Kentucky Derby and held the same horse off to win the Preakness Stakes by a neck.

The pair were neck and neck in the Belmont, with Affirmed winning by a nose. It would be 37 years before another horse won the Triple Crown.

Sarava: 134th Belmont Stakes (2002)

The Bob Baffert-trained War Emblem was a big favorite after playing frontrunner and winning both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. An early stumble ended the horse’s Triple Crown hopes and 70-1 long-shot Sarava won. Savara marked the biggest long-shot victory in the history of the Belmont Stakes.

Birdstone: 136th Belmont Stakes (2004)

Smarty Jones was the third horse in a row to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, only to lose in the Belmont Stakes. The horse had never been beaten coming in, but after leading with a little over half a mile to go, Smarty Jones could not hold off 36-1 underdog Birdstone.

American Pharoah: 147th Belmont Stakes (2015)

It took nearly four decades for another horse to win the Triple Crown after Affirmed did it in 1978.

After winning both the Derby and the Preakness, American Pharoah won the Triple Crown at Belmont, pulling out to an early lead and going wire-to-wire to win it. American Pharoah won by 5-1/2 lengths and posted the sixth-fastest time in Belmont Stakes history.

Justify: 150th Belmont Stakes (2018)

It didn’t take another 37 years for another horse to win the Triple Crown after American Pharoah did it in 2015.

Justify did it in 2018 to become just the 13th Triple Crown winner in history. The field was made up mostly of horses he’d already beaten in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, and Justify took the early lead from post position No. 1.

He slowed down in the stretch but never relinquished the lead and finished 1-3/4 lengths ahead of Gronkowski to win.

Five of the fastest times at Belmont

The speed record for the Belmont Stakes is held by Secretariat, who ran the race in 2:24:00 flat in 1973, winning by 31 lengths to capture the Triple Crown.

Here’s a look at the fastest times for the 1.5-mile race:

• Secretariat: 2:24:00 (1973)
• Easy Goer: 2:26:00 (1989)
• A.P. Indy: 2:26.13 (1992)
• Risen Star: 2:26.50 (1988)
• Point Given: 2:26.56 (2001)

Outside of Secretariat, none of the other four horses on this list won the Triple Crown. The 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (2:26.65) and 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed (2:26.80) ran the seventh and eighth-fastest, respectively, Belmont Stakes races of all time.

Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown

The Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing is widely known as simply the Triple Crown.

Three-year-old thoroughbred horses compete for the title by trying to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in the same season. All three races are typically run in May and early June, in that order, making the Belmont Stakes the third and final leg of the Triple Crown.

The first Triple Crown winner was Sir Barton in 1919. Only 12 other horses have equaled the feat,

A total of 23 horses have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes but fell short of the Triple Crown by not winning the Belmont Stakes.

History of the Belmont Stakes Festival

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is a three-day thoroughbred event filled with races culminating with the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown. It is usually on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY.

The festival features more than 30 races, almost $10 million in purses and the prestigious Belmont Stakes.

The Belmont is the oldest of the three Triple Crown races, predating the Preakness by six years and the Kentucky Derby by eight. The first Belmont Stakes was held in 1867 at Jerome Park. It moved to Morris Park from 1890 to 1904 and finally to Belmont Park in 1905. Although, it was run at Aqueduct from 1963 to 1967.

Secretariat, the Triple Crown winner

Secretariat is widely considered one of the greatest thoroughbred racehorses in history, having won the Triple Crown in 1973 with a record-breaking performance in the Belmont Stakes.

After winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Secretariat captured the Triple Crown, winning the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in a record time of 2:24. That Belmont record still stands today. The 1973 Belmont Stakes is considered one of the greatest horse races ever.

In winning the 1973 Triple Crown, Secretariat set speed records in all three races. The thoroughbred was named Horse of the Year at ages 2 and 3. Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. The legendary horse died in 1989 at age 19.