Who is the favorite in a loaded Belmont Stakes? See the full field with odds.

Miami Herald

a day ago

For the second straight year, the Belmont Stakes field will feature the winners of both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.
Post positions were drawn Monday evening for the 2025 Belmont Stakes, which will feature an eight-horse field Saturday night at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Journalism — the Kentucky Derby post-time favorite who finished second in that race, before then winning the Preakness Stakes — is the 8-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's 157th running of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes.
Journalism will begin Saturday's Belmont from post position No. 7 near the outside of the field.
Sovereignty, last month's Kentucky Derby winner, is the second choice on the Belmont Stakes morning line at 2-1 odds.
Sovereignty will begin the Belmont from post position No. 2 near the inside rail.
For the second straight year, the Belmont Stakes will be run at a different track and at a different distance than normal.
Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, is the usual home for the race, but that venue remains out of action due to ongoing renovations. As such, Saratoga is hosting the Belmont Stakes for a second straight year.
The Belmont Stakes is normally run at a traditional distance of 1 1/2 miles at Belmont Park. But, also for the second straight year, the Belmont Stakes will be contested at a shortened distance of 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga.
Here's a full look at the 2025 Belmont Stakes field. Post time for the race is 7:04 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
2025 Belmont Stakes post position draw
The following eight horses were assigned a starting gate for Saturday's Belmont Stakes during the post position draw on Monday evening.
Horses are listed with their morning-line odds, trainers, jockeys and owners, in that order.
▪ 1: Hill Road, (10-1), Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz Jr., Amo Racing USA.
▪ 2: Sovereignty, (2-1), Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado, Godolphin.
▪ 3: Rodriguez, (6-1), Bob Baffert, Mike Smith, SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.
▪ 4: Uncaged, (30-1), Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez, WinStar Farm and Repole Stable.
▪ 5: Crudo, (15-1), Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, Bobby Flay and James Ventura.
▪ 6: Baeza, (4-1), John Shirreffs, Flavien Prat, C R K Stable and Grandview Equine.
▪ 7: Journalism, (8-5), Michael McCarthy, Umberto Rispoli, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Elayne Stables 5, Robert V. LaPenta, Mrs. John Magnier-Lessee, Derrick Smith-Lessee and Michael B. Tabor-Lessee.
▪ 8: Heart of Honor (GB), (30-1), Jamie Osborne, Saffie Osborne, Jim and Claire Limited.
Half of the horses in the Belmont Stakes field have already run in a Triple Crown race this year.
Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby, and his connections controversially opted to skip the Preakness Stakes. Journalism ran second in the Kentucky Derby and then won the Preakness Stakes. Baeza, who was initially an also-eligible horse for the Derby, drew into the field and charged late to finish third in the Run for the Roses. Heart of Honor (Great Britain) finished fifth in the Preakness, which was his first race in the United States.
Journalism will be the only horse this year to run in all three Triple Crown events.
Crudo, Hill Road, Rodriguez and Uncaged will all be making their first and only Triple Crown starts Saturday.
What are the key storylines for the 2025 Belmont Stakes?
▪ Sovereignty is aiming to become the first Kentucky Derby winner to also win the Belmont Stakes since Justify won the Triple Crown in 2018. That's also the last time the Preakness Stakes winner went on to also triumph in the Belmont Stakes.
The last time a horse won both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, but not the Preakness Stakes, was Thunder Gulch in 1995. That's what Sovereignty would accomplish with a win Saturday.
▪ The last time a horse won both the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, but not the Kentucky Derby, was Afleet Alex in 2005. That's what Journalism would accomplish with a win Saturday.
▪ For the first time since 2013, the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby will all be running in the Belmont Stakes. On that occasion, Derby winner Orb ran third in the Belmont, Derby runner up Golden Soul finished ninth and Derby third-place runner Revolutionary was fifth in the Belmont.
▪ Trainer Todd Pletcher — a four-time winner of the Belmont Stakes — has a quarter of this year's Belmont runners with Crudo and Uncaged.
Crudo, who is part-owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, has two wins in three career starts, including in a maiden special weight race in April at Keeneland. Crudo — who is a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify — will begin the Belmont from post position No. 5.
Uncaged — last seen finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes in May — is part-owned by Mike Repole, a prominent businessman who is also a major booster for the St. John's men's basketball team that's coached by Rick Pitino. Luis Saez, who won last year's Belmont Stakes aboard Dornoch and the 2021 Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality, will be the jockey for Uncaged.
Uncaged will begin the Belmont from post position No. 4, right next to Pletcher's other runner, Crudo.
Pletcher's victories in the Belmont have come with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013), Tapwrit (2017) and Mo Donegal (2022).
▪ Bob Baffert's Rodriguez was supposed to run in the Kentucky Derby, but a foot injury kept him out of both the Derby and the Preakness. Earlier this year, Rodriguez won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. The defection of Rodriguez from the Derby is what allowed Baeza to compete in that race.
Rodriguez drew post position No. 3. Baffert has already won the Belmont Stakes three times with Point Given (2001) and Triple Crown winners American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018).
Baeza has post position No. 6 for Saturday's race.
▪ Hill Road offers intrigue on a number of fronts entering the Belmont. He's coming off a victory in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes last month, which is a traditional prep race for the Belmont.
Past winners of the Peter Pan Stakes who went on to win the Belmont Stakes are Counterpoint (1951), High Gun (1954), Gallant Man (1957), Cavan (1958), Coastal (1979), Danzig Connection (1986), A.P. Indy (1992), Tonalist (2014) and, most recently, Arcangelo (2023).
Known as a closer, Hill Road will begin his third start for trainer Chad Brown from post position No. 1 along the inside rail.
▪ Heart of Honor, a 30-1 shot, drew the furthest outside gate with post position No. 8. There's a distinct family connection with this horse: Trainer Jamie Osborne's daughter, Saffie, is the jockey. Saffie is looking to become the second female jockey to win the Belmont Stakes (Julie Krone with Colonial Affair in 1993).
The most recent British horse to win the Belmont Stakes was Celtic Ash in 1960.