Belmont Stakes 2020: Odds, Picks & Free PPs
The first leg of the 2020 Triple Crown is upon us as the Belmont Stakes kicks off the Classic series because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
To be contested at a one-turn nine furlongs, this year's Belmont Stakes drew a field of 10, highlighted by Florida Derby (G1) winner Tiz the Law, entering the race with only one blemish in a five-race career which three graded stakes wins to this point. He is the 6-5 morning-line favorite.
Slated to be run at 5:42 p.m. ET, the Belmont is race 10 of a 12-race card.
National broadcast coverage runs on NBC from 2:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. Watch all of the Belmont Park races on TVG. Sign up for a TVG account and get a $200 risk-free bet.
Belmont Stakes Day race broadcasts are available on several other TV channels.
Fox Sports will air America’s Day at the Races on FS1 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET, and then on FS2 from 2 to 3 p.m. and 6-7 p.m.
Belmont Park races also will air on MSG+ from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 to 7 p.m. and on Fox Sports regional channels from 1 to 3 p.m. and 6-7 p.m.
Find everything you need for the 2020 Belmont Stakes below, including free past performances, expert picks, multi-race wagering suggestions and undercard stakes previews.
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As always, Horse Racing Nation provides free past performances on racing's biggest days. Click here for free past performances for the Belmont Stakes, Acorn and Jaipur Invitational.
Horse Racing Nation's staff and regular contributors give their 2020 Belmont Stakes picks. Tiz the Law is the obvious consensus pick to win, but each expert has a unique take on how to wager on the Belmont Stakes. Which longshots do the experts like best?
Andy Serling on Belmont Pick 5
New York Racing Authority analyst Andy Serling shares his suggested plays in the pick 5, starting with race 6 ( Wonder Again Stakes at 3:01 p.m. post time) and culminating in the Belmont Stakes. Serling suggests ticket construction including 'A', 'B' and sometimes 'C' horses.
Jarrod Horak's Budget Empire 6 Ticket
Not to be outdone by the resident analyst on the NYRA circuit, HRN's Jarrod Horak has an Empire Pick 6 ticket under $50 that he believes will reward horseplayers handsomely. Who is Jarrod's lone single in the sequence? Spoiler alert -- it isn't Tiz the Law.
Tiz the Law - the big favorite
Speaking of Tiz the Law, he's the main story in this running of the Belmont Stakes as, on paper, he is squarely the one to beat. His connections have been here before, as Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg campaigned dual-Classic winner Funny Cide in 2003. Their Triple Crown hopes were dashed, but HRN's Brad Stephens writes about their chance at Belmont redemption.
Stakes Previews
Race 6: Grade 3 Wonder Again (3:01 p.m.)
Race 8: Grade 1 Acorn Stakes (4:15 p.m.)
Race 9: Grade 1 Jaipur Invitational (4:53 p.m.)
A history-making Saturday will see the 152nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park serve as the Triple Crown's first leg for the first time in history. Sackatagoa Stable's Tiz the Law headlines the 10-horse field, and will look to become the first NY-bred in 138 years to win the American Classic.
To align with required health and safety measures implemented in New York to mitigate risk and combat the spread of COVID-19, the Belmont Stakes will be held without spectators in attendance. To properly account for the schedule adjustments and overall calendar for 3-year-olds in training, the race will be run at a distance of 1 1/8-miles, marking the first time since 1925 the contest will not feature its signature 1 1/2-mile test.
The Belmont Stakes will now kick off the Triple Crown sequence as the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the traditional opener, was moved to September 5 at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Preakness set to close the Classic series on October 3 at Pimlico Race Course.
Saturday's 12-race card will feature six graded stakes and four Grade 1s, including the $250,000 Woody Stephens presented by Claiborne Farm, the $300,000 Longines Acorn and the $250,000 Jaipur [presented by America's Best Racing], a "Win and You're In" qualifier to the Breeders' Cup Turf, providing a full day of racing. The Belmont Stakes, offering 150-60-30-15 points Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers, is carded as Race 10, will have a post time of 5:42 p.m. Eastern. NBC will have live coverage starting at 2:45 p.m.
Tiz the Law, the 6-5 morning-line favorite who drew post 8, will bid to become just the fourth-ever state-bred Belmont winner and first since the 19th century, joining Ruthless [first winner in 1867], Fenian [1869] and Forester [1882].
The Barclay Tagg trainee is the race's only multiple graded stakes winner and has already registered a pair of Grade 1 triumphs, starting with his only previous Belmont Park appearance when he followed a debut win by posting a four-length victory in the Champagne in October.
After ending his juvenile year with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club in November at Churchill - his only non-winning effort in five career starts - the Constitution colt has dominated the start of his sophomore campaign, capturing the Grade 3 Holy Bull in February at Gulfstream by three lengths, earning a 100 Beyer Speed Figure that makes him the only Belmont entrant to record a triple-digit number.
The talented bay followed with a 4 ¼-length romp in the Grade 1 Florida Derby at the Belmont distance on March 28 at Gulfstream. Tiz the Law will now look to give Tagg a career Triple Crown, following the path of another New York bred in Funny Cide, who won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness before running third in that year's Belmont.
"It means a lot. You don't get top contenders all the time," Tagg said. "He's a nice horse. Hopefully he's as good we think. You work every day seven days a week, you just hope nothing happens and nothing goes wrong. But so far, so good. We're pleased with the way he's been doing and we're ready for the race."
Tiz the Law is a perfect 4-for-4 on fast tracks in his career. He has continued to train forwardly at Belmont, including a half-mile breeze in 50.42 seconds over Big Sandy on Sunday in his last work before the start of Triple Crown season.
"I asked him this morning and he said 'don't worry about it,'" Tagg joked. "Nothing seems to faze him in any way. I'd have rather been a little closer [post position-wise], but I don't think it makes much of a difference. He's coming in good; I can't be happier with him."
Jockey Manny Franco, NYRA's leading rider the last two years, will have his first career Belmont start after piloting Tiz the Law to wins in three of his last four starts.
"We love Manny," Tagg said. "He's been good for us. He's a very good rider."