Belmont Stakes 2025: Derby vs. Preakness speed figures

The top three finishers of Kentucky Derby 2025 are back to throw down once again in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. As construction continues to rebuild the race's traditional home, Belmont Park, this is the second consecutive year it will be run at the shortened distance of 1 1/4 miles.

Eight 3-year-olds were entered in the Belmont Stakes, so let's take a look at how their lifetime speed figures match up.

*Beyer and TimeformUS speed figures are presented courtesy of Daily Racing Form.

Preakness winner Journalism has the fastest line across the board, topping out in all four figure rating scales. With a 139 HRN speed figure, he is 8 points faster than Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, who has a 131 coming into this race. Derby third-place finisher Baeza earned a 129 for his performance at Churchill Downs.

Newcomers for the Belmont Stakes include Todd Pletcher's duo of Sir Barton winner Crudo with a top HRN figure of 122 and allowance winner Uncaged at 107; Chad Brown's Peter Pan (G3) winner Hill Road with a 113 and Bob Baffert's Wood Memorial (G2) winner Rodriguez with a 128, who finally gets to test the Triple Crown after a hoof problem kept him out of the Derby and Preakness.

Hill Road, a highly regarded closer, comes in lighter than anticipated on all four speed figure scales. He's the sixth fastest on HRN, fifth fastest on Brisnet and Beyer, and fourth fastest on TimeformUS. If it was not apparent before that he is pace-dependent, this should make the case. 

Sovereignty, too, requires a stout pace to perform his best, but his above-average numbers in all four ratings scales show that he has more closing power to dip into should the early speed not materialize.