This is our exclusive Belmont Stakes betting guide, including early odds for Belmont Stakes contenders and the best places for betting on the Belmont Stakes.

Everything you need for the best Belmont Stakes bets

The Belmont Stakes is the third jewel of the American Triple Crown, and the race has been won by all-time greats like Ruthless, Man O’ War, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and American Pharoah. It is truly the test of the champion: a one and a half-mile (twelve-furlong) loop around Belmont’s sandy, demanding dirt track. It takes a horse with fitness, class, and distance pedigree to pass this test, and up to fourteen three-year-old Thoroughbred colts (and even fillies!) can try.

The Belmont Stakes will be run on Saturday, June 10, 2023 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. This has everything you need to know to get ready for the race and bet it like an expert!

Las Vegas Belmont Stakes Odds

Odds on the Belmont Stakes are subject to change as the race gets closer. As horses recover from the Preakness Stakes, the Peter Pan, or other prep races before the Belmont, trainers make their decisions about whether to send their horses to New York. Make sure to follow the latest news about how horses are coming into the Belmont; this can affect their odds!

NYRA will release morning-line odds after the Belmont Stakes draws. However, keep in mind that those odds are not guaranteed since betting on track is pari-mutuel, meaning the odds depend on the other bets that are made. Betting at an online sportsbook is better since they offer fixed-odds future wagers on the Belmont Stakes race and other major events!

These are the early Belmont Stakes odds for top contenders in the race as of April 13, 2023:

BovadaBetOnline ReviewBetUS Review
MageTBATBATBA
Tapit TriceTBATBATBA
ArcangeloTBATBATBA
Bishops BayTBATBATBA
KingsbarnsTBATBATBA

Best Belmont Stakes Betting Sites

You have always been able to bet the Belmont Stakes from the racetrack, and for decades you have had the option to bet on the race from an off-track betting shop (OTB) or Las Vegas casino. However, with COVID-19 safety precautions still in place, there has never been a better time to enjoy the modern convenience and safety of betting the Belmont Stakes online from home.

It can seem tough to choose the best site to play the Belmont Stakes. There are many online sportsbooks to choose from, and they all offer different odds and benefits. Fortunately, our wagering experts have evaluated many sportsbooks, and here they recommend the ones that offer the best odds, features, and bonuses.

Read on for the best sportsbooks for betting the 2023 Belmont Stakes online. All of them have excellent user interfaces and trusted payment and cashout features. They also offer players a wide range of incentives including horse racing rebates and deposit bonuses.

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Belmont Stakes Betting Resources

Once you have made your account at one or more of the best racebooks online, you need to make sure you know how to bet the races. If you are just learning how to play the races, or you’d like to refresh your knowledge, read these articles on the basics of smart horse racing betting:

Latest Free Belmont Stakes Picks

The field for the Belmont Stakes will not be drawn until Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Once the Belmont Park racing office draws the race, we will have the post time, post positions, trainers, jockeys, full analysis, and expert selections for the big race. Until then, keep an eye on the news about the contenders, keep in mind what you’ve learned from their previous races, and feel free to place a future bet if the odds are enticing!

Mage won the Kentucky Derby in style. He still has to get through the Preakness first, but if he wins that race as well he will be the favorite in the Belmont. He defied inexperience to win the Kentucky Derby, and though he came away a bit slowly in that race, he finished with all the gusto that the stamina in his pedigree suggested he would find. If he shows the tactical speed he has suggested he is capable of, all the better, since a more tactical trip tends to be the one that wins Belmonts.

If trainer Todd Pletcher sends a horse to the Belmont Stakes, make sure to watch that horse closely. After all, he has won the race four times, including in 2022 when his fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Mo Donegal came back to take the blanket of carnations ahead of stablemate Nest, and when his superstar filly Rags to Riches won in 2007.

Tapit Trice would be particularly interesting in the Belmont if Pletcher routes him that way. Tapit Trice has one of the better stamina pedigrees you will see in the United States. His one Achilles heel is his tendency to start slowly, but the smaller field in the Belmont compared to the Kentucky Derby can help in that regard. Kingsbarns is also one to watch for Pletcher; he ceded experience in the Belmont and suffered both a hot pace and a troubled trip, but his early speed may prove more of an asset in the Test of the Champion. Both of these horses also have four-time Belmont-winner producing sire Tapit in their pedigree: Tapit Trice is by Tapit, while Kingsbarns is out of a Tapit mare.

New Faces for the Belmont Stakes

The Peter Pan (G3) is the local prep for the Belmont, and two horses in the Peter Pan finished well clear of the rest: Arcangelo and Bishops Bay. Arcangelo got the best of it in a stretch duel, though Bishops Bay was the one who did the dirty work up front and almost held off the winner. Both are relatively inexperienced: the Peter Pan was Arcangelo’s first attempt against winners and Bishops Bay’s first try in a stakes race. But, both have significant upside should they choose to go to the Belmont, and from a betting perspective Arcangelo has the added bonus of being from the under-the-radar barn of Jena Antonucci.

Make sure to follow the news as the Belmont Stakes gets closer. More new horses are likely to start pointing to the race, and one or more of them might just be live longshots!

Why Do We Choose These Horse Racing Betting Sites?

The Belmont Stakes is one of the best betting races of the year, and as a bettor, you make the most of your money if you are placing your bets at a trustworthy sportsbook that offers the best Vegas odds and gives you the best betting incentives.

Whether you are just learning how to bet the horses or you’ve been playing them since you stood at the rail with your grandparents decades ago, finding the best place to bet the races online can be difficult given how many options there are. There is no substitute for advice from betting experts who know the online betting market inside and out.

That’s where we can help. Our experts have vetted every sportsbook listed on our site, and determined that they offer what you need to make betting the Belmont fun and profitable. They offer trustworthy payment and cash-out options, intuitive wagering interfaces, true Vegas odds, and excellent bonuses and incentives for Belmont Stakes players.

Sign up for our top sportsbooks, and be confident that you will have the best Belmont Stakes betting experience.

How to Bet on the Belmont Stakes — Top Tips to Win

Once you have read our sportsbook reviews and found the site with the best bonuses and features for you, it’s time to start handicapping the Belmont Stakes! As you think about the horses who are pointing toward the race, keep these handicapping principles in mind. They will help you separate the contenders from the pretenders, and pick a winner!

Pedigree

The Belmont covers a mile and a half of ground, which is the longest any of the horses in the race have ever gone. Since they have not had the chance to prove on the racetrack whether they can handle such a long distance, you have to look for clues in their pedigree about whether they will be able to handle it.

If their sire won the Belmont Stakes or another race of similar length, that is a positive to see. It is also good to see if any of their sire’s other foals have won going such long distances; for example, it is always a positive to see a Tapit baby running in the Belmont, since Tapit has already sired four winners (Tonalist, Creator, Tapwrit, and Essential Quality).

It is also good to look at the dam and her family. See if their dam liked to go long distances, or if any of her other foals have flourished at longer trips. Even if there are no mile and a half attempts in the close family, it’s a positive sign if there are any close relatives who did well going longer than usual for American racing, think a mile and an eighth or longer.

Experience Over the Track

Experienced horseplayers often refer to Belmont as “Big Sandy”, and with good reason. The course is huge and sweeping, a mile and a half around. And, the dirt footing is more sandy and taxing than it is at many other racetracks. This means a horse is going to have to be very fit to handle racing over it.

The best thing to see is race experience: if a horse has raced over the dirt at Belmont Park before and done well, you can be confident that they will handle the Belmont surface on race day once again. If a horse has not yet raced over the Belmont course, but you can find workout videos that show them handling the footing, that is also a positive point.

If there is no evidence that the horse with other upside in the Belmont Stakes has tried to handle the Belmont surface, make sure you are getting good enough odds to make up for that uncertainty. And, if a horse has raced poorly at Belmont before, especially if they’re a short price in the Belmont Stakes, it is a good idea to look elsewhere.

Running Style

When handicapping the Belmont Stakes, many people fall into the trap that since the Belmont Stakes is a mile and a half, that the speed horses are going to get tired and the closers are going to have enough distance to catch the frontrunners. However, there are several reasons this is a fallacy.

For one, if a closer does not have the stamina to make it a mile and a half, they’ll be as likely to tire as a horse who is placed more forwardly. Furthermore, looking through the results of the Belmont in previous years, sitting too far back typically leaves a horse too much to do. Belmont winners don’t have to set the pace, but they often have at least tactical speed.

So, when selecting your Belmont horses, give a little more consideration to horses who can race within close range of the leaders.

Belmont Stakes Odds Explained

Once you have decided what horses you like in the Belmont, it’s time to bet! Depending on the racebook you choose, you may see Belmont Stakes odds formatted in three common ways. Here is an explanation of the different formats:

  • American (+500): These are similar to what you see in American sportsbooks when betting other sports, and denote how much you win, but do not take into account getting back your initial stake. +500 means that for a winning $1 bet, you win $5. Add back your $1 initial stake, for a total of $6.
  • Fractional (5/1): These are similar to what you see if you are betting a race at a racetrack. 5/1 denotes, in fractional form, how much money you win, but not your initial stake. So, for a winning $1 bet at 5/1, you get back $5 in profit plus your $1 stake, for a total of $6.
  • Decimal (6.00): Particularly common in Canada, decimal odds reflect both the winnings and the returned stake together in one number. So, a winning $1 bet with 6.00 decimal odds means you get back a total of $6: including the $5 profit plus the $1 initial stake.

Knowing these odds formats will keep you informed as you read through the odds offered at your favorite sportsbooks, and have you ready to bet the Belmont Stakes like a pro!