Belmont Stakes 2024 predictions, picks, current odds, horses, time: Best bets from expert who hit the Derby
Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey and Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan will meet in a rematch on Saturday in the 2024 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Seize the Grey erased Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown hopes in the Preakness, and now they will race head-to-head again in the “Test of the Champion.” Sierra Leone is out for revenge as well after he lost to Mystik Dan in a three-way photo finish at Churchill Downs. He is the 9-5 favorite in the 2024 Belmont Stakes odds, while Mindframe is 7-2 and Mystik Dan is 5-1.
Mindframe has won both of his career starts in impressive fashion, prompting trainer Todd Pletcher to move him up in class to the Triple Crown series. The three-year-old has only run in a maiden special weight and an allowance race, so how should you approach him in your 2024 Belmont Stakes prediction? Post time is 6:41 p.m. ET. With an accomplished field set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you’ll want to see what SportsLine writer Gene Menez has to say before making any Belmont Stakes picks or horse racing predictions, given the success he’s had during this year’s Triple Crown.
A former reporter and editor at Sports Illustrated, Menez covered an array of sports, including horse racing, for the magazine and its website for almost 14 years. Between 2010 and 2012, he served as SI’s handicapper for the Triple Crown races and correctly predicted Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby in 2010.
In 2015, while writing for Sports on Earth, Menez accurately gave out the Kentucky Derby superfecta (American Pharoah, Firing Line, Dortmund and Frosted), which paid $1,268.20 for $2. Then in 2017, he tweeted out his Kentucky Derby picks, including Always Dreaming to win, and hit the Pick 4, which paid almost $6,900 on a $1 bet.
In a span of seven races last year for SportsLine, he cashed the winner of the Lecomte Stakes, the exacta in the Southwest Stakes, the winner of the Holy Bull Stakes, the winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes, and the trifecta in the Jenny Wiley Stakes. He also nailed National Treasure’s win in the Preakness. And last month, he gave out 18-1 Mystik Dan as a live longshot in the Kentucky Derby.
For Saturday, Menez has handicapped the 2024 Belmont Stakes field, made his picks and constructed his best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2024 Belmont Stakes predictions
One surprise: Menez is completely tossing Mystik Dan, even though he won the Kentucky Derby and finished second in the Preakness Stakes. Horses rarely compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown, as Max Player (2020) was the last to do so. Mystik Dan’s best speed figures have come on muddy tracks and he has been unable to replicate those performances on fast tracks.
He is now facing the toughest field of his career on short rest and several of the elite horses in the 2024 Belmont Stakes field are rested after skipping the Preakness. Mystik Dan has posted speed figures below 100 in two of his last three starts, which does not generate much confidence heading into this race. Menez says Mystik Dan’s odds are too short considering his lack of rest, so he is going in another direction with his pick to win the final leg of the Triple Crown. You can see all of Menez’s 2024 Belmont Stakes bets here.
How to make 2024 Belmont Stakes picks
However, Menez’s top pick is a horse who will be “right there when the horses hit the wire.” He also is high on a double-digit longshot who is coming off a performance that is “better than it looks on paper.” He is including these horses in his wagers, and so should you. He’s sharing which horses to back at SportsLine.
So who wins Belmont Stakes 2024? What double-digit longshot has a big chance to run well, and how has Menez constructed his wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Menez’s picks for the Belmont Stakes, all from the expert who gave out Mystik Dan as a live longshot in the Kentucky Derby, and find out.
