Belmont Stakes 2024 predictions, picks, current odds, horses, time: Best bets from expert who nailed the Derby
Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone will try to repeat the success of favorites when he faces nine other 3-year-olds in the 2024 Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. In the 155 previous editions of the Belmont, 66, or 42.6%, have been won by the betting favorite. That includes the favorite winning three of the last four years and four of the last six. On Saturday, Sierra Leone is the 9-5 favorite in the 2024 Belmont Stakes odds. The talented but lightly raced Mindframe (7-2), Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (5-1) and Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey (8-1) round out the top four favorites among the 2024 Belmont Stakes horses.
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. The Kentucky Derby winner ran creditably as the 5-2 favorite in the Preakness Stakes, but still finished second to frontrunning winner Seize the Grey. For the Belmont 2024, Mystik Dan is the 5-1 third choice behind Sierra Leone (9-5) and Mindframe (7-2).
Statistics show that, since 1995, Belmont runners whose last start came in the Preakness, such as Mystik Dan, have not run as well as runners who made their last start in the Kentucky Derby. “I think Mystik Dan will be hard-pressed to produce another top-notch effort,” Menez told SportsLine. Menez is not using Mystik Dan in any of his wagers. 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.
