On May 18, Seize the Grey ended Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan’s bid for the Triple Crown when he pulled away on a sloppy Pimlico track to win the 2024 Preakness. The two are scheduled to face off again in the Belmont Stakes this Saturday, but neither runner is favored to win the historic event.

With Belmont Park closed due to renovations until at least 2025, the New York Racing Association will run the 2024 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse for the first time. This historic context surrounding the event is a focal point in itself, as Saratoga typically only holds race for 40 days later in the summer. This inflates the race’s importance this year, despite the fact that there is no Triple Crown title on the line.

Mystik Dan and Seize the Grey may have captured the first two legs of this year’s Triple Crown, but oddsmakers for the Belmont have given them the cold shoulder. Mystik Dan is currently 5-1, marking him as nothing more than a contender, while Seize the Grey is 8-1, roughly the same odds he received before he won the Preakness.

Instead of those two runners, the betting public is expected to rally around a pair of horses trained by Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher, respectively. The two trainers have vied with one another in New York for decades and will enter the top two horses in this year’s Belmont: morning line favorite Sierra Leone and precocious up-and-comer Mindframe.

The two horses have had vastly different careers to this point. Sierra Leone, the 9-5 favorite trained by Brown, picked up several solid wins on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, only to fall short in a photo finish to Mystik Dan in Louisville. After the loss, Brown chose to skip the Preakness and prepare Sierra Leone for this race, where he seems well-poised to get revenge on his Derby rival.

Sierra Leone boasts a glowing three-year-old resume, but Pletcher’s best hope, Mindframe, has just two race under his belt and no stakes experience. He won both starts in commanding fashion, but Pletcher’s confidence to enter him in this race is just as responsible for his 7-2 odds on the morning line. Pletcher finished 1-2 in the 2022 Belmont and is sending out a trio of horses in this field

“He’s been super-impressive in his two races and the way he’s done that and how easily he’s won those races, how fast those races have been – it gives you the confidence he has the talent,” Pletcher said, according to The Racing Biz.

Between the wide open field and once-in-a-lifetime feel to the Saratoga setting, this year’s Belmont Stakes is sure to be remembered as unique. With some luck, it could come to mean even more.

The 155th Belmont Stakes has had two horse deaths in the 24 hours after the horse race took place at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York on Saturday.

This comes on the heels of the Kentucky Derby being moved to Ellis Park due to the investigation of 12 thoroughbred horse deaths last week at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

At Pimlico in Baltimore, Maryland, horse National Treasure, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who was coming off his ban, won at the Preakness Stakes. The race saw the euthanization of another horse, Havnameltdown.

According to New York Racing Association spokesman Pat McKenna, the horse, Mashnee Girl, who fell near the quarter pole, sustained a catastrophic injury to her left front leg.

McKenna said in a statement that a necropsy will be performed at Cornell University, as the 5-year-old mare was euthanized due to the severity of the injury. The results will be analyzed by the New York State equine medical director, along with Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) officials.

The spokesman stated that the NYRA, HISA and the New York State Gaming Commission will review the circumstances around the situation of the horse deaths.

This death is the latest for Belmont Park and the fourth since the spring-summer meet that began on May 4. McKenna said a total of 1,670 horses have started in 214 races since last month.

Mashnee Girl was trained by Mark Hennig and had three wins in 19 career starts (with earnings of $194,065). Hennig also trained the horse Excursionniste, who had to be put down after suffering “a catastrophic left front leg injury” in the 13th race for Belmont, which was the final one on the card, according to McKenna.

The Triple Crown, like the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, will be marred by recent horse deaths in their signature races.

Hall of Fame horse trainer Bob Baffert has been prohibited from registering horses in contests at New York racetracks. New York racing authorities announced this development on Monday. This means that Baffert will not be able to run any horses at courses such as Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. This comes along with an investigation into his horse Medina Spirit, who failed a drug test following a win at the Kentucky Derby. Baffert will not be able to compete with Medina Spirit at the Belmont Stakes.

“In order to maintain a successful thoroughbred racing industry in New York, NYRA must protect the integrity of the sport for our fans, the betting public, and racing participants,” stated David O’Rourke, chief executive of the New York Racing Association. O’Rourke also referenced “failed drug tests in the recent past” by Baffert that caused “the assessment of penalties against him by thoroughbred racing regulators in Kentucky, California, and Arkansas.” Five doping violations have been leveled against Baffert’s horses in these states.

Baffert did not make it official that he would compete with any horses for the third piece of the triple crown, but was apparently looking at entering other contests on the day of the Belmont Stakes. These regulations will prevent Baffert, his racehorses, and his assistants from setting foot on the grounds of any New York racetracks. This is an outcome that will without a doubt be unpleasant news to the owners of the various horses that are trained under Baffert.

Craig Robertson, Baffert’s lawyer, has made it apparent that he is appealing the decision and is in talks with Baffert about possible next steps.

“A final determination regarding the length and terms of Mr. Bafferts suspension will be based on information revealed during the course of the ongoing investigation in Kentucky, such as the post-Kentucky Derby Test results of Medina Spirit,” O’Rourke said in regards to the sanctions on Baffert.

The final element set to conclude the stress induced yet exhilarating triple crown saga kicks tomorrow afternoon at Belmont Park, N.Y. This race’s predecessors featured multiple eyebrow–raising components such as a rogue horse finishing without his jockey and a victory withdrawn due to a controversial interference disqualification, both of which only added to the growing hype each race draws. With all the dust cleared from an unusual yet entertaining first two races, large shoes to fill now appear before the 151st Belmont.

During the Belmont’s extensive history, only eight times has the favorite trotted across the finish line first, posting a lowly 5% win percentage. This year’s favorite, Tuesday Tacitus, looks to improve that disappointing number, highlighting the group with 9-5 odds. War of Will poises to race closely behind him with 2–1 odds following his victory at the Preakness Stakes two weeks ago. War of Will in fact stands alone as the only Preakness participant running at the Belmont this year. Although the two remain likely to emerge as pack leaders as the race enters its final turn, experts at the famously reliable SportsLine.com like Everfast at 12–1 odds while others surrounding the spectacle endorse Intrepid Heart at 10–1 odds.

These horses will look to conquer the triple crown’s longest track, measuring out as a one and a half mile loop. Although record breaking performances often emerge with little warning, the track record set by Secretariat remains the course’s fastest mark at 2:24, and with no participants this year illustrating the speed which the legendary race horse exhilarated audiences with during his 1973 triple crown run, his record now appears poised to remain intact for a remarkable 46th year. The course’s final 200 yards highlights multiple features establishing the Belmont as the toughest race, as leaders during the final leg frequently crumple and give way to those behind them as jockeys often mistakenly believe the race to be over, despite important real estate still between them and the finish line.

Often also standing as a somewhat of a celebration of New York, Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York blares throughout the park each year concluding the race, and therefore, triple crown series. The race will begin at 6:45 p.m. ETS , airing on NBC with tickets still available as well.

Justify has a relatively favorable post at this Saturday’s Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York, in his quest to secure a Triple Crown.

Justify Post For Belmont Stakes 2018

The reigning Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes-winning horse is seeking to become the first competitor to win the Triple Crown since American Pharaoh did it in 2015. Justify — led by jockey Mike Smith and trainer Bob Baffert — has been marked as having 4-5 odds to win the Belmont Stakes.

According to CBS Sports, after Justify in the odds rankings come Free Drop Billy (30-1), Bravazo (8-1), Hofburg (9-2) and Restoring Hope (30-1). In sixth place is Gronkowski, (12-1) the horse named after New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and that missed out on the Kentucky Derby because of an illness. Hofburg skipped the Preakness.

Justify won at Churchill Downs in May by 2.5 lengths. American Pharaoh was also trained by Baffert.

Hofburg is a son of star sire Tapit, the thoroughbred racehorse that was the sire of three of the past four Belmont Stakes champions. Vino Rosso, a horse trained by Todd Pletcher — who led Always Dreaming to win the 2017 Kentucky Derby — is also expected to be a major contender at Belmont.

Tickets for the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York are available now!

>BUY Tickets for Belmont Stakes (June 8)

The horse race, which will begin on Thursday June 8 at 11 am at Belmont Park. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com and start at $10.

There is a 12-ticket limit for reserved seats, which overlook the finish line. Admission to the track is included with the price.

Special seating accommodations may only be requested through Belmont Park’s representatives.

Something about horse racing has always inspired sports writers to put forth their best work. The sport exists of a time long since past in American history when bookies used to line the wooden railings and owning a horse was the peak of American wealth. Today, it is a rarity if a sports fan watches a race outside of any of the Triple Crown Races; in honor of the Belmont Stakes being run on Saturday we’ve decided to bring you some of the most timeless writing about horse races from men who defined the field of modern sports writing. Check it out below and tune in to the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to see American Pharoah go after the Triple Crown.

Death of A Racehorse by W.C. Heinz

Published in The Sun on July 29, 1949, Death of A Racehorse tells the story of Air Lift, full brother of Assault. The piece is a beautiful example of minimalism in writing; Heinz was a huge fan of Hemingway and you can see it in his clipped yet descriptive prose.

Excerpt: They were going to the post for the sixth race at Jamaica, two year olds, some making their first starts, to go five and a half furlongs for a purse of four thousand dollars.

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved by Hunter S. Thompson

This particular story was taken from Scanlan’s Monthly in 1970 when the father of “Gonzo” journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, traveled to Churchill Downs for the running of the 1970 Kentucky Derby. It is written in typical Thompson style with run-ins with characters from all walks of life, all told through a first person view. This essay was published one year before Thompson would become a household name after his work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Excerpt: I decided my only hope for credentials was to go out to the track and confront the man in person, with no warning–demanding only one pass now, instead of two, and talking very fast with a strange lilt in my voice, like a man trying hard to control some inner frenzy. 

Dead Sea Downs by Red Smith

Red Smith was one of the most highly respected horse racing journalists of all time and it’s difficult to pick a single story of his as definitive. Dead Sea Downs stands apart simply due to the unique subject matter of “the lowest gambling hell in the world”.

Excerpt: The gambling hell has no official name. Call it Dead Sea Downs or Qumran Park. It is a little Shoeless Joe of a racetrack on the desert, at present a casualty of last June’s Six-Day War but in its time a center of cheerful debauchery in a region where sin isn’t exactly an innovation.

Pure Heart by William Nack

Finally we get to the classic Sports Illustrated piece about Secretariat, the horse who in 1973 galloped onto the scene and won the first US Triple Crown in 25 years. The story that ran in SI is hailed as one of the great pieces of sports writing of all time. Nack expertly weaves in commentary about the horse’s career with personal observations in order to paint a full picture of Secretariat’s life.

Excerpt: Instead, for a full half hour, I stood by the paddock waiting for Robinson and gazing at Secretariat. The gift of reverie is a blessing divine, and it is conferred most abundantly on those who lie in hammocks or drive alone in cars. Or lean on hillside fences in Kentucky.

Coverage of the 147th Belmont Stakes begins on NBC at 4:30p.m. EST on June 6.