There are only nine horses in the 2026 Belmont Stakes, with the two longest shots — 20-1 Ottinho and 30-1 Vitruvian Man — the easiest purges from your tickets. However, that doesn’t mean the 158th edition of the Triple Crown’s third jewel is devoid of betting potential.
While hitting a Pick 5 or Pick 6 is the ultimate wagering rush, not far behind is hitting a vertical wager at juicy odds, much like I did with the Golden Tempo-Renegade Kentucky Derby exacta that paid $278 for a $2 wager. Mint juleps all around.
My Belmont Stakes exacta, trifecta, and superfecta picks have many of the probable outcomes covered, given the race’s expected pace and how the form, pedigree, and running styles of the nine entries set up.
Read more in my free betting picks for Saturday, June 6.
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Belmont Stakes exacta pick
An exacta wager requires picking the first two horses to finish a race in the precise order. At Saratoga, the minimum exacta bet is $1. Bettors also have the option to “box” an exacta, allowing their selected Belmont Stakes horses to finish in any order while still winning the bet, though doing so increases the cost of the ticket.
Chief Wallabee is the likely winner of Belmont 158. He has the inside post position (Post 3) that complements the speed-favoring bias of both Saratoga and the Belmont, the stalking running style that wins races at the Spa and the Belmont, and enters the starting gate in good form after a strong fourth at the Derby.
Renegade has not missed the exacta since finishing third in his debut at Saratoga last August. As the best overall horse in the field and as a horse conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher — who watched an absurd 40.7% of his Belmont charges hit the board since 2000 — I must use him.
You may have forgotten Commandment since his troubled seventh-place Derby finish, but I haven’t. At 6/1 odds, that’s scintillating value for a colt who came into the Derby riding a four-race winning streak. He won five races at five different distances, with margins ranging from a nose to 6 3/4 lengths.
Emerging Market romped to victory in the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby, and we could see a horse with the speed and running style to wire the field. He’ll get a much more favorable pace than he did in his 10th-place Derby trip, when he hit the wall in the stretch.
$5 exacta box:
- To win: No. 3 Chief Wallabee
- Second place: No. 2 Powershift, No. 4 Renegade, No. 6 Growth Equity, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
Total = $25
$2 exacta box:
- To win: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
- Second place: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
Total = $24
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Belmont Stakes trifecta pick
A trifecta requires bettors to accurately select the Top 3 finishers in a race in exact order. While the potential payout is typically much larger than an exacta, the wager also comes with greater risk and higher ticket costs, even at the minimum betting amount of 50 cents.
While favorites have lost seven of the last 10 Belmonts, they’ve had a habit of hitting the board. The $1 Belmont trifecta has paid $312 or less in seven of the last nine years, a trend bettors experienced to their dismay last year when the $1 trifecta paid a measly $13.80. The chalky trip was brought to you by Sovereignty, Journalism, and Baeza, none of whom left the gate at greater than 7-2.
This is why we’re going to include Growth Equity and Powershift in our trifectas. Both colts carry morning-line odds of 12-1, and even if they go off at lower odds, they should still provide the value we seek here and likely won’t find with Renegade at 2-1 and Chief Wallabee at 3-1.
You’ll notice we’ve been shy, up until now, about Golden Tempo. Even his trainer, Cherie DeVaux, is overly cautious and not optimistic about her charge being able to close into the expected soft pace of this race. We’re including him at the bottom here as a defensive measure.
Growth Equity is our favorite sleeper, an improving colt with upwardly mobile speed figures and the running style that should put him in the mix at a good price.
Powershift is the second horse from Pletcher’s barn. I’m expecting him to serve as a rabbit for Renegade to close in on. Still, he provides value down-ticket because of the expected pace.
$2 trifecta box:
- To win: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
- Second place: No. 4 Renegade, No. 6 Growth Equity
- Third place: No. 2 Powershift, No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market, No. 9 Golden Tempo
Total = $54
$1 trifecta:
- To win: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade
- Second place: No. 6 Growth Equity, No. 7 Commandment, No 8 Emerging Market, No. 9 Golden Tempo
- Third place: No. 2 Powershift, No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade, No. 9 Golden Tempo
Total = $22
Belmont Stakes superfecta pick
The Belmont superfecta is one of the most challenging wagers to win because bettors must correctly predict the first four finishers in the exact order. However, that difficulty comes with the potential for substantial payouts. With a minimum bet of only 10 cents, it remains an accessible option for many horse racing fans.
I’m going to stay with my core group here, but I’m adding the “ALL” feature. This covers the entire field in that spot, meaning you have at least one place correct.
Our first includes our four favorites from our exacta box in the first three places and ALL in the fourth place, paying $18.
I’m shooting for the moon with my second: a $1 wager that again covers the entire field in fourth place, providing a $90 return.
$0.10 superfecta box:
- To win: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
- Second place: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
- Third place: No. 3 Chief Wallabee, No. 4 Renegade, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
- Fourth place: ALL
Total = $18
$1 superfecta pick:
- To win: No. 3 Chief Wallabee
- Second place: No. 4 Renegade, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market
- Third place: No. 2 Powershift, No. 4 Renegade, No. 6 Growth Equity, No. 7 Commandment, No. 8 Emerging Market, No. 9 Golden Tempo
- Fourth place: ALL
Total = $90
