After skipping the Preakness, Golden Tempo returns to headline the 2026 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, where nine horses will race 1 1/4 miles. Renegade, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, starts as the morning-line favorite as jockey and trainer pairings
Saturday’s Belmont Stakes didn’t just set up a New York rematch from the Kentucky Derby—it sets up a question that hangs over every stride: can the Triple Crown title be taken by a horse that didn’t even run the middle race?
The Belmont will host a New York rematch of the top two finishers from the Kentucky Derby as the Triple Crown wraps up for 3-year-olds in 2026. Nine horses are set to compete in the finale—because no horse will sweep the series. Derby winner Golden Tempo skipped the Preakness Stakes in Maryland on May 16.
In the morning line, Renegade—who lost the Kentucky Derby to Golden Tempo by a neck—was picked as the favorite at 2-1. The odds will shift as bettors place wagers ahead of Saturday’s approximate post time of 7:04 p.m. ET.
The field is listed in order by post position with morning-line odds as follows:
1. Vitruvian Man, 30-1
2. Powershift, 12-1
3. Chief Wallabee, 3-1
4. Renegade, 2-1
5. Ottinho, 20-1
6. Growth Equity, 12-1
7. Commandment, 6-1
8. Emerging Market, 6-1
9. Golden Tempo, 9-2
The Belmont Stakes. known as the Test of the Champion. is usually the longest race in the Triple Crown at 1 1/2 miles. But this Saturday’s race will be 1 1/4 miles—the same length as the Derby. The shift is tied to the configuration of the main racetrack at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs. New York. where the Belmont has been held since 2024.
Renegade comes in with momentum that traces back through a tight run of major wins. After his second-place finish at the Derby on the first Saturday of May. he won the Arkansas Derby in March and Florida’s Sam F. Davis Stakes in February. The bay colt also finished second in December’s Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City.
Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Renegade in the Belmont, as he did in the Kentucky Derby. The 33-year-old is seeking his third Belmont victory after winning with Mo Donegal in 2022 and Creator in 2016. In this year’s Preakness, Ortiz was aboard Talkin, who finished 12th.
Todd Pletcher trains Renegade. He also teamed up with Ortiz for Mo Donegal’s Belmont victory. Pletcher has saddled three other Belmont winners: Tapwrit in 2017, Palace Malice in 2013 and the filly Rags to Riches in 2007. In addition to Renegade, Pletcher has Powershift in Saturday’s race, with Powershift given 12-1 odds in the morning line.
Chief Wallabee enters the Triple Crown opener with a different kind of story—one built around placing near the front and then arriving to the Belmont with a clear line to last year’s winning rhythms. Given 3-1 on the morning line, Chief Wallabee finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby.
Before that Derby finish, the bay colt came into the opener after finishing third in the Florida Derby in March behind Commandment, who won. A month before the Florida Derby, Chief Wallabee came in second behind Commandment at the Fountain of Youth Stakes in Florida.
Junior Alvarado will be aboard Chief Wallabee in the Belmont. The 40-year-old rode Sovereignty to victory in last year’s Derby and Belmont. At this year’s Preakness, Alvarado finished in 13th place aboard Crupper.
Alvarado and trainer Bill Mott have a connection that follows their horses through both Kentucky and New York. They teamed up with Mott for Sovereignty’s wins in Kentucky and New York. and they are together again for Chief Wallabee’s run at the Belmont. Mott has also saddled another winner in the Triple Crown’s third jewel: Drosselmeyer in 2010.
Golden Tempo’s situation is the one nobody can ignore. With 9-2 morning-line odds. the Kentucky Derby winner has a chance to become the 13th horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont. But the fact that he is coming in fresh from skipping the Preakness—after winning the Derby—puts extra weight on what happens next.
Golden Tempo raced in New Orleans ahead of the Run for the Roses, winning January’s Lecomte Stakes and finishing third in February’s Risen Star Stakes. The bay colt also finished third in March’s Louisiana Derby, which was won by fellow Belmont contender Emerging Market.
Jose Ortiz, who rode Golden Tempo to victory in the Kentucky Derby, will have the mount in the Belmont. The 32-year-old made it to the winner’s circle with Tapwrit in 2017 and came close with several horses that finished second: Nest in 2022. Tacitus in 2019 and Gronkowski in 2018. At the Preakness, Ortiz finished third aboard Chip Honcho.
Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, was born in Saratoga Springs and made history as the first woman to saddle a winner at the Kentucky Derby. She could become the second woman to train a Belmont winner, after Jena Antonucci won with Arcangelo in 2023.
Commandment is next on the grid with 6-1 morning-line odds, carrying wins from Florida into the Belmont. In addition to winning Florida’s Mucho Macho Man Stakes in January, the bay colt also won the Florida Derby. But Commandment couldn’t keep his winning streak going at the Kentucky Derby, where he finished seventh.
John Velazquez will be aboard Commandment in the Belmont. The 54-year-old came in 11th in both the Derby and the Preakness, with Further Ado and Corona de Oro, respectively. Velazquez has ridden two Belmont winners—Union Rags in 2012 and Rags to Riches in 2007—and he’s come in second three times: Fly Down in 2010. Dunkirk in 2009 and Bluegrass Cat in 2006.
Trainer Brad Cox will be going for his second Belmont win with Commandment. He went to the winner’s circle at the Belmont for the first time in 2021 with Essential Quality. Essential Quality was one of two Cox saddled in that year’s Kentucky Derby to finish in the money. coming in third. while Mandaloun won the race.
Emerging Market is also set at 6-1 on the morning line. After winning the Louisiana Derby, the chestnut colt came in 10th place in the Kentucky Derby.
Flavien Prat rode Emerging Market in the Derby and will have the mount in the Belmont. The 33-year-old is entering his sixth straight year at the race. with his first ride being his best so far—finishing second aboard Hot Rod Charlie in 2021. At the Preakness, Prat had the mount when Iron Honor came in second.
Iron Honor is trained by Chad Brown. and Brown is saddling Emerging Market in the Belmont as well as Growth Equity and Ottinho. who were given 12-1 and 20-1 odds in the morning line. respectively. This year will be Brown’s sixth looking for a win at the Belmont. He came close in 2018, when Gronkowski came in second.
Only one horse in the morning line was given the long-shot odds of 30-1: Vitruvian Man.
Back in 2024, the Belmont arrived at Saratoga Race Course, and it’s scheduled to stay there for now—but not forever. The race is expected to return to its home of Belmont Park on New York’s Long Island in 2027 following a major redevelopment project that’s set to be completed later this year.
For Saturday. though. all attention stays locked on the 1 1/4-mile test at Saratoga and the way the Kentucky Derby result is about to be rewritten one final time. With Golden Tempo sitting out the Preakness on May 16 and Renegade carrying a 2-1 morning-line favorite bid after losing by a neck. the Belmont isn’t just the last leg of the Triple Crown—it’s the moment when the series decides whether the runner-up gets his chance back. or the skipped-race winner turns absence into advantage.
2026 Belmont Stakes Golden Tempo Renegade Saratoga Race Course Triple Crown Irad Ortiz Jr. Jose Ortiz morning-line odds 7:04 p.m. ET
Wait Golden Tempo skipped the Preakness but still runs the Belmont? How does that even count for the Triple Crown then.
Renegade being the morning-line favorite at 2-1 seems backwards to me. Didn’t he lose by a neck? Like bettors really think he fixes that in one week.
So it’s a New York rematch from the Kentucky Derby… but the question is can you still win Triple Crown if you didn’t even run the middle race? I thought the middle race was required no matter what, like rules are rules. Maybe they changed it this year? Idk.
Belmont at 1 1/4 miles, got it. I’m just confused why they keep saying “no horse will sweep the series” like it’s already decided. Also Saratoga usually has its own vibe, so I feel like the odds will swing hard at the last minute.