How to Bet $100 at the 2026 Belmont

Zero horses are running in all three legs of the Triple Crown, which is the latest reason why the race schedule has to be changed. Running the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in a span of five weeks is no longer good for the sport.

But what hurts the lightly contested Preakness helps the Belmont. That race, contested Saturday, is stacked. And there are abundant attractive betting options.

Five Kentucky Derby runners are wheeling back for this one. That includes the winner (Golden Tempo), the runner-up (Renegade), the fourth-place finisher (Chief Wallabee) and a pair of others who were expected to contend (seventh-place Commandment and 10th-place Emerging Market). Add in a colt coming off a splashy win on the Derby undercard (Powershift) and this should be a fun race.

Keep in mind that due to renovations at Belmont Park, this Belmont is being run at Saratoga, and at the same distance as the Derby: 1 ¼ miles. With the race being a quarter-mile shorter than the traditional Belmont, the running style should be similar to the first Saturday in May in Louisville.

Despite that, my $100 wagering strategy will start with taking a stand against Golden Tempo. I’m not alone in this, with the colt coming in as the 9–2 third choice in the morning line.

Everyone loves Golden Tempo’s story: the last-to-first Derby charge; the jockey who nipped his brother at the Churchill Downs wire to win the roses; the pioneering female trainer whose reactions during the stretch run made her a viral sensation. But a lot of things had to happen right for Golden Tempo to win, and that could be difficult to replicate.

For one thing, his winning Beyer Speed figure of 95 is not the stamp of greatness—it’s the slowest since that metric came into vogue some 30 years ago. For another, the competition will be looking for him this time around—the chances of a sneak attack surging past collapsing front-end speed are remote. Third, most of the Belmont horses Golden Tempo beat in the Derby endured rough trips: Renegade was bumped early and late; Chief Wallabee was crowded on the backstretch and bumped hard in the stretch; Commandment was caught up in the late jostling as well. With a field half the size as the Derby’s, there should be less trouble to navigate.

So I’m looking elsewhere for the winner, and I’m targeting the horse Golden Tempo beat by a neck last time out: Renegade. He was the morning-line Derby favorite, and came close to erasing a 40-year losing streak for horses in that race coming out of the No. 1 post. This time around he drew the No. 4, in the middle of the pack, and should have little difficulty settling in off the pace and making a closing rush.

One other element that could be in his favor: the presence of stablemate Powershift. If there is any concern about a more moderate pace that doesn’t soften up the race for a closer, Powershift could erase it by going to the front and keeping anyone from stealing it on the front end.

Renegade’s odds aren’t terribly juicy at 2–1, but the object is to cash tickets, not creatively lose. I’ll wager $30 to win on him.

The next bets are a couple of three-horse exacta boxes: a $4 box with Renegade (2–1), Chief Wallabee (3–1) and Emerging Market (12–1); and a $3 box with Renegade, Chief Wallabee and Peter Pan Stakes winner Growth Equity (also 12–1). The first is a total cost of $24, the second is $18. I’ll also do a $1 trifecta box with those four horses for a cost of $24.

Last bet is a hedge, just in case everything above is dead wrong: a $2 exacta box on Golden Tempo and Commandment (6–1). Total cost: $4. That wouldn’t win enough to break even on the race if all else fails, but it would be better than not cashing at all.

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