The 2022 Belmont Stakes will be run on Saturday, June 11, 2022 at Belmont Park! The race drew eight of the most talented three-year-olds in the crop, and they will go a demanding mile and a half distance. The winner gets the lion’s share of $1.5 million, the iconic carnation blanket, and a place in horse racing history!
Betting this horse race is also one of the greatest challenges of the year, since the distance is so long and the whole field is still maturing. This is the place for expert insight, both about which horses to play in the race and the best places to bet the Belmont Stakes online!
Betting the Belmont Stakes Online
Even if you cannot make it to New York for the Belmont Stakes, you can still be a part of the action by signing up for an online sportsbook. Though you have many options, our expert online racebook reviews are here to help. All of our recommended sportsbooks have trusted deposit and cash-out features, great user interfaces, and real Vegas odds on the race!
Sites are also offering excellent sign-up incentives and horse betting deposit bonuses that can earn you hundreds of dollars in free bets, just for registering and funding your account. This can help make betting the Belmont from the comfort of home even more profitable!
The Triple Crown So Far
Though there is no Triple Crown at stake in the 2022 Belmont Stakes, there are still several great storylines and it should be an excellent betting race. Rich Strike, the 80-1 longshot winner of the Kentucky Derby, is returning in the Belmont Stakes and will try to prove his triumph in Louisville was no fluke.
Though Preakness winner Early Voting will not contest the Belmont, Rich Strike will see several others from the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Mo Donegal and Barber Road, who ran fifth and sixth in the Kentucky Derby, line up to oppose him once again. Creative Minister and Skippylongstocking, third and fifth in the Preakness, make another attempt at Triple Crown glory as well.
Belmont Stakes Field and Odds
These are the official entrants for the 2022 Belmont Stakes, along with their post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning line odds:
- We the People (Rodolphe Brisset/Flavien Prat) - 2/1
- Skippylongstocking (Saffie Joseph, Jr./Manuel Franco) - 20/1
- Nest (Todd Pletcher/Jose Ortiz) - 8/1
- Rich Strike (Eric Reed/Sonny Leon) - 7/2
- Creative Minister (Ken McPeek/Brian Hernandez, Jr.) - 6/1
- Mo Donegal (Todd Pletcher/Irad Ortiz, Jr.) - 5/2
- Golden Glider (Mark Casse/Dyland Davis) - 20/1
- Barber Road (John Ortiz/Joel Rosario) - 10/1
These odds are simply the morning line, the track’s best guess as to what the odds will be in the pari-mutuel pools. Your best bet is to keep checking the odds at the best online sportsbooks, and lock them in with a wager once you see the odds you like on your horse.
These are the prices right now at the best online sportsbooks, on the horses atop the market:
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| We the People | +225 | +200 | +275 |
| Mo Donegal | +250 | +250 | +300 |
| Rich Strike | +400 | +350 | +475 |
| Creative Minister | +650 | +600 | +675 |
| Nest | +800 | +800 | +750 |
| Barber Road | +1200 | +1000 | +1300 |
Belmont Contenders
The likely favorite, and the likely pacesetter, is We the People. A winner over the Belmont course in the Peter Pan (G3), he should get his preferred front-end trip this time as well. He has some good distance pedigree, being by a son of Tapit out of a Tiznow mare, but the closer generations of his dam’s family show their class as sprinter-milers, raising questions about the final furlong.
That could mean good news for Mo Donegal. Stoutly bred top and bottom, he has been a closer in recent starts, but the tactical speed he showed earlier in his career makes him a threat if strong Belmont jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. reverts to that style. Trainer Todd Pletcher is a New York-based trainer who already has three Belmont wins, and Mo Donegal is the stronger half of a good one-two punch.
The other half of the Pletcher brigade is Nest. This filly needs to improve from her second-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks, but her distance pedigree and the talent she showed in the Ashland give her that chance. She is another who, like her stablemate, has enough form close to the pace early in her career to suggest that she can tap back into that more tactical style and be a threat on Belmont day.
As for Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, be cautious. He benefited significantly from the hot pace in the Kentucky Derby and will not get that in the Belmont. His form and distance pedigree may get him a minor award, but he will be a significant underlay on the win end.
Belmont Longshot
Barber Road still has not won a stakes race, but he keeps showing up and running good races against increasingly difficult fields. Though he closed from last to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby, some of his earlier efforts show that he is not wedded to that closing style. He will not likely pass them all in the Belmont, but his consistency and versatility could get him his customary share of the exotics.
Free Belmont Bets
Here are your best bets for the 2022 Belmont Stakes!
- $20 to win - #6 Mo Donegal
- $1 exacta key - #6 Mo Donegal with #1 We the People, #3 Nest
- $1 trifecta key - #6 Mo Donegal with #1 We the People, #3 Nest, #8 Barber Road
- 20 cent superfecta key - #6 Mo Donegal with #1 We the People, #3 Nest, #4 Rich Strike, #8 Barber Road
