Belmont Stakes 2026 FULL Preview & Predictions: How to Bet the Race
The Early Edge: A Daily Sports Betting Podcast
CBS Sports, Sports Betting, Sports Gambling, Picks
4.5 • 778 Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Belmont Stakes returns to Saratoga Race Course for the third consecutive year, and the Early Edge crew is here to break down the entire field. Sia Nejad is joined by horse racing experts Jeff Hochman and Gene Menez to discuss the top contenders, longshot plays, and their favorite bets for one of horse racing's biggest events.
Can Derby winner Golden Tempo deliver another victory? Is Renegade poised to bounce back after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby? Or will Chief Wallabee emerge as the horse to beat?
The crew shares their thoughts on the favorites, identifies value plays further down the board, and reveals their best bets, exactas, trifectas, and longshot selections for Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
🏇 Top Belmont Stakes Contenders
💰 Best Betting Values
🎯 Longshot Picks
📈 Exactas & Trifectas
🏆 Official Belmont Stakes Best Bets
#BelmontStakes #HorseRacing #TripleCrown #Belmont2026 #SportsBetting #EarlyEdge #KentuckyDerby #HorseRacingPicks
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | For the third year in a row, we're off to Saratoga Springs for the Belmont Stakes. |
| 0:10.4 | It'll be back in Belmont Park next year. |
| 0:12.6 | We got Gene Menace, Jeff Hockman, to break it all down. |
| 0:15.4 | And gentlemen, before we talk about anything, I just feel like we should talk about the horses |
| 0:19.5 | and get your thoughts on all of |
| 0:22.2 | the top ones, if you will. Renegade, Gene is about a two to one betting favorite, unless those odds |
| 0:27.9 | have changed in the last few minutes here. I want to get your thoughts on Renegade second at the |
| 0:32.9 | Kentucky Derby, and he's such a short favorite. I just wonder from a betting strategy standpoint, |
| 0:37.9 | how do you deal with Renegade? And more importantly, do you think he's deserving of this number? |
| 0:45.0 | Well, actually, that number has gone down quite a bit. It's still early in the wagering for the |
| 0:51.2 | Belmont Stakes, but the last I saw, he was four to five in the early wagering |
| 0:56.8 | for tomorrow's race, and that is way too costly for me. Listen, I know what happened in the |
| 1:04.0 | Kentucky Derby. Everybody saw what happened out of the starting gate. He was bumped, slammed almost sideways, still recovered and nearly |
| 1:15.0 | won the race, losing only by a neck to golden tempo. But you can actually make the case that |
| 1:21.3 | the trouble at the start of the race benefited him because that way, he wasn't actually |
| 1:26.9 | dragged into the pace meltdown |
| 1:29.5 | that the other horses in front of him were. He was 16th early |
| 1:34.6 | way at the back of the pack Golden Tempo was behind him |
| 1:38.1 | and he came with his patented late run to finish second. You know |
| 1:43.1 | did he could he have won the race without that trouble? |
| 1:46.0 | Perhaps, possibly. |
| 1:48.0 | I think it's actually pretty likely. |
... |
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