SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It is time for another showdown at historic Saratoga Race Course.
Golden Tempo (Curlin) and Renegade (Into Mischief), the top two finishers in the GI Kentucky Derby are poised for a rematch in the $2-million GI Belmont Stakes Saturday at America’s oldest race track, where many titans of the sport have done battle over three centuries.
Separated by a neck in the dramatic finish of the Derby, Golden Tempo, a ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’, and Renegade are in leading positions of an up-for-grabs 3-year-old division. They are the headliners of the 158th running of the Belmont, which will be contested for the third and final time at Saratoga during the complete rebuild of Belmont Park.
A field of nine was entered for the post-position draw Monday, which was held at the Universal Preservation Hall downtown. The race, which has a scheduled post time of 7:04 p.m., will be run at 1 1/4 miles. The standard Belmont distance since 1926 is 1 1/2 miles, but it cannot be run at 12 furlongs over the 1 1/8- miles dirt course at Saratoga.
Renegade drew post four and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the Belmont by New York Racing Association odds maker David Aragona. In a little bit of a surprise, Aragona made ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ Chief Wallabee (Constitution), who was fourth in the Derby the second choice at 3-1. Golden Tempo is third on the morning line at 9-2 and will start from post nine.
“I think it’s a very competitive field,” Renegade’s Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Whoever works out the best trip will be the winner.”
Renegade, co-owned by Mike Repole and his breeders Lawana and Robert Low, managed to overcome a very difficult start from the rail in the Derby and was in position to win in deep stretch, but was overtaken by Golden Tempo, the late-running longshot at the wire. Pletcher, a four-time Belmont winner, also will saddle Repole’s Powershift (Constitution).
Golden Tempo’s last-to-first rally under Jose Ortiz was a historic milestone, making Cherie DeVaux the first woman to train a Derby winner. DeVaux prepped Golden Tempo for the Belmont at her base at Keeneland Race Course. He worked a half-mile under Ortiz in :48.20 Saturday and shipped Sunday to Saratoga where he will try to become the 13th horse to complete the Derby-Belmont double.
DeVaux said she is pleased with the way her colt has come out of the Derby.
“He has really improved physically and mentally,” she said. “He was starting that upward trend going into the Derby and he has continued that. ”
Although the sharp early pace suited Golden Tempo’s running style, DeVaux said she believes the colt bred and owned by Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, has the versatility to be successful even if there are more moderate early fractions.
“I only worry about the things that I can control and nothing else,” she said. “It’s a wasted use of emotion to worry about things like the pace. Jose has been on him and it’s going to be what it’s going to be on race day.”
After watching Golden Tempo win the Derby at 23-1 and Napoleon Solo (Liam’s Map) take the GI Preakness at 7.90-1, trainer Chad Brown said it made sense to enter the trio of ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Growth Equity (Nyquist) and Ottinho (Quality Road).
“Anyone in the field could win the race, the more I am thinking about it,” he said. “When you look at the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the two horses that won are very nice horses and you could make a case for them. I think everyone would agree, they were unlikely winners. I think they are top-quality horses, but they were unlikely winners. In the third leg, maybe there is more of the same. I don’t think you can go in thinking that only the likely winners are the main competition. I think anyone can win. It’s a quality field and it’s an evolving crop. We see unexpected things happening every major weekend. That is why I am going to run three horses in the race. I feel this whole Triple Crown season has been wide open.”
Golden Tempo and Renegade skipped the Preakness to wait for the Belmont. Napoleon Solo is bypassing the Belmont and will make his next start in the GI Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 18.
Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables owns Emerging Market (6-1) and Growth Equity (12-1). Emerging Market, who drew post eight, won the GII Louisiana Derby in his second career start and finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby.
Growth Equity will attempt to become the 10th winner of the GIII Peter Pan Stakes to take the Belmont. The last horse to do it was Arcangelo (Arrogate), who won both races in 2023. Growth Equity drew post six and will be ridden by Manny Franco
Bred and owned by Michael and Katherine Ball, longtime Kentucky trainers and owners, Chief Wallabee, is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who won the Belmont last year with Sovereignty. Jockey Junior Alvarado and Chief Wallabee will start from post three. They endured a difficult trip in the Derby and finished fourth, three lengths behind Golden Tempo.
Mott said he was fine with the post position and wasn’t surprised that his colt was made the second choice on the morning line.
“I thought it was fitting,” Mott said. “He ran well enough in the Derby to deserve that. I guess we are a little shorter than the Derby winner but I guess we were a shorter price in the Derby. I think it’s fair.”
Commandment (Into Mischief)’s four-race winning streak, capped by a nose victory in the GI Florida Derby, ended with a seventh-place finish in the Derby. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, twice a Belmont winner, takes over on the Waltham Racing colt trained by Brad Cox. Commandment (6-1) drew post seven.
Veteran jockey Dylan Davis will ride Three Chimneys Farm homebred Ottinho (20-1) for the first time from post five. Ottinho, a half-brother to champion, Horse of the Year, Hall of Famer and top sire Gun Runner, was a distant second in the GI Blue Grass to Further Ado (Gun Runner). He came out of the race with a hoof crack and did not compete in the Derby or the Preakness
Powershift (12-1), who drew post two, broke his maiden impressively at 1 1/16 miles in the opener of the Derby program at Churchill Downs. Luis Saez will ride the colt, who was a well-beaten sixth in the GIII Tampa Derby on March 7 in his stakes debut as a maiden.
Trainer Doug O’Neill sent Vitruvian Man (Vino Rosso) (30-1) from California to New York for his second try in a Grade I. He drew the rail. Glenn Sorgenstein bred and co-owns the colt, whose most-recent start was a third in the GI Santa Anita Derby on Apr. 4.
The new co-owners are Run Fast Racing, a partnership that includes recording artists Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, and Rauw Alejandro. Antonio Fresu will ride the colt named for a famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.
2026 GI Belmont Stakes field:
1 Vitruvian Man (Vino Rosso), Fresu, O’Neill, 30-1
2 Powershift (Constitution), Saez, Pletcher, 12-1
3 Chief Wallabee (Constitution), Alvarado, 3-1
4 Renegade (Into Mischief), Ortiz Jr, Pletcher, 2-1
5 Ottinho (Quality Road), Davis, Brown, 20-1
6 Growth Equity (Nyquist), Franco, Brown, 12-1
7 Commandment (Into Mischief), Velazquez, Cox, 6-1
8 Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Prat, Brown, 6-1
9 Golden Tempo (Curlin), Ortiz, DeVaux, 9-2
