Belmont Stakes Payouts and Purse Breakdown

Key Takeaways:

• Historically, the Belmont Stakes is won by the favorite about 42% of the time, but since 2000, that has dropped to 28%, though many still finish in the top three.
• In 2002, Sarava saw the highest win payout in Belmont history at $142.50; long shots often provide strong value.
• Exacta bets can provide major returns, such as $2,454.00 in 2002 or $928.00 in 2011, even when combined with mid-priced runners.
• Even though the race is taking place in Saratoga and is temporarily shortened to 1¼ miles, it remains one of the best betting races in U.S. horse racing.

The Belmont Stakes, the last of the three Triple Crown races, happens three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. In 2025, that means the race happens on Saturday, June 7.

Traditionally, the Belmont Stakes covers 1 ½ miles on the Belmont Park dirt, making it the longest race of the Triple Crown series and one of the longest races the entrants ever contest. However, in 2024 and 2025, the race is a little shorter: 1 ¼ miles, the same length as the Kentucky Derby.

This is because, during the Belmont Park construction project, the race is being run at Saratoga Race Course. To run 1 ½ miles on the dirt at Saratoga, the starting gate would have to be put on a turn, so the New York Racing Association shortened it up. The horses go the Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes (G1) distance instead. It is still one of the longest distances in American horse racing, however, and makes for a fascinating betting picture.

Get ready to bet on the Belmont Stakes winner with FanDuel Racing. Stay updated on the latest Belmont odds as we approach The Test of the Champion!

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Belmont Stakes Betting Payouts

In addition to being one of the classiest and most exciting races of the year, the Belmont Stakes is one of the best betting races of the year. As with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, historical trends can help you get an idea of where the value tends to be in the betting pool, and thus how to choose your wagers wisely to go for maximum payouts.

Keep these historical trends in mind as you assess the entrants in the third jewel of the Triple Crown!

Performance of Favorites in the Belmont Stakes

Favorites in the Belmont Stakes tend to run well, though in the long term, they are not the best bets to make in the win pool. This is part of what makes the Belmont Stakes an excellent betting race.

Performance of Favorites in General

In 156 runnings, dating back to the first Belmont Stakes in 1867, 66 favorites have won the race, meaning a 42.3% historical strike rate for favorites. In the 25 editions since 2000, only seven have gone on to become the Belmont winner—that’s a 28% strike rate, meaning favorites in recent editions have been generally less successful than in history.

However, that isn’t to say favorites haven’t been running well at all in recent times—favorites have finished in the Belmont Stakes trifecta in 17 of those 25 editions (68%), including every year from 2017 to the present. Based on that trend, it can be a good idea to key the favorite in the Belmont Stakes, and build around them with longer shots and new faces who like Saratoga or look like they want to step up in trip.

Bet Against Odds-On Favorites

Historically speaking, it is smart to bet against odds-on favorites in the Belmont Stakes. Going back to 1940, when on-track bookmaking was replaced with pari-mutuel wagering in New York, there have been 37 horses who went off at less than even money.

Thinking in terms of implied odds, even-money means the horse has a 50% chance to win the race, and less than even-money suggests the horse has more than a 50% chance. Yet, of those 37 odds-on favorites, only 14 have gone on to be the winning horse – a 37.8% strike rate. Favorites at less than even money have gone 3-for-6 since 2000, which is still an underlay for horses whose implied odds are lower than 50%.

Recent Belmont Stakes Win Payouts

These are the payouts for Belmont Stakes winners since 2000:

Highest Belmont Stakes Payouts

Given the length of the Belmont Stakes and its taxing position on the calendar as the third and final jewel of the Triple Crown, some surprising long shots have won the Belmont over its history. None has been so surprising, of course, as Sarava: the $142.50 winner trained by Kenny McPeek in 2002, who was ignored at the windows in his graded-stakes debut behind Triple Crown hopeful War Emblem, and then outbattled Medaglia d’Oro in a thriller.

Though some of the longest prices in the Belmont Stakes have come when horses failed Triple Crown bids, that hasn’t been the case for every one of the longest prices in history, among the ten longest shots to win the race, seven of the ten were Triple Crown spoilers—though Temperence Hill, Ruler On Ice, and Commendable blew up the tote despite there not being a Triple Crown on the line.

These are the ten longest shots to win the Belmont Stakes:

Belmont Stakes Exacta Payouts

One of the best ways to go for a big payout in the Belmont Stakes is to play exotic wagers. They are more difficult to hit than straight win, place, or show wagers since they depend on the performance of more than one horse. However, it’s a great way to make the most of an opinion.

For example, if you have a strong opinion on one horse, and a limited list of others you think can run well, you can use your strong opinion as a key and then play a few other horses around them in an exacta key or key box wager. This especially works if you have a long shot key, or a strong favorite to key around a few longer shots. For example, the $2 exacta with Triple Crown winner Justify over long shot Gronkowski still paid $89.00 despite the odds-on winner, and in 2013, the exacta paid $323.50 despite the fact that last-out Preakness winner Oxbow finished second.

These are the Belmont Stakes exacta finishers, their win pool odds, and the $2 exacta payouts for each year since 2000:

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