The 2026 Triple Crown concludes with the Belmont Stakes at 7:04 p.m. ET at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday night, but there are plenty of terrific stakes races before we get to the “Test of a Champion.”
The action kicks off at 11 a.m. ET, but we’ll focus on a few of the stakes races in the afternoon to try and pad our bankroll before the headliner at Saratoga.
We’ll start with Race 7, which comes your way right before 3 p.m. ET.
Race 7: Just a Game Stakes, 2:47 p.m. ET
The first stakes race on the card will see a field of eight go a mile on the turf, and it’s no wonder that Chad Brown has the clear favorite.
Brown has won this race four years on the spin, so expect No. 3 Segesta (7-5) to hold firm as the one to beat.
Brown’s other horse, No. 2 Sandtrap (3-1) of Ireland, is the second choice.
We’ll try and end the Brown run with a different European invader, No. 4 Mandanaba (6-1).
A French visitor with two wins in five tries against stakes competition, Mandanaba should have the class to give Segesta all she can handle in this tilt.
The Pick: No. 4 Mandanaba (6-1) to win
Race 11: The Met Mile, 5:32 p.m. ET
Plenty of familiar names in this field, including the favorite No. 1 Nysos (9-5) and last year’s Preakness winner No. 7 Journalism (5-2).
Most punters will bet on this being a two-horse race between the chalk, but there is another contender at a much better price worth considering.
No. 3 Antiquarian (6-1) is a serial winner with five victories in his 11-race career, and he’s coming off an impressive triumph at this distance at the Westchester Stakes on May 3.
If the two heavyweights take as much of the money as we think, you could get a terrific price on a horse that will be more than comfortable in these conditions.
The pick: No. 3 Antiquarian to win (6-1)
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Race 12: Manhattan Stakes, 6:11 p.m. ET
The final race before the big one, the Manhattan Stakes, is headlined by No. 6 Bright Picture (3-1).
A French horse trained by the legendary Andre Fabre, you can expect the favorite to take a ton of action as horseplayers will know that Fabre doesn’t ship his horses to America unless he knows they can handle it. Plenty of punters will use Bright Picture as the first leg of a Manhattan/Belmont Stakes double.
Hard to go against Fabre, but we can try to add some value by using No. 2 Test Score (12-1). He fell flat at the Turf Classic on Kentucky Derby weekend, but his race before that was an eye-popper, taking down the field at the Pegasus Turf in January. He’s got five wins, including four against stakes company, in his 14-race career.
Box: 6, 2
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
