Belmont Stakes 2024 odds, picks, post draw: Mystik Dan, Seize the Grey, Mindframe, Sierra Leone predictions (2024)

The final jewel of the Triple Crown has arrived, with the 2024 Belmont Stakes taking place at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday. There will not be a Triple Crown winner this year after Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby and Seize the Grey won the Preakness Stakes, but this is a rare opportunity for the Derby and Preakness winners to go head-to-head in the Belmont Stakes 2024. The 2024 Belmont Stakes distance has been shortened from 1.5 miles to 1.25 miles due to ongoing construction at Belmont Park. This race will be run at the same distance as the Kentucky Derby, which is a unique factor to consider before placing 2024 Belmont Stakes bets.

Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone is the 9-5 favorite in the 2024 Belmont Stakes odds, while Mindframe is 7-2 and Mystik Dan is 5-1. There are seven more 2024 Belmont Stakes horses listed between 8-1 and 20-1, but which ones have the most value in the 2024 Belmont Stakes today? The 2024 Belmont Stakes post time is 6:41 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 Belmont Stakes predictions, you'll want to see elite horse racing handicapper Jody Demling's 2024 Belmont Stakes picks and analysis.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling enters the 2024 Belmont Stakes having nailed the Derby-Oaks double 11 of the last 16 years. He also predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last six years and called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including 2023 when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta as well as the trifecta in 2024. Anybody following him in those races saw huge returns.

Now, with the Belmont Stakes 2024 approaching, Demling is sharing his picks and predictions over at SportsLine. Click here to see his picks for the third leg of the Triple Crown.

2024 Belmont Stakes predictions for Mystik Dan, Seize the Grey and Sierra Leone

Demling has locked in his picks for Seize the Grey, who just won the Preakness. Trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Seize the Gray won the Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard before wheeling back in two weeks to defeat the competition in the Preakness. In 10 lifetime starts, he has four wins, no second-place finishes, and three third-place results.

One unique aspect of Seize the Gray's style is that he can win as a frontrunner, as was shown in the Preakness, or from off the pace as was the case at Churchill Downs on May 4. Seize the Gray has experience at Saratoga, breaking his maiden here last summer and finishing third in an ungraded stakes race last August.See Demling's prediction for Seize the Grey here.

Demling has also locked in his 2024 Belmont Stakes picks for Mystik Dan, who won the Kentucky Derby by a nose in an epic finish. Mystik Dan will enter Saturday's Belmont 2024 at Saratoga full of confidence after his most recent performances. He was victorious at Churchill Downs and secured a second-place finish at the Preakness Stakes in May.

He's won two of his last four starts and has finished third or better in six of the eight races in his career. Mystik Dan broke his maiden in a maiden special weight race last November before winning the Southwest Stakes in February. On Saturday, Mystik Dan will become the first horse since War of Will in 2019 to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown when he breaks from the gate at the 2024 Belmont Stakes.See Demling's prediction for Mystik Dan here.

Sierra Leone has arguably been the most consistent three-year-old horse all winter and spring, finishing first or second in five career races. He broke his maiden at Aqueduct Racetrack last November before finishing second in the Remsen Stakes. Sierra Leone generated plenty of momentum heading into the Kentucky Derby, winning the Risen Star and Blue Grass Stakes.

The late closer came up just short in the first leg of the Triple Crown, coming from 17th to finish second by a nose to Mystik Dan. His stalking style suits this distance and field size, but it will also be the best field he has raced against. Trainer Chad Brown pivoted from jockey Tyler Gaffalione to Flavien Prat after the former was fined because he could not keep Sierra Leone from drifting down the stretch of the Kentucky Derby.See Demling's prediction for Sierra Leone here.

How to make 2024 Belmont Stakes picks, bets

Demling is also high on a double-digit longshot who will be "right there" in the end. Anyone who backs this horse could hit it big.Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected leaderboard, over at SportsLine.

Who wins the Belmont Stakes 2024? And which huge double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2024 Belmont Stakes odds below, thenvisit SportsLine to see Demling's picks for the 2024 Belmont Stakes, all from the expert who nailed trifecta at the Preakness and called four of the last six Belmont winners.

2024 Belmont Stakes horses, odds