SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK – JUNE 05: Sovereignty trains on the track during a morning workout, prior to the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on June 05, 2025 in Saratoga Springs, New York.
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It’s the rematch the horse racing world is clamoring for as Preakness Stakes winner Journalism takes on Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty tonight at the 2025 Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs, New York.
The hotly anticipated “Test of the Champion” race comes three weeks after Journalism won a thrilling, come-from-behind contest at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland on May 17. That came after the horse, favored to win the Kentucky Derby two weeks prior, was upset by Sovereignty in their May 3 race in Louisville. Now, the two horses and six others will meet in what is shaping up to be one of the more anticipated horse races of the year.
Do you want to know how, where and when to watch the 2025 annual Belmont Stakes? Below, we’ll break down all of the details to know now.
What time does the 2025 Belmont Stakes race start?
Saturday night’s main race is set to start at 7:04 p.m. ET, just a few minutes after the Derby typically begins and three minutes after the Preakness Stakes, but this could change by a few minutes one way or another, so viewers who want to catch the action live are encouraged to tune in earlier than the actual post time.
How can I watch the 2025 Belmont Stakes on TV?
Racing action begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1 before shifting to Fox at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, according to Fox Sports.
Streaming services that offer Fox will also have this year’s Belmont Stakes to stream live. So, that means viewers considering Sling TV, Fubo or Hulu can all catch the racing action via one of those streaming apps.
What’s the lineup of horses for this year’s Belmont Stakes?
Here are the eight horses set to run in this year’s Belmont Stakes, along with their current odds:
Hil Road (10-1)
Sovereignty (2-1)
Rodriguez (6-1)
Uncaged (30-1)
Crudo (15-1)
Baeza (4-1)
Journalism (8-5)
Heart of Honor (30-1)
What’s the 2025 Belmont Stakes purse?
The winner of this year’s Belmont Stakes will win a $2 million purse, and if the horse is Journalism or Sovereignty, they’ll also secure bragging rights after winning two of the three biggest horse races of the entire year. Neither, however, will be a Triple Crown winner, which requires winning all three races, the last of which was Bob Baffert’s Justify who swept all three races in 2018.
Matt Richardson is the senior managing editor for the Managing Your Money section for CBSNews.com. He writes and edits content about personal finance ranging from savings to investing to insurance.
The Belmont Stakes is set to host a rematch in New York on Saturday of the top three finishing horses from the Kentucky Derby to close out horse racing’s Triple Crown for 2025.
Five weeks after Sovereignty won the Derby over Journalism and Baeza, the three horses will be among the eight competing in the last race of the Triple Crown — the series for 3-year-olds consisting of the Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont. Sovereignty’s connections chose to skip the Preakness in Baltimore to prepare for the Belmont, meaning no horse would win the Triple Crown this year.
2025 Belmont Stakes horses and odds
Journalism, who won the Preakness two weeks after coming in second at the Derby, was picked as the morning-line favorite for the Belmont with 8-5 odds. The odds will change as bettors place their wagers leading up to Saturday’s approximate post time of 7:04 p.m. EDT. Here’s a list of all the horses racing in the Belmont in order by their number with their morning-line odds:
1. Hill Road, 10-1
2. Sovereignty, 2-1
3. Rodriguez, 6-1
4. Uncaged, 30-1
5. Crudo, 15-1
6. Baeza, 4-1
7. Journalism, 8-5
8. Heart of Honor, 30-1
The Belmont will be 1 1/4 miles long instead of the usual 1 1/2 miles, making the race known as the Test of the Champion the same length as the Derby. The change is because the Belmont is temporarily being held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, about a 45-minute drive north of the state capital of Albany.
“Shame the Belmont is not a mile-and-a-half,” said Heart of Honor’s trainer, Jamie Osborne, according to a news release after the Preakness. The brown colt didn’t have the best start, but passed four horses to finish fifth in the 1 3/16-mile race, the shortest of the Triple Crown races.
The Belmont is expected to return to Long Island’s Belmont Park next year after the completion of a massive redevelopment project.
While the Triple Crown has been won twice in the past decade — with American Pharoah ending a 37-year drought in 2015 and Justify in 2018 — winning just the Preakness and the Belmont has become more of a novelty. It was last accomplished in 2005 by Afleet Alex, who finished third in the Derby.
At the Preakness, Journalism barreled down the stretch to overcome Gosger and win by half a length at Pimlico Race Course. The bay colt was the morning-line favorite for the Preakness as well as the Derby, winning over oddsmakers with four straight victories in California, including April’s Santa Anita Derby, March’s San Felipe Stakes and December’s Los Alamitos Futurity Stakes.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who was aboard Journalism for those three races, the Preakness and the Derby, will have the mount again for the Belmont. Journalism’s trainer, Michael McCarthy, has only had one other horse in the Belmont, Rombauer, who came in third in 2021.
Journalism trains on the track for the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on June 5, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Al Bello/Getty Images
With 2-1 odds in the morning line, Sovereignty will try to achieve a rarer feat than winning just the Preakness and the Belmont: victories at the Derby and the Belmont. The last horse to do that was Thunder Gulch in 1995 after finishing third at the Preakness.
While Sovereignty skipped the Triple Crown’s middle jewel, the bay colt wasn’t completely out of the news. His jockey, Junior Alvarado, was fined $62,000 and suspended for two racing days in Kentucky by the state’s Board of Stewards for allegedly using his riding crop too much in the Derby. Alvarado is appealing the decision.
Alvarado will be riding Sovereignty on Saturday, which will be the jockey’s fourth mount in the Belmont. Last year, he was aboard Resilience, who finished in 10th place and was trained by Bill Mott. The two have teamed up again with Sovereignty. Mott has trained a Belmont winner before — Drosselmeyer, who won in 2010.
Sovereignty comes into the Belmont after finishing second at March’s Florida Derby and winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes in Florida and October’s Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs, the home of the Derby.
Sovereignty breezes during morning workouts on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, June 4, 2025.
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Baeza didn’t initially draw a post for the Derby and only entered the field when Rodriguez was scratched from the race two days before the Run for the Roses. He broke from the post on the far outside and came in third behind Journalism by a neck. Before the Derby, the bay colt came in second at the Santa Anita Derby, also behind Journalism.
Baeza was given 4-1 morning-line odds for the Belmont and will be under Flavien Prat, who also had the mount in the Derby. Prat’s been in the past four runnings of the Belmont, riding Hot Rod Charlie to second place in 2021. Trainer John Shirreffs has had three other horses in the Belmont, most recently Gormley, who came in fourth in 2017.
Baeza breezes during his morning workout at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, June 4, 2025.
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Rodriguez was scratched from the Derby over what co-owner Tom Ryan described as a “small but slightly sensitive foot bruise.” Trainer Bob Baffert said the dark bay colt has healed and is performing as well as he was before he won the Wood Memorial Stakes in April at New York City’s Aqueduct Racetrack, according to a New York Racing Association news release.
Baffert has trained three Belmont winners: American Pharoah, Justify and Point Given, who won the race by 12 1/2 lengths in 2001. With 6-1 odds in the morning line, Rodriguez will be under Mike Smith, who’s looking for his fourth Belmont win.
Hill Road, who was given 10-1 morning-line odds for the Belmont, won the Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct last month and finished third in the Tampa Bay Derby in March and in November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in California.
Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard the bay colt in pursuit of his third Belmont win, most recently riding Mo Donegal to victory in 2022. Hill Road will be trainer Chad Brown’s fifth career entry in the race. He’s still seeking his first Belmont win after coming close with third-place Sierra Leone in 2024 and second-place Gronkowski in 2018.
Crudo, who’s co-owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, was given 15-1 odds in the morning line. The bay colt won the Sir Barton Stakes, one of the undercard races for the Preakness, and will be trainer Todd Pletcher’s chance for a fifth Belmont win. John Velazquez will have the mount, going for his third victory at the race.
Pletcher’s second horse in the race, Uncaged, won at Saratoga in August and at Aqueduct in April but came in sixth at the Peter Pan. With 30-1 morning-line odds, the bay colt will be under Luis Saez, who won the Belmont with Dornoch last year and with Essential Quality in 2021.
With Heart of Honor, the other horse to be given 30-1 odds in the morning line, Saffie Osborne has a chance to become the first woman to ride to victory in a Triple Crown race since Julie Krone won the Belmont in 1993 aboard Colonial Affair. In addition to finishing fifth at the Preakness, the British-bred brown colt raced in the United Arab Emirates, coming in second at the UAE Derby in April.
Alex Sundby is a senior editor at CBSNews.com. In addition to editing content, Alex also covers breaking news, writing about crime and severe weather as well as everything from multistate lottery jackpots to the July Fourth hot dog eating contest.
BALTIMORE — Journalism jostled with horses down the stretch, shrugged off the contact, burst through the lane and came from behind to win the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
The odds-on favorite was bumped by Goal Oriented near the quarter pole, and it looked like another second-place finish was coming two weeks after being the runner-up to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby. Journalism instead ran right by Gosger to give trainer Michael McCarthy his second win in a Triple Crown race.
“A lot of bouncing around there,” McCarthy said. “When I saw that, I kind of resigned myself to the fact it was another fantastic effort and maybe come up a little bit short. But it just goes to show the testament that this horse has. Couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Gosger was second by a half-length. Sandman was third and Bob Baffert-trained Goal Oriented fourth. Journalism went 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.37.
Umberto Rispoli became the first jockey from Italy to win any of the Triple Crown races.
“When I crossed the wire, the first things that comes up to my mind, it’s all of the 20 years of my career that pass in front of me,” Rispoli said. “I had to wait so long to be on a champion like that.”
Journalism handled the adversity and thrived on a warm day that dried out the track after torrential rain fell at Pimlico Race Course for much of the past week. Those conditions suited him better than the slop at Churchill Downs in the Derby
“This victory symbolizes so much about life,” co-owner Aaron Wellman said. “It took guts for Umberto Rispoli to power his way through a seemingly impossible hole getting side-swiped and threading the needle and powering on through. And it took guts from an incredible horse to somehow will his way to victory.”
Journalism paid $4 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.40 to show.
“He’s a remarkable horse,” Baffert said of Journalism. “I wanted to be on the lead and was behind horses. I knew (Goal Oriented) was intimidated. He’s never run that way. He ran well, but he’s still too green for that.”
Sovereignty did not take part after his owners and trainer Bill Mott decided to skip the Preakness, citing the two-week turnaround, and aimed for the Belmont on June 7. That made this a fifth time in seven years that the Preakness, for various reasons, was contested without a Triple Crown bid at stake.
But Journalism staked his claim for 3-year-old horse of the year by winning the $2 million American classic race run at the old Pimlico Race Course for the last time before it’s torn down and rebuilt. While work went on around him before the postrace news conference, Wellman asked, “Are they already tearing this place down?”
Not yet, and not before Journalism could add a memorable chapter by squeezing through the space he had to win.
“I still can’t realize what this horse did,” Rispoli said. “It’s all about him. It’s a pleasure and privilege to ride a horse like him.”
The Preakness is set to be held at nearby Laurel Park, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., next year before a planned return to the new Pimlico in 2027. McCarthy raved about the history at the place known as “Old Hilltop” and still remembers where he was when Sunday Silence beat Easy Goer at the wire in 1989 in a fashion similar to how Journalism won this time.
“Things kind of come full circle,” McCarthy said. “I’m sad to see this place go, but we’ll try to get back here next year, whichever locale it’s at.”
Journalism is the first horse to win the Preakness after running in the Kentucky Derby since Mark Casse-trained War of Will in 2019. He is the first Derby runner-up to follow that up by winning the Preakness since Exaggerator in 2016.
Only two others from the 19 in the Derby participated in the Preakness: Casse’s Sandman and fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas’ American Promise, who did not have the same positive response as Journalism.
“The best horse won,” Lukas said. “He finished beautifully.”
Lukas, the 89-year-old who has saddled the most horses in Preakness history, referred to McCarthy once this week as “the new guy.” This was just McCarthy’s second, and he’s 2 for 2 after Rombauer sprung the upset as an 11-1 long shot in 2021.
This one was more emotional, with McCarthy and his wife still displaced from their home by the Southern California wildfires.
“We’ll get back there,” McCarthy said. “Everybody will get back there. We’ll rebuild. This is for Altadena.”
Horse racing excitement is set to continue tonight when the second part of the Triple Crown launches at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The Preakness Stakes, also known as the annual run for the Black-Eyed Susans, comes just two weeks after the season kicked off with the Kentucky Derby.
The winner of that May 3 race, Sovereignty, will not be partaking in Saturday’s race, eliminating the chance for a Triple-Crown winner this year. Still, excitement is high for this year’s Preakness Stakes as nine horses are set to hit the track. Do you want to know how, where and when to watch the 2025 annual Preakness Stakes? Below, we’ll break down all the details you need to know now.
What time does the 2025 Preakness Stakes race start?
Saturday night’s main race is set to start at 7:01 p.m. ET, just four minutes after the Derby typically begins, although this is a fluid time and viewers are advised to tune in earlier or they could risk missing the exciting 1 and 3/16 mile-long race.
How can I watch the 2025 Preakness Stakes on TV?
Racing action begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on CNBC before shifting to NBC at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
If you don’t have cable, don’t worry. You can stream all of the racing from Pimlico on Saturday via the Peacock app. Coverage, according to NBC, will start on the app at 2:00 p.m. ET and go right through the main race and all of the post-race coverage, discussions and analysis.
Whether you’re a horse racing fan, more of a football fanatic or prefer NASCAR, Peacock has you covered. With plans as low as $7.99 monthly or an annual subscription for under $25, this is the smart and cost-effective way to watch all of the sports you love for a price and convenience that can’t be matched.
What’s the lineup of horses for this year’s Preakness Stakes?
Here are the horses in this year’s race, listed in order of post position:
Goal Oriented
Journalism
American Promise
Heart of Honor
Pay Billy
River Thames
Sandman
Clever Again
Gosger
What’s the 2025 Preakness Stakes purse?
The total purse for the race stands at $2 million, with the winner securing $1.2 million of that amount. The second-place horse will receive $400,000 with the third-place horse earning $220,000, the fourth-place making $120,000, and the fifth-place horse winning $60,000.
Matt Richardson is the senior managing editor for the Managing Your Money section for CBSNews.com. He writes and edits content about personal finance ranging from savings to investing to insurance.
