Belmont Park Betting & Graded Stakes Action

Rob Gregorka

Las Vegas, NV -- It will be a great day of horse racing on Saturday at Belmont Park, headlined by six graded stakes races, five of which are Grade 1 races. ESPN Classic will be televising the Super Saturday program at Belmont with all six stakes races part of the "Win and You're In" program for the Breeders Cup.

Jockey Club Gold Cup
The biggest race on Saturday at Belmont Park is the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup in which Stay Thirsty is expected to be the horse betting favorite.

Even though the Jockey Gold Cup has the biggest purse on Saturday it may not be the best race because the field behind Stay Thirsty is not that strong. Tizway would have been a threat but the horse will not go in the race so the main challenger to Stay Thirsty should be Flat Out.

Saturday Belmont Park horse betting headlined by six graded stakes races, five of which are Grade 1 races.

In his last start at Belmont Park, Flat Out won the Suburban for trainer Scooter Dickey. "I'm looking forward to it, I really am," Dickey said. "That's the track he won on; I hope it continues to be that way. I don't think the mile and a quarter will bother him." Another contender in the race on Saturday could be Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer.

The other four Grade 1 races at Belmont on Saturday are the $500,000 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes, the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes, the $350,000 Beldame Invitational Stakes and the $350,000 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes.

The Grade II race is the $200,000 Kelso Handicap which will feature Uncle Mo. If Stay Thirsty and Uncle Mo both win on Saturday, they could end up facing each other in the Breeders' Cup Classic in November. "Running the two of them together is not something I look forward to doing, but I think we're talking about the two best 3-year-olds in the crop," trainer Todd Pletcher said.

The favorite in the Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes figures to be Beverly D. winner Stacelita. The most competitive of the stakes races might be the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, which is expected to feature Cape Blanco, Winchester, Teaks North and Grassy. Havre de Grace is expected to be the heavy favorite in the Beldame Invitational Stakes while Big Drama should be the top off-track betting choice in the Vosburgh Invitational Stakes.