Mindframe might not have the name recognition of 2024 Belmont Stakes horses like Mystik Dan, Seize the Grey and Sierra Leone, but he's a serious contender entering the Belmont Stakes 2024 at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday. He hasn't run in a stakes race, but Mindframe broke his maiden with a 13 3/4-length win at Gulfstream Park in March and won an allowance race at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day by 7 1/4 lengths. Now, he'll take on his biggest test yet in the third leg of the Triple Crown and is 7-2 in the 2024 Belmont Stakes odds. Sierra Leone is the 9-5 favorite in the 2024 Belmont Stakes lineup after losing the Kentucky Derby by a nose and bypassing the Preakness.
Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is 5-1 and Preakness winner Seize the Grey is 8-1. 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
One surprise: Demling is fading Seize the Grey, even though he's the Preakness winner and one of the top favorites at 8-1. Sired by Arrogate out of the Smart Strike mare Smart Shopping, Seize the Grey only managed two wins in his first eight career starts and fell off the Kentucky Derby trail with a seventh-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes. However, he rebounded to win the Pat Day Mile to earn his way into the Preakness.
A sloppy track helped the frontrunner go wire-to-wire at Pimlico, winning by 2 1/4 lengths over Mystik Dan. He'll face a dynamic field on Saturday with Mystik Dan running it back, Sierra Leone returning to the trail, and Mindframe making his highly-anticipated stakes debut. He'll have an extra half-furlong to run, and after starting in the middle of the field in the Preakness, he'll have to navigate the rail in the 2024 Belmont Stakes. Both are reasons why Demling says he doesn't hit the board.See who else to fade 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. Sired by Goldencents out of Colonel John mare Ma'am, Mystik Dan got a great trip from Brian Hernandez at Churchill Downs and then he followed that up with a strong second-place showing at Pimlico two weeks later in the mud.
Now he'll become the first horse since War of Will (2019) to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown during its typical five-week span (Max Player did it in 2020 but over a 12-week span because of COVID). He drew the No. 3 post and trainer Kenneth McPeek has had him training at Saratoga for weeks now. However, he'll have much fresher horses to contend with on Saturday.See Demling's prediction for Mystik Dan here.
Sired by the legendary Gun Runner out of Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love, Sierra Leone returns to the Triple Crown trail after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and bypassing the Preakness. Gun Runner was a 10-time graded stakes winner during an illustrious racing career and Sierra Leone has shown promise, with three wins and two runner-up finishes in five career starts.
That includes graded stakes wins at the Risen Star Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes. He went off as second favorite behind Fierceness at Churchill Downs and lost a photo finish in a seesaw battle between Mystik Dan and Forever Young. Seize the Grey and Mystik Dan will be clear tests for the talented three-year-old, as will Mindframe, who won both of his starts by more than seven lengths, Resilience (10-1) and Peter Pan Stakes winner Antiquarian (12-1).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 has "keeps getting better and better." 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
| Prg # | Horse | Odds | Projections |
| 1 | Seize the Grey | 8-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 2 | Resilience | 10-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 3 | Mystik Dan | 5-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 4 | Wine Steward | 15-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 5 | Antiquarian | 12-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 6 | Dornoch | 15-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 7 | Protective | 20-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 8 | Honor Marie | 12-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 9 | Sierra Leone | 9-5 | SEE PICKS |
| 10 | Mindframe | 7-2 | SEE PICKS |
