Bet the Belmont Stakes: 2026 Trainer and Jockey Guide
Your complete guide to the key trainers and jockeys to follow at the 158th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 6, 2026.
- Why Trainers and Jockeys Matter at the Belmont Stakes
- Key Trainers to Watch: 2026 Belmont Stakes
- Key Jockeys to Watch: 2026 Belmont Stakes
- The Trainer-Jockey Combinations to Follow
- How to Bet the Belmont Stakes at MyWinners
- Belmont Stakes Betting: Back the Best Connections
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Trainers and Jockeys Matter at the Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes has never been simply about the horses. The trainer who prepares a three-year-old for 1¼ miles at Saratoga in late spring, and the jockey who navigates a field with no Triple Crown on the line, are often the difference between a contender and a winner. The 2026 edition on June 6 is a race without a Triple Crown chase — Golden Tempo skipped the Preakness, Napoleon Solo won it — which means the connections around each horse carry even more weight. No coronation is coming. Every trainer and jockey is trying to win a race that stands entirely on its own merit this year.
Understanding who is saddling the horses and who is riding them is essential for any serious Belmont bet. This guide covers the trainers and jockeys most likely to influence the outcome at Saratoga.
Key Trainers to Watch: 2026 Belmont Stakes
Cherie DeVaux — The History Maker
Cherie DeVaux made history at Churchill Downs on May 2, saddling Golden Tempo to a last-to-first victory at odds of 24-1 and becoming the first woman to train the winner of the Kentucky Derby in the race's 152-year history. She is now the most talked-about trainer in American racing, and she arrives at Saratoga with a horse that has a legitimate case as the Belmont favorite.
DeVaux started her training business in 2018 with eight horses, and on her 29th start recorded her first win. She went on to win the 2024 Breeders' Cup Mile as trainer of More Than Looks, and trained She Feels Pretty to the 2025 American National Champion Female Turf Horse title — the first for herself as well as owners Roy and Gretchen Jack.
Born in Saratoga Springs, DeVaux grew up there before her family relocated to southwest Florida. She initially studied pre-med before working with racehorses as a summer job in college prompted a permanent change of direction. She began as a stable worker for the late trainer Chuck Simon before becoming an assistant trainer at Chad Brown's barn, then launched her own stable in 2018. She credits her husband, bloodstock agent David Ingordo, with supporting her decision to strike out on her own.
In the 152-year history of the Kentucky Derby, only 18 women had ever saddled a horse in the race before DeVaux — making her win all the more remarkable. She has spoken about seeing a young girl on the backstretch in the days before the Derby and realizing the wider significance of what she was attempting.
Saratoga is not unfamiliar territory for DeVaux. She has trained horses on the upstate circuit throughout her career, and Golden Tempo — targeted specifically for this Belmont run after bypassing the Preakness — will arrive fresh and fit. Her management of the horse's campaign since Churchill Downs will be scrutinized closely on race day.
Todd Pletcher — The Belmont Specialist
If one trainer's record at the Belmont Stakes demands attention every single year, it belongs to Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. Since his first runner in 2000, he has sent out more than 40 horses in the race and won it four times — with Rags to Riches in 2007, Palace Malice in 2013, Tapwrit in 2017, and Mo Donegal in 2022. No active trainer has a stronger record at the final jewel.
Through 2025, Pletcher has won more than 5,900 races — seventh all-time — including 210 Grade 1 victories, with record career earnings exceeding $516 million. He has won a record eight Eclipse Awards as Outstanding Trainer and holds 15 Saratoga training titles.
The son of trainer Jake Pletcher, Todd graduated from the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program and spent summers working under prominent trainers including D. Wayne Lukas — for whom he worked for seven years before launching his own stable in 1995 with seven horses.
In 2026, Pletcher saddles Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. — a horse that finished just a neck behind Golden Tempo at Churchill Downs. A trainer with four Belmont wins, a horse with a strong Derby effort behind him, and a jockey of Irad's caliber: the combination is formidable.
Chad Brown — The New York Powerhouse
Chad Brown, born in Mechanicville, New York in 1978, has won five Eclipse Awards as Outstanding Trainer and has been the dominant force on the NYRA circuit for the better part of a decade. He passed 3,000 career wins in April 2026 when Zulu Kingdom won the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland, and his North American career earnings are approaching $338 million.
Brown won the Preakness in 2017 and 2022, though a Belmont win remains on his resume as unfinished business. He arrives at the 2026 edition with multiple contenders — including Preakness runner-up Iron Honor and Emerging Market — giving him several paths to the winner's circle.
A graduate of Cornell University in animal husbandry, Brown got his start in racing working college summers for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey before taking out his own trainer's license in 2007. His deep familiarity with Saratoga — where he has dominated training titles for years — is a significant edge in a Belmont Stakes held for the third consecutive year at the upstate venue.
Chad Summers — The Preakness Surprise
If the 2026 Triple Crown season has produced one unexpected story on the training side, it belongs to Chad Summers. Napoleon Solo's Preakness win was the first classic victory of Summers' career, coming from a trainer who had only one previous Grade 1 winner on his record.
After the race, Summers described the win as a transformative moment in a training career during which he had come close to quitting several times. His decision on whether to run Napoleon Solo at the Belmont — with the horse having been described by Summers himself as more of a miler in terms of profile — will be one of the most significant training announcements before the draw.
Should Napoleon Solo line up at Saratoga on June 6, Summers will face the challenge every first-time classic trainer faces: preparing a horse for a race they have never won before, under enormous public scrutiny, at a distance that demands tactical precision.
Bill Mott — The Defending Champion
Bill Mott trained Sovereignty to a three-length victory in the 2025 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga under jockey Junior Alvarado, and he returns to the 158th edition with Chief Wallabee — a consistent performer who finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby after encountering traffic in the stretch.
Mott is one of the most decorated trainers in American racing and knows how to prepare horses for Saratoga specifically. Chief Wallabee's stalking style suits the track, and a clean trip at 1¼ miles could produce a result significantly better than his Derby showing suggests.
Key Jockeys to Watch: 2026 Belmont Stakes
Jose Ortiz — Triple Crown Completed
José Luis Ortiz was born on October 2, 1993, in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, into a family with deep roots in racing. His grandfather and uncle were both jockeys, and his older brother Irad Ortiz Jr. became one of the sport's dominant riders before Jose arrived on the New York circuit in 2012.
With his Kentucky Derby win aboard Golden Tempo in 2026, Ortiz completed the set — he had already won the Belmont Stakes in 2017 with Tapwrit and the Preakness with Early Voting in 2022. He is one of a small number of jockeys to have won all three Triple Crown races, and has done so across three different horses and three different trainers.
Ortiz won his 1,000th career race in 2016, his 2,000th in 2020, and his 3,000th at Churchill Downs in 2024. His lifetime purse earnings on behalf of owners exceed $307 million. At Saratoga, where he has won multiple riding titles, he will be among the most dangerous jockeys in the field. The Kentucky Derby win was his eleventh attempt at the race.
Irad Ortiz Jr. — The Brother Who Finished Second
Irad Ortiz Jr., born August 11, 1992, in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, has accumulated more than 4,100 career wins and is consistently ranked among the two or three best jockeys in North America. The Kentucky Derby finished with the two brothers separated by a neck, their parents watching from the stands at Churchill Downs.
Irad rides Renegade for Todd Pletcher — the horse that was co-favorite for the Derby and ran the winner to the wire. At Saratoga, where both brothers have spent significant portions of their careers, the Ortiz family subplot will run through the entire Belmont Stakes week.
Irad's combination of tactical intelligence and raw ability makes him dangerous on any horse. On a horse with a Derby runner-up effort, and with Pletcher's Belmont record behind him, he is one of the central betting decisions of the race.
Paco Lopez — The Classic Breakthrough
Paco Lopez rode Napoleon Solo to Preakness victory at Laurel Park, earning his first classic win. A respected mid-Atlantic circuit rider, Lopez executed a patient race — tracking the pace-setter without overcommitting, finding the right moment at the final turn, and winning comfortably before the field could close.
Lopez has long been a consistent presence on the Eastern seaboard without receiving the wider recognition his record deserves. A Preakness win changes that profile instantly. Whether Napoleon Solo runs at Saratoga or not, Lopez's stock has risen considerably in the weeks since Laurel Park, and any mount he picks up at the Belmont Stakes will command serious respect.
Flavien Prat — The Consistent Closer
Flavien Prat rode Preakness runner-up Iron Honor for Chad Brown and remains an elite jockey on any surface. Prat, who claimed the Belmont at the Big A spring meet jockey title in 2025, has a habit of finding the best position in a race when it matters most. If Brown's Iron Honor — who gave Napoleon Solo a genuine contest in the stretch at Laurel Park — lines up at Saratoga, Prat will be looking to reverse the result.
The Trainer-Jockey Combinations to Follow
The 2026 Belmont Stakes presents several compelling trainer-jockey partnerships heading into race week:
| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Classic Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Tempo | Cherie DeVaux | Jose Ortiz | Won Kentucky Derby (+2300) |
| Renegade | Todd Pletcher | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 2nd Kentucky Derby |
| Iron Honor | Chad Brown | Flavien Prat | 2nd Preakness Stakes |
| Napoleon Solo | Chad Summers | Paco Lopez | Won Preakness Stakes (+790) |
| Chief Wallabee | Bill Mott | TBA | 4th Kentucky Derby |
Odds and jockey assignments subject to change ahead of the draw.
Belmont Stakes Betting: Back the Best Connections
The trainer and jockey combination around Golden Tempo — Cherie DeVaux and Jose Ortiz — represents the most compelling story and arguably the strongest on-paper case in the 2026 Belmont Stakes. A fresh horse, a historic trainer, and a jockey who has already won this race give the Kentucky Derby winner a genuine multi-layered edge.
Renegade and the Pletcher/Irad Ortiz pairing offer the clearest counter-argument. Four Belmont wins for the trainer, a horse who ran the Derby winner to a neck, and a jockey who knows Saratoga as well as anyone.
How to Bet the Belmont Stakes at MyWinners
MyWinners makes it easy to bet the Belmont Stakes however suits you best — online, on the app, or in person at a venue across Connecticut. You can bet win, place, show, and all the exotics including exactas, trifectas, and superfectas on the full Belmont card.
Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.
