Belmont Stakes 2024 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Every Horse

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan drew the No. 3 post in the final leg of this year’s Triple Crown in horse racing.

The Belmont Stakes announced the positions for its 10-horse field ahead of Saturday’s race.

2024 Belmont Stakes Post Positions

Historically speaking, starting along the rail has been the most advantageous. The No. 1 post has seen more winners (23) than any other position. Nos. 3 and 5 are next on the list with 13.

Despite his triumph at Churchill Downs, Mystik Dan isn’t the favorite heading into the Belmont Stakes. That title belongs to Derby runner-up Sierra Leone.

The Chad C. Brown-trained colt won the Risen Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes earlier this year. He had the second-best odds behind Fierceness on the eve of the Run for the Roses.

Sierra Leone has a strong résumé and the added benefit of having rested up. He didn’t enter the Preakness Stakes, so he’s had a month off in preparation for the longest of the three Triple Crown events.

History required Mystik Dan, on the other hand, to run in the Preakness and thus shoulder the burden that can often plague whoever wins the Kentucky Derby. Competing in three races over a five-week span exacts a toll.

Trainer Kenny McPeek maintained last week that everything was looking good as he weighed Mystik Dan’s entry into the Belmont Stakes.

“The horse has been in a happy routine up to now,” he told reporters. “He doesn’t act up. He simply goes about his work every day, and he’s very uneventful. The only thing he does fast is breeze and race, so we’re going to keep an eye on that. I need to see a good work out of him, I need to see him eat up good and I’d like to see his bloodwork come back flawless.”

Still, nobody will be shocked if Mystik Dan starts strong and steadily loses steam as Saturday’s race unfolds.

Aside from him and Sierra Leone, a lot of eyes will be on Preakness winner Seize the Grey.

The colt, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, bounced back in a big way from its seventh-place showing in the Blue Grass Stakes. He took the Pat Day Mile before giving Lukas his 15th Triple Crown win at Pimlico Race Course.