Belmont Stakes 2020: Post Positions Draw Live Stream, TV Schedule and Preview

Tiz The Law is the betting favorite to win the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes, whose post time is scheduled for approximately 5:42 p.m. ET on Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The post positions draw will take place on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET at the Belmont Cafe in Belmont Park and will be screened via the official New York Racing Association YouTube channel.

Live television coverage of the Belmont Stakes begins on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. NBC will carry the broadcast.

Ten horses will race for the $1 million purse on a 1⅛-mile dirt track. The Belmont had a $1.5 million purse last year, and the track typically runs 1½ miles.

Both have been adjusted for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which will also leave the grandstands empty on Saturday. The stands have held over 120,000 people in the past, per the NYRA, with a record of 120,139 for the 2004 Belmont Stakes.

"It was tough to ask developing three-year-old horses to go that far after not racing for months," NYRA chief executive David O'Rourke told Joe Drape of the New York Times on May 19.

"As far as the purse, we partly rely on casino revenues, and it doesn’t look like they are running any time soon."

Some casinos (including those in Las Vegas) have opened in recent weeks, although the primary Northeast casino hub in Atlantic City, New Jersey remains closed.

The Belmont was originally scheduled to run on June 6 to finish off the Triple Crown, but COVID-19 pandemic forced the race back by two weeks. It will now be the first race in the series, with the Kentucky Derby set for Sept. 5 and the Preakness Stakes slated for October 3.

As for the field, Tiz The Law is favored at 6-5 odds as of Wednesday morning, per Vegas Insider. The rest of the field includes Dr Post (4-1), Pneumatic (6-1), Tap It To Win (10-1), Sole Volante (10-1), Modernist (12-1), Farmington Road (15-1), Max Player (30-1) and Jungle Runner (50-1).

A 10th horse, Fore Left, was not officially part of the odds ledger as of early Wednesday morning. Trainer Doug O'Neill said on Tuesday evening that he intended to enter the horse into the Belmont, per Victor Ryan of Horse Racing Nation.

Tiz The Law is the favorite for a good reason: He's won four of his five races and come in third on the one occasion he didn't win. He has also won at Belmont Park before, taking home the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes last October as a two-year-old, per Equibase.

His most recent victory occurred at the Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby in March by 4¼ lengths. That followed his only other race (and win) as a three-year-old in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes the month before by three lengths.

The opportunity is there for the New York-bred horse to win his home state competition, especially with some other Triple Crown contenders (e.g. Arkansas Derby winners Charlatan and Nadal) forced to withdraw and retire, respectively, due to injury.

Dr Post is the second-favorite at 4-1, and he's been stellar in his own right with a pair of wins at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida this year.

But the sleeper might be Sole Volante, who's tied for fourth on the odds ledger despite being the second-highest ranked horse in the field, per Horse Racing Nation's rankings.

The gelding has finished top three in all six of his races, with four wins. He's raced three times as a three-year-old, with wins at Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park. The only time he came up short this year was against King Guillermo in the Tampa Bay Derby.

King Guillermo, who is owned by ex-MLB first baseman/designated hitter Victor Martinez, finished second to Nadal in the Arkansas Derby. He'd have the second-highest Horse Racing Nation ranking in the Belmont field had he participated.

In other words, Sole Volante's sole second-place finish in 2020 came at the hands of stellar competition.

He might be the horse best suited to spoil what looks to be a coronation for Tiz The Law on paper, but that will be a tough ask against the heavy favorite.