Belmont Stakes 2020: Prize Money Purse, Post Time, Vegas Odds Payouts and More

As the sports world slowly starts to work its way back during the coronavirus pandemic, horse racing will take center stage Saturday with the 2020 Belmont Stakes. 

The event from Belmont Park will serve as the beginning of the Triple Crown season in a modified format. Since the horse racing calendar had to be significantly altered, this year's Belmont Stakes has been scaled down from 12 furlongs to nine in order to avoid overextending the horses. 

This will be the first time in Triple Crown history that the Belmont will come before the Kentucky Derby (Sept. 5) and Preakness Stakes (Oct. 3). 

2020 Belmont Stakes Information

Watch: NBC

Post Time: 5:42 p.m. ET

Purse: $1 million (via Bob Ehalt of BloodHorse)

2020 Belmont Stakes Post Positions and Odds

Post 1: Tap It to Win (6-1)

Post 2: Sole Volante (9-2)

Post 3: Max Player (15-1)

Post 4: Modernist (15-1)

Post 5: Farmington Road (15-1)

Post 6: Fore Left (30-1)

Post 7: Jungle Runner (50-1)

Post 8: Tiz the Law (6-5)

Post 9: Dr Post (5-1)

Post 10: Pneumatic (8-1)

Odds via Vegas Insider

What to Watch For

The shortened race figures to work to the advantage of the entire field, especially given the uncertainty of where the horses are at in terms of conditioning because of the altered racing schedule. 

Martin Panza, New York Racing Association senior vice president of racing operations, told Bob Ehalt of BloodHorse the post positions will likely be less of a factor this year because of the shorter race: 

"A mile-and-a-quarter isn't really a favorable start at Belmont Park so we didn't want to put a favorite in the 12 post and have his run into the turn jeopardized. It made sense to make it a mile-and-an-eighth. You have a long run to the turn with everyone getting a fair trip no matter what post they get. At the time it was the best we could do."

Tiz the Law, who is 4-1 in his career and won the Florida Derby in March, enters Saturday's race as the betting favorite. His workouts leading up to the Belmont Stakes have been terrific and without any signs of rust or fatigue due to the three-month layoff. 

Vance Hanson of Brisnet.com is pessimistic about some of the other contenders in the field:

"The amount of support Tiz the Law will receive is also entirely justified given the potential opposition at this writing. It's hard to get too excited about the chances of Farmington Road, Gouverneur Morris, Max Player, and Modernist. All would need to run the race of their lives to upset, and in Max Player's case off a layoff dating to Feb. 1.

"Offspring of Tapit have dominated recent Belmonts and Tap It to Win has earned rave reviews for a pair of recent allowance wins. However, his two previous stakes attempts were dreadful and any price in the single digits wouldn’t be much of an enticement."

One horse who could be at a disadvantage is Sole Volante, who is going to run the Belmont just 10 days after winning an allowance race at Gulfstream Park. 

"In my heart, my decision was made two days ago," trainer Patrick Biancone told Ron Flatter of Horse Racing Nation on June 15. "But I said I would not make it final until today. After a lovely two-minute lick this morning, I said all the lights were green."

All signs point to Tiz the Law being the heavy favorite, but his trainer, Barclay Tagg, told Ehalt that he doesn't like the race being shortened. 

"I was upset that they changed the distance," he said. "I know why they did it, but I would have preferred if they kept it at at least a mile-and-a-quarter so it's at a classic distance."

If that's an indication Tiz the Law might be a slow starter, the race could end up being more competitive than it appears to be on paper. 

Since Tiz the Law hasn't run a full race since the Florida Derby, jockey Manuel Franco will be under the microscope to get his horse out of the gate cleanly to move him into a position for the win.