Belmont Stakes Race Date: Saturday June 7th, 2025

We’re thrilled to welcome Trish Smith for an exclusive look at the Belmont Stakes Late Pick 5! With her sharp eye for turf trends and pace angles, Trish breaks down one of the most stacked late sequences of the year—including deep insight into every stakes race leading to the big one: the Belmont Stakes itself. Below is her full A | B | C grid and race-by-race analysis. Don’t miss her top opinions, live longshots, and strategic fades to help make your Saturday ticket stronger.

Understanding the A | B | C Method of Handicapping

Before we get into today’s picks, here’s a quick breakdown of the method we’re using to organize them.

The A | B | C method is a simple but powerful way to structure your bets, especially for multi-race wagers like the Pick 4, Pick 5, or Pick 6. It helps manage bankroll and focus on strong opinions without missing out on potential value or chaos outcomes.

• A horses are the top picks in the race. These are the ones we feel most confident about—if things go according to plan, these are the winners.

• B horses are solid contenders who could win under the right setup. They’re not as strong as the A’s, but they’re logical players who belong on backup tickets.

• C horses are longshots or unpredictable runners that could blow things up. They’re used sparingly for coverage, especially if the race feels wide open or vulnerable to an upset.

This structure allows us to play smart and stay flexible. We’ll highlight the A, B, and C horses for each race below so you can mix and match based on your budget and approach.

Belmont Stakes Late Pick 5

R9: A: 4,9 B: 10,2

R10: A: 1 B: 7

R11: A: 3,6, 9 B: 7 C: 4

R12: A: 6, 9, 5

R13 A: 7, 6

Race 9 – Jaipur Turf Sprint Picks

Top pick: #4 My Boy Prince, #9 Ag Bullet #10 Coppola #2 Think Big

“In a Turf Sprint, especially with what could be a chalky Pick 5 I wanted to make a play against the #2 Think Big. Perhaps use him as backup or underneath but to try and get a little more value I went with My Boy Prince coming in off a nice winning effort at BAQ. Second choice Ag Bullet had an impressive win last year at the difficult Kentucky Downs Track. She is also a very hot horse with her stats second off the layoff which makes her very dangerous. Think Big is obvious class of field, but just trying to beat short price in turf sprint. I also find Coppola very interesting and hoping he might return to his winter form think he could be a player to hit the board and would use as back up on Pick 5 tickets.”

Race 10 – Penne Ridge Stakes

Top pick: #1 Zulu Kingdom, #7 Mi Bago

“If playing a short ticket, I would single Zulu Kingdom and only using Mi Bago as a backup as he was only beaten 1.8 lengths in the American Turf that Zulu Kingdom won. One of my favorite turf angles is the Brisnet Prime Power number, especially when the top horse has a top number twenty or more points higher than the next following horse. Zulu Kingdom has this as his Prime Power number is a whopping 170.0 compared to the next closest horse Mi Bago in the field with a 147.4 number. Combine that with Zulu Kingdom having hot trainer, the rail clip is winning at 20% clip. I think he will end up being a real deal Turf horse that could turn into a superstar.”

Race11 – Woody Stephens

Top Pick: #3 Macho Music, #7 Colloquial, #6 T Kraft, #9 Neoequos

“This race I found the hardest to handicap and would not blame anyone for using this as a spread race as I could easily make a case for so many horses in the field. I chose Macho Music on top as I loved his win in the Pat Day Mile and think he has upside. Second pick is Colloquial as it is hard to ignore his whopping 109 speed figure at AQ then followed that speed figure with a nice win at Keeneland. The 6 T Kraft is a longshot I am very interested in as he is coming off nice improving speed figures and this could be a race for a longshot to fire. Finally using Neoequos I am tossing his Derby effort and hoping for improvement turning him back to the sprint distance with competitive numbers at the shorter distance.”

Race 12 – Manhattan

Top Pick: #6 Spirit of St Louis, #9 Far Bridge, #5 Deterministic

“I had a hard time separating these three horses. Spirit of St. Louis I love having the top Prime power number in the field. He is coming out of his last race with the highest last out speed rating in this field. However, then Far Bridge can make a huge case for as he has won 4 out of his last 5 starts only losing in the Breeders’ Cup to Rebel’s Romance so can’t hold that against him. Finally, to round it out I could see the 5 as a good speed play to get the perfect set up for a strong gate to wire win.”

Race13 – Belmont Stakes

Top Pick: #7 Journalism, #6 Baeza

“This race I feel you have to make a strong stand either being Team Journalism or Team Sovereignty; pick one to have on your tickets. I strongly think that Journalism showed the courage and grit of a true champion racehorse overcoming a terrible trip in the Preakness to still come back and fire with that win. I think he is coming into this race with just more maturity as well as fitness from running in all three Triple Crown races. Second choice I will be using in Baeza as he is the fresh horse that I feel has the most upside and ability to improve in this field.”

Huge thanks to Trish Smith for taking the time to walk us through her Belmont Stakes thoughts and share this detailed late Pick 5 strategy. Whether you’re spreading in the Woody Stephens or making a bold single in the Penne Ridge, her analysis gives you the angles you need to cash. Wishing everyone good luck at the windows—and may your tickets be live going into the Belmont!