Many of the nation’s top racehorses strut their stuff this week at historic Saratoga for the second Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at the Spa. Extended Wednesday through Sunday this year, the headliner will be Saturday’s final jewel in the Triple Crown, the 157th edition of the Belmont Stakes. For more on the big one, check out our free 1/ST Belmont Stakes Wager Guide. 

Let’s meet the contenders for the Festival’s biggest supporting races:

Thursday | Grade 2 $200,000 Intercontinental Stakes | Race 7

2-FUTURE IS NOW: Defending champion in this race has won 3 straight and 5 of her last 6 starts. She won her 2025 return in Keeneland’s Grade 3 Giant’s Causeway for trainer Mike Trombetta and will re-match with her 2-3 pursuers from that most-recent race.

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Friday | Grade 1 $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes | Race 9

4-RAGING SEA: Breeders’ Cup Distaff runner-up has won 4 of her last 5 starts, including the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day. She looks to improve on a fourth-place finish in last year’s Phipps as part of a 3-for-6 local record at Saratoga.

7-RANDOMIZED: Chad Brown trains the defending champion in the Grade 1 Phipps, who has traded decisions with stablemate Raging Sea – including a third-place La Troienne effort last time out behind that one.

Friday | Grade 1 $500,000 Acorn Stakes | Race 11

2-GOOD CHEER: Undefeated Kentucky Oaks heroine looks for an eighth straight victory to open her career. The Brad Cox trainee has won over 3 different tracks, but will be trying Saratoga for the first time. Three of her Kentucky Oaks pursuers return, but the big challenge may be class riser Shred the Gnar.

Friday | Grade 1 $750,000 New York Stakes | Race 12

8-SHE FEELS PRETTY: Dominant winner of 3 straight stakes at Keeneland (Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup), Santa Anita (American Oaks) and Kentucky Oaks’ Day at Churchill Downs (Modesty Stakes). The Cherie DeVaux trainee makes her Saratoga debut having won 6 of 9 lifetime.

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Saturday | Grade 2 $300,000 Wonder Again Stakes | Race 6

6-NITROGEN: Four-time stakes winner aims for 5 straight victories as the Mark Casse trainee was easily best in Churchill Downs’ Edgewood Stakes on Kentucky Oaks Day. Saratoga debut for Medaglia d’Oro filly who won over 4 different courses so far during her current streak.

Saturday | Grade 3 $400,000 True North | Race 7

2-CRAZY MASON: Almost comically deep closer drops so far back and has boasted a furious finish to win 3 straight races, including the Grade 2 Carter in April. Toughest challengers yet await this Greg Sacco trainee.

4-NAKATOMI: $1.6 million earner has placed in such prestigious worldwide sprints as the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and most recently April’s Dubai Golden Shaheen when missing by a neck. Won Saratoga’s Grade 1 Vanderbilt last summer for trainer Wesley Ward.

Saturday | Grade 1 $1 million Metropolitan Handicap | Race 8

1-FIERCENESS: The Saratoga star of last year’s Jim Dandy and Travers (pictured) looks for a fourth local win in as many tries. Todd Pletcher’s 2023 Champion 2-Year-Old won his 2025 return at age 4 in the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day.

2-WHITE ABARRIO: Saratoga’s 2023 Grade 1 Whitney winner parlayed that success into a Breeders’ Cup Classic title 2 years ago. His 6-year-old season already has seen a pair of Gulfstream Park victories, including the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup. This bankroll lifetime sits just shy of $7 million.

Saturday | Grade 1 $500,000 Jaipur Stakes | Race 9

2-THINK BIG: The hottest turf sprinter in the land may be this 4-year-old for Mike Stidham, winner of the Shakertown at Keeneland and Churchill Downs’ Turf Sprint in back-to-back starts. He’s won 4 of his last 5 and will be making his first start in New York, meeting last year’s Jaipur runner-up Arzak among a 10-horse field.

Saturday | Grade 3 $300,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes | Race 10

1-ZULU KINGDOM: Irish-bred, French export won last year’s With Anticipation at Saratoga and has tallied 5 of 6 lifetime starts after taking Churchill Downs’ Grade 1 American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day. The lone loss for the Chad Brown trainee came in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Saturday | Grade 1 $500,000 Woody Stephens Stakes | Race 11

5-CITIZEN BULL: Last year’s Champion 2-Year-Old and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner cuts back in distance for Bob Baffert after setting a fast pace in the Kentucky Derby. He’s 4-for-5 at distances 1-1/16 miles or shorter and gets a new pilot in Mike Smith for the first time.

10-CHANCER McPATRICK: Saratoga’s 2024 Grade 1 Hopeful winner looks to snap a 3-race losing streak while returning to 1-turn racing. He’s 3-for-3 in single-bend races like the Woody Stephens and takes blinkers off for trainer Chad Brown and regular rider Flavien Prat.

Saturday | Grade 1 $1 million Manhattan Stakes | Race 12

6-SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS: New York-bred went from the state’s best turf runner to perhaps America’s best following wins this year in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf and the Turf Classic at Churchill Downs just prior to the running of the Kentucky Derby. Chad Brown trainee has made sweet music with jockey Manny Franco, going 7-for-8 together and losing only by a nose in the lone defeat.

9-FAR BRIDGE: Saratoga’s Grade 1 Sword Dancer winner last summer has won both starts this year, the Pan American in Florida and the Man o’ War in New York. His renowned trainer Chirstophe Clement passed away last Sunday and this 5-year-old will be carrying many hearts with him as Clement’s son, Miguel, assumes the family stable.