The 157th Belmont Stakes, which is the last piece of the Triple Crown puzzle, is happening on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It’s the second year in a row that the event is taking place at Saratoga while Belmont Park is getting a $455 million makeover. Because of how Saratoga’s track is set up, they’ve changed the race distance to 1 1/4 miles, which is a bit shorter than the usual 1 1/2 miles.

Some of the top contenders for the race are Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Preakness Stakes champion Journalism. The race is set to be exciting, with a whopping $2 million purse on the line, making for some serious competition! But it seems like there’s a bit of a dark cloud hanging over the Saratoga Racecourse.

On X, DRF’s New York correspondent David Grening reported: “Barn 85 at Saratoga has been placed under a 14-say quarantine due to a positive case of strangles, a contagious respiratory illness. Horses in that barn include those trained by Jeremiah Englehart and Jorge Abreu. Story to come.” So, this brings up quite a few worries about the Belmont Stakes venue.

Strangles can cause symptoms like fever, nasal discharge, and swollen lymph nodes, and it spreads quickly through direct contact or shared equipment. The quarantine is there to help keep the outbreak in check and stop it from spreading to other horses on the property. But trainers like Jeremiah Englehart and Jorge Abreu, who have earned $48,681,206 and $16,257,287 in their careers, might run into some bumps in their training schedules and race entries. This could have an impact on how their horses perform and what they earn.

Also, the quarantine might affect how things are organized for the upcoming races, since horses from Barn 85 could be limited in joining events during this time. Englehart had two horses lined up for Wednesday’s New York Showcase Day, kicking off the 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. One of them is Mo Plex, competing in the $200,000 Mike Lee Stakes. Abreu had two horses lined up for the same day, one of them being Kay Cup in the $200,000 Bouwerie Stakes.

The quarantine might affect how they can join in. As things progress, we’ll be hearing more from veterinary officials and racing authorities about how to handle the outbreak and get back to normal at Saratoga Race Course. Who, then, will be considered the clear favorite to win the Belmont Stakes?

The Belmont Stakes grid will be a sight to watch for the fans

With the 2025 Belmont Stakes just around the corner, it looks like Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty is the early favorite, sitting at 8-5 odds. Sovereignty, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and owned by Godolphin, pulled off a solid 1 1/2-length win against Journalism in the Derby. Sovereignty decided to skip the Preakness Stakes and is now focusing on the Belmont. The horse has been training at Saratoga Race Course and recently completed a five-furlong workout in 1:02.54.

Journalism, the winner of the Preakness Stakes, is right on the heels of his Kentucky Derby rival with odds sitting at 9-5. Journalism, trained by Michael McCarthy, really showed its grit by passing Gosger in the final stretch at Pimlico. This sets up an exciting rematch between Sovereignty and Journalism, with each having claimed a leg of the Triple Crown.

Another interesting horse to watch is Baeza, who came in third at the Kentucky Derby and has 7-2 odds for the Belmont Stakes. Even though Baeza has just one win in five starts, his steady performances really make him a horse to keep an eye on. With these competitive horses on the grid, we’ll just have to wait and see who comes out on top.