It’s a cliché, but betting — especially on Belmont Stakes day — is a marathon, not a sprint.
Becoming a profitable handicapper is not just about picking winners and finding an edge. A pillar of success in betting is managing two things — your bankroll and your emotions.
We’ll start with bankroll management.
Your bankroll refers to the amount of money you have allocated for betting. In other words, the amount of money you would be comfortable losing. For some people, that number could be high. For others, it could be quite low. Bet with your head, not over it.
When it comes to a day such as the Belmont Stakes, bankroll management becomes even more important because, in all likelihood, you’re going to want to have some scratch in your pocket to bet the headliner at 7:04 p.m.
That means you’re going to essentially have two separate pools of money: one for the Belmont Stakes and one for the undercard, which gets underway at 10:45 a.m. and features seven other stakes races.
It’s a magnificent day for railbirds, but it can get spoiled quickly if you’re not in control of your impulses.
And what makes this day of racing especially tricky for those who may struggle with keeping their emotions in check when it comes to betting is that there is a really tempting “chase” opportunity in the Belmont Stakes.
The 2025 Belmont is headlined by two clear favorites, No. 7 Journalism (8-5) and No. 2 Sovereignty (2-1).
There will be plenty of casual punters who will plan on ending their day with a big bet on one or both of these horses.
If you’ve been betting long enough, you know this feeling. Perhaps it was on Day 1 of March Madness or the first Saturday of the college football season, but we’ve all dealt with the temptation of chasing a day of losses with one final bet on a “sure thing” late in the night (it’s why Hawaii football games attract an unusually large number of bets during the fall).
Nobody wants to be lectured about betting, or see someone get on their soapbox, but any seasoned gambler will say that resisting the urge to chase their losses was a huge step in the right direction.
For the purposes of using a round number, let’s say you have a bankroll of $200 for Saturday. Immediately, you should decide how much of that you want to leave for the Belmont Stakes.
Sticking with the round numbers, we’ll put $20 aside for the Belmont (along with stashing away any profits from earlier wins), allowing us $180 to gamble with on the full menu of races leading up to the main event.
But there’s also a chance you’re going to want to be a part of the Mandatory Payout Pick 5, which begins with the Jaipur (Race 9, 4:08 p.m.) and wraps up with the Belmont Stakes.
By entering the Pick 5, you not only give yourself a shot at a life-changing amount of money, but you’ll also have action on each race, so long as you’re still in it, without having to bet anymore.
We can put $54 aside for the Pick 5, which allows you plenty of room to build a decent ticket, and leaves you with $126 to bet on the rest of the races.
It’s not the most exciting part of the game, but mapping out a strategy like this before you enter the gates Saturday will go a long way in helping you walk out feeling like a winner.