Derby duo Golden Tempo, Renegade back for Belmont
Field of nine set for final leg of Triple Crown
Press Release
June 2, 2026
In what is expected to be a competitive and memorable renewal of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, the final jewel in racing’s Triple Crown is set to be run for a third and final time at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, with the Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo and runner-up Renegade taking center stage amidst a field of nine sophomores.
The 158th running of the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets is slated as Race 13 on the 14-race card with a post time of 7:04 p.m. Eastern. First post is 11 a.m. and admission gates will open to the public at 9 a.m.
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Due to the configuration of Saratoga’s main track, the 2026 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets will once again be contested at 1 1/4-miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2-miles. The Belmont Stakes will play host to a rematch between Golden Tempo and Renegade, who finished a neck apart in the “Run for the Roses” as they posted deep-closing efforts in a thrilling finish.
Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Golden Tempo will look to continue a historic run for trainer Cherie DeVaux, who became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, and did so in her very first attempt. She vies to join Jena Antonucci [2023, Arcangelo] as women to have trained a Belmont Stakes-winner.
A sixth-generation homebred, Golden Tempo has been a model of consistency in his five starts, culminating in his determined victory over Renegade when rallying from last-of-18 with a well-timed ride from post 16 under returning pilot Jose Ortiz.
Trailing as far as 17 3/4 lengths back, Golden Tempo picked it up while racing three-wide approaching the mile call and angled out to the seven path in the turn. He was at least 10-wide in the stretch, maneuvering around Renegade as they both collared Ocelli in the final sixteenth. Golden Tempo made one last surge in the final strides and edged clear of a game Renegade to claim the garland of roses by a neck in a final time of 2:02.27.
With less speed signed on in the Belmont than the Derby, DeVaux said she is hopeful that Ortiz, who won the Belmont in 2017 aboard Tapwrit, can settle Golden Tempo into a closer position to make his run.
“We just have to hope that a pace materializes with his running style,” DeVaux said. “If that does not happen, Jose is going to have to come up with ‘Plan B’ to where he just doesn’t give himself so much to do in the later stages of the race. I think Jose can either get him closer earlier, or he needs to start his run earlier, and that sustained run also is not ideal.”
The path to Derby glory for Golden Tempo ran through Louisiana, where he made each of his prior four starts around the main track at Fair Grounds Race Course. There, he graduated at first asking in a six-furlong maiden and stepped up to the big leagues for a late-running victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in January. That marked the only other win this year for Golden Tempo, as he went on to finish a willing third at the Grade 2 level in the Risen Star in February and Louisiana Derby in March, where he added blinkers.
The latter two performances led to Golden Tempo exiting the Derby starting gate at odds of 23-1, but his strong turn-of-foot propelled him to the upset victory over Renegade, who was the morning line favorite and went off as the 5-1 second choice.
[For Belmont Stakes horse by horse analysis, please click here.]
“He’s going to run his race and where he is, the optics of it are [based on] what they’re doing in front,” DeVaux concluded. “It’s kind of just how the race unfolds in front of him and what Jose decides to do, as well as Golden Tempo. We’ve never wanted to change his running style, however, it does leave him vulnerable to pace dynamics not working in his favor. If there’s not a contentious pace, he should be closer in theory.”
Golden Tempo, who looks to become the 13th horse to complete the Derby/Belmont double, skipped the second leg of the Triple Crown – the Grade 1 Preakness won by Napoleon Solo at Laurel Park – to target the Belmont Stakes.
Golden Tempo is a Phipps homebred out of the Grade 3-winner Carrumba, with his female line tracing to Reine-de-Course mare Lady Pitt. He will look to provide the Phipps family with their second overall Belmont Stakes winner after capturing the “Test of the Champion” with Hall of Famer Easy Goer in 1989. Vinny Viola’s St. Elias Stable, co-breeder of Golden Tempo, searches for their first Belmont Stakes victory, their best finish a second in 2020 with Dr. Post.
Ortiz will look to engineer a winning ride aboard Golden Tempo from post 9 with a morning-line assessment of 9-2.
Robert and Lawana Low and Repole Stable’s Renegade will look to turn the tables on Golden Tempo, and like his rival, he has never finished off-the-board in his young career. Renegade is one of two Belmont Stakes aspirants trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who also sends out Powershift for Repole Stable.
Renegade, a son of Into Mischief, seeks his third win this season after making the Derby starting gate with wins in the Listed Sam F. Davis in February at Tampa Bay Downs and the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in March at Oaklawn Park. The latter effort came in stylish fashion with a four-length stroll that earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, three points higher than the figure he and Golden Tempo earned in the Derby.
In the Derby, Renegade emerged from the inside post and was slammed at the start before traveling in 16th at the three-quarters call. He was bumped again in the stretch as he went wide and reeled in Ocelli in the final sixteenth before being caught late.
“He’s a tough, tough colt,” Pletcher said. “He’s resilient and determined. He seems to not mind a battle, and I think a lot of horses that get roughed up as much as he did in the first sixteenth of a mile in the Derby might not have recovered and finished the way he did. I was proud of his courage and effort.”
Pletcher said he welcomes the opportunity to rematch with Golden Tempo.
“That’s what you hope for in these Triple Crown races, a chance to hopefully turn the tables,” said Pletcher, who searches for his fifth Belmont Stakes victory after hoisting the August Belmont Trophy in 2007 [Rags to Riches], 2013 [Palace Malice], 2017 [Tapwrit] and 2022 [Mo Donegal].
Renegade has steadily made his way to the upper echelon of his crop. After a distant third in his career bow last August here, Renegade improved tenfold in a one-turn mile maiden effort in October at Belmont at the Big A, battling down the lane with subsequent dual Grade 2-winner Paladin and putting his head in front at the wire before being disqualified and placed second for interference in the stretch.
Renegade, who has been ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. in each race since that October effort, would clash with Paladin again in December in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Remsen, and landed two lengths back in second in his two-turn debut. Despite still being a maiden to commence his sophomore season, Renegade ran like a seasoned pro in the Sam F. Davis, kicking clear to win by 3 3/4 lengths, priming him for his strong effort in Hot Springs.
While Renegade’s efforts have each come from well off the pace, Pletcher said the talented colt is adaptable and can be closer to the pace if needed.
“I think with the way it’s stacking up, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of pace,” Pletcher said. “I think Renegade is tractable enough [where] if they’re not going real fast, he can be a little closer than he has been. In the Arkansas and Kentucky Derby, we kind of felt like there was going to be enough pace to run at that Irad wanted to let him settle and make his run. He’s adaptable enough to adjust to a really slow pace.”
A $975,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Renegade is out of the Grade 3-winning Curlin mare Spice Is Nice, who was owned by the Lows and trained by Pletcher. His second dam, Dame Dorothy was a three-time graded stakes-winner under Pletcher’s tutelage, including the Grade 1 Humana Distaff in 2015.
Irad Ortiz, Jr., a two-time Belmont Stakes-winner with Creator [2016] and Mo Donegal [2022], retains the mount from post 4 as the 2-1 morning-line favorite.
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