Belmont Stakes 2022 predictions, best bets: Expert picks for win, place, show,

There is no Triple Crown on the line, but there is still plenty of excitement ahead of the 2022 Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Rich Strike returns to the track after winning the Kentucky Derby as an 80-1 long shot. The young thoroughbred bypassed the Preakness Stakes because his trainers wanted to keep him on a schedule of taking a four- to six-week break in between races. Even though Rich Strike isn’t racing for a Triple Crown, he will garner plenty of attention at the Belmont Stakes 2022. Rich Strike is 7-2 in the 2022 Belmont Stakes odds. Peter Pan Stakes winner We the People (2-1) and Wood Memorial winner Mo Donegal (5-2) are also among the Belmont race 2022 favorites, while Golden Glider and Skippylongstockings round out the 2022 Belmont Stakes field as 20-1 longshots. Post time for the Belmont 2022 is 6:44 p.m. ET on Saturday. With so much to consider while making your 2022 Belmont Stakes picks, a little expert help can go a long way.

The 2022 Belmont Stakes will be the 154th running of the race and the 111th time it has taken place at Belmont Park. The Belmont is the oldest and the longest of the Triple Crown races, finding its home at Belmont Park in 1905 and being run on a 1 1/2-mile track since 1926. The Belmont Stakes is also referred to as “The Test of Champions” because the field is much smaller than the previous two Triple Crown races and only the best thoroughbreds of the season compete. Jim McLaughlin and Eddie Arcaro are the winningest jockeys in Belmont Stakes history, each winning six races. James G. Rowe Sr. is the winningest trainer with eight Belmont Stakes victories from 1883 to 1913. 

Given all the history, there’s a method to picking which horses to focus on for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets in a Belmont Stakes like this, and SportsLine expert Jody Demling knows what it is. He can help you make the best 2022 Belmont Stakes picks possible.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling enters the Belmont Stakes 2022 having nailed the winner of this race three of the last four years. He hit the exacta, trifecta, and superfecta in last year’s Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality. Two years ago, Demling said Tiz the Law was clearly the class of the field, and Barclay Tagg’s horse pulled away for a convincing 3 3/4-length victory. In 2018, he was all over Justify, jockey Mike Smith, and trainer Bob Baffert to make horse racing history at Belmont Park. The result: Justify became just the 13th Triple Crown winner ever, and anyone who followed Demling’s lead cashed in too.

He’s coming off a major heater in 2020: At one point, he picked the winners of six straight races: the Saudi Cup, Gotham Stakes, Rebel Stakes, Louisiana Derby, Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Demling is at his best in the biggest horse races in the world. He has hit 10 of the last 14 Derby-Oaks doubles at Churchill Downs. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both races all but four times in the last 14 years. He’s also called nine of the last 18 Preakness winners, keenly understanding…