Close your eyes, think of the most memorable editions of the Belmont Stakes of the past 50 or so years, and what do you see? Perhaps Secretariat moving like a machine. Affirmed and Alydar battling with nothing but a head separating them for a mile.

The final race of the 2025 Triple Crown series, the Belmont Stakes, is set to unfold on Saturday. There will be no Triple Crown winner this year, though fans have known that since early May. Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty was held out of the Preakness Stakes by trainer Bill Mott so that the team could focus strictly on the Belmont.