The ultimate betting resource for your handicapping, experts, free picks and analysis. Bet online with the best betting in horse racing. Despite amassing 24 wins, Belmont is likely on the outside looking in for a tourney bid. Such is the burden for mid-majors to be nearly perfect. The Stakes Are High for Belmont, Quality Mid.

A graded stakes race is a term applied by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay. These fees, to which the track adds an additional amount, constitute the total amount from which prize money is paid to the first, second, third, and usually fourth place finishers. There are three different levels of stakes races, the top ranking, and therefore purse, being a Grade I Stakes. They are higher-class races for bigger prizes and often involve competitors that belong to the same gender, age and class. These races may, though, be 'weight-for-age', with weights adjusted only according to age, and also there are 'set weights' where all horses carry the same weight. Furthermore, there are 'conditions' races, in which horses carry weights that are set by conditions, such as having won a certain number of races, or races of a certain value.

BetUS is a fully licensed sportsbook providing a reliable and secure sports betting service to millions of satisfied online betting customers world wide since 1994. BetUS offers football betting, live and NFL odds all season long. A graded stakes race is a term applied by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay. For Arabians, there is the Arabian Triple Crown, consisting of Drinkers of the Wind Derby in California, the Texas Six Shooter Stakes, and the Bob Magness Derby in Delaware. American betting on horse racing is sanctioned and regulated by the state where the race is located.

The American Graded Stakes Committee uses as part of its criteria for the grading:

Belmont Stakes Betting Line

Belmont Stakes Betting Challenge

• Purse Requirement: That the race has a purse of more than $75,000.
• Longevity: That the race has been run for two years under the same conditions.
• Drug Testing: That post race drug testing is managed by a governmental authority.
• Restrictions: That the race may be restricted only in age and gender.
• Anabolic Steroid Testing : Boldenone, Nandrolone, Stanozolol, and Testosterone are only allowed to be used.
• Toe Grabs: Cannot be more than two millimeters long.

In the United States and Canada, a graded race can be dormant for one year without losing its grade. Also, as long as the race meets these requirements, the Committee grades on the overall quality of the previous fields and the performance of horses in the previous fields in stakes both prior to and after the race. For example: if the winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic raced in the Santa Anita Handicap then the race would almost certainly be a Grade One.