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When Hill Road finished a fast-closing third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last year, he established himself as a horse to watch on the Triple Crown trail. Though a fever ended any chance of him making the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, he won the Peter Pan Stakes in his last start in a career-best effort. Now, the quickly improving Chad Brown trainee finally gets his chance to take down a Triple Crown race in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

1 Hill Road (10-1)

  • Trainer Chad Brown
  • Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
  • Last race 1st in the Peter Pan Stakes by ¾ length
  • Career record 5 starts: 2 wins, 2 thirds
  • Career earnings $336,496
  • Best career Beyer Speed Figure 94 (2025 Peter Pan Stakes)
  • Sire Quality Road

Below, we'll dig further into Hill Road as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 157th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.

Belmont Stakes profiles 1 Hill Road | 2 Sovereignty | 3 Rodriguez | 4 Uncaged | 5 Crudo | 6 Baeza | 7 Journalism | 8 Heart of Honor

Belmont Stakes picks Michelle Yu | Gene Menez | Jody Demling | Jeff Hochman

What to know about Hill Road

This Kentucky-bred son of Quality Road made his first two starts in Ireland on the turf, winning once, before the connections decided to run him in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on the dirt. Sent off at 61-1 odds at FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET, he rallied for third. That performance—as well as a pedigree that screams dirt (he's a son of Quality Road out of a Lemon Drop Kid mare)—convinced the connections to give the Triple Crown trail a try and transfer the colt to trainer Chad Brown.

After Hill Road finished third in the Tampa Bay Derby to start his year, he was pointed to the Wood Memorial but a fever knocked him out of that race and, as a result, the Kentucky Derby. Brown rerouted the horse to the Peter Pan Stakes, and the horse responded with a solid victory. Despite a moderate pace, he rallied from well off the pace to win by ¾ length, earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, the best of his career.

Hill Road enters the Belmont Stakes heading in the right direction, but he will need to make another significant jump if he wants to see the winner's circle Saturday. His 94 Beyer is well shy of the career bests of the major contenders. To be fair, he has never been in a race with a fast pace, so he hasn't really had an opportunity to run a big speed figure.  

A fast pace would also help set up his late-running style, but that's no guarantee with just two speed horses in the starting gate. That said, Hill Road overcame a moderate pace in the Peter Pan Stakes to win, albeit against a much softer field. 

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. replaces Flavien Prat, who has chosen to ride Baeza in the Belmont, but Ortiz is no slouch. He has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey five times.

Post draw analysis

Hill Road could very well be last when the field goes under the wire the first time around, so his No. 1 post is largely irrelevant. However, he should be able to save ground around the first turn from there. In addition, the rail may give Ortiz the option of going inside on the second turn. Any saved ground will be key for Hill Road in this loaded field.