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What time does the 2026 Belmont Stakes start? What TV channel?

One thing about the Triple Crown: Fans do not get cheated, at least when it comes to the number of races on the big day.

Just as Churchill Downs did for the Kentucky Derby and Laurel Park did two weeks later for the Preakness, Saratoga Race Course has scheduled 14 races Saturday, highlighted by the Belmont Stakes. It’s the third and final year the Belmont will be run at the upstate New York track while Belmont Park is being rebuilt.

While Laurel started its card at 7:30 a.m. PDT, the Saratoga card follows Churchill’s schedule and begins at 8 a.m. PDT, or 11 a.m. on the East Coast. And, just like the other two headline races, the Belmont is scheduled to start at 4:04 p.m. PDT, or 7:04 p.m. EDT.

It will be the 13th race of the day, with official post time listed at four minutes past the hour.

The biggest difference Saturday from the Derby and Preakness is where fans can watch the races. Fox, not NBC, has the rights to the Belmont.

The first seven races can be seen on FS2 as part of the New York Racing Assn.’s regular “America’s Day at the Races” program, which starts at 7:30 a.m. PDT and continues until noon. The eighth race, at 12:25 p.m. PDT, also will be covered by that crew but will air on Fox.

The network’s official Belmont show begins at 1 p.m. and continues until 4:30. Curt Menefee again is the host, with analysts Tom Amoss and Richard Migliore, plus handicappers Jonathan Kinchen and Chris Fallica, with other contributors such as Charissa Thompson and Tom Rinaldi.

Thompson also will host an alternate telecast geared for horseplayers from 1-4:30 on FS1.

The last of Belmont’s 14 races is set to begin just past 5 p.m. PDT, or 8 p.m. in the East. But don’t worry … FS2 will carry that and it won’t interrupt the Belmont Stakes post-race coverage.

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NCAA title hopeful UCLA baseball stunned in loss to Saint Mary’s

Designated hitter Jacob Johnson hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning off Easton Hawk to lift Saint Mary’s to a stunning 3-2 win over top-seeded UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional opener Friday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Johnson’s second solo home run of the game initially only appeared to be a pop-up near the warning track. But as the stadium fell silent, the ball kept sailing — and it eventually cleared the wall over leaping Bruins right fielder Jarrod Hocking.

Saint Mary’s reliever Cam Staton earned the win after getting UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the expected No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB draft, to pop out with a runner on first. The right-handed Hawk took the loss.

It marked the first loss by a national No. 1 seed in an NCAA regional opener since the current format was established in 1999.

Hawk previously had given up just three homers on the season and hadn’t surrendered one since March 1 against Mississippi State. Johnson, who went deep to start the day’s scoring in the fourth, recorded his second two-homer game of the season.

UCLA's Jarrod Hocking strikes out to end eighth inning during a 3-2 loss to Saint Mary's.

UCLA’s Jarrod Hocking strikes out to end eighth inning during a 3-2 loss to Saint Mary’s in the NCAA regionals on Friday.

(Scott Strazzante / For The Times)

Saint Mary’s (35-25) will face the winner of Virginia Tech (2) vs. Cal Poly (3) — who play Friday night — in the winner’s bracket on Saturday at 6 p.m. PDT; UCLA (51-7) will face the loser in the elimination bracket Saturday at 1 p.m.

Friday’s starters, UCLA’s Wylan Moss and Saint Mary’s John Damozonio, dueled. Moss surrendered three hits and one run through five innings, and Damozonio gave up five hits and two runs through seven.

But it was Johnson and the Gaels who survived in the end.



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