The 2021 Belmont Stakes live stream has arrived and all eyes are on Essential Quality. Trainer Brad Cox has him at 2-1 odds to win this year's Belmont Stakes, with Preakness winner Rombauer (trained by Michael McCarthy) right behind EQ at 3-1. These two horses will break in the adjacent second (Essential Quality) and third (Rombauer) slots.

And there is one notable name missing from the 153rd running of this historic race. Trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended by the NYRA due to an investigation into the failed drug test of his horse Medina Spirit, after a second drug test found the banned drug betamethasone in Medina Spirit's blood.

Now that the Belmont Stakes is back in the third race of the Triple Crown, we expect the race to return to its standard 1.5-mile length. When the Belmont Stakes was the first race of the year, it was shortened to 1.5 miles (9 furlongs) for the subsequent Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

And unlike 2020, when social distance was a priority, this year fans will be back in attendance. Of course, for those who couldn't get tickets (general admission tickets are currently sold out), there is a way to watch the race online. The race will be streamed on NBC, and the pre-race coverage will be broadcast on NBCSN. And both are available on Sling TV, one of our best streaming services of choice.

If you have to leave your "bubble" or suffer the dreaded local blackout, you won't be able to watch the Belmont Stakes live stream on cable, but you're not out of luck. With a virtual private network, or VPN, you can pretend you are surfing the web from your hometown (or anywhere else not hit by a power outage) and access the same streaming services you are already paying for.

Not sure which VPN is right for you? We tested a variety of services and chose ExpressVPN as the best VPN overall. They offer great speed and excellent customer service. However, there are other VPN options available.

Live streams of the Belmont Stakes 2021 will be carried by NBC and NBCSN (for the earlier events). For those with the best TV antennas or those who have not yet cut the cord, this is not a major issue.

U.S. coverage of the 153rd Belmont Stakes will begin with a pre-race event on NBCSN from 3 to 5 p.m. ET, followed by NBC from 5 to 7 p.m. ET.

In the UK, Sky Sports is offering a live stream of the 2021 Belmont Stakes. The race is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:49 p.m. EDT, which is a bit late, but nothing that has not been done before with live sports streaming.

If you don't have Sky, you can watch the matches with Now TV's one-day and one-month passes starting at £9.99.

In previous years, TSN has been the Canadian home for the Belmont Stakes live stream, and this year is no different. The broadcast will be on TSN4 from 5:00 pm ET to 7:15 pm ET.