It's amazing that only one horse of the 20 who started at the Kentucky Derby is even going to complete the Triple Crown trail. With Classic Empire getting scratched on Wednesday, that leaves just Lookin At Lee as the only horse who will run in all three of the Spring's biggest races. It also leaves the Belmont Stakes without anything that resembles a favorite.
The Belmont Stakes is one of the premier events of the year on the horse racing calendar and shouldn't be missed by bettors on Saturday, June 10, 2017. Post-time from Belmont Park is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET, and all of the action can be seen live on NBC.
Belmont Stakes Morning Line Odds and Belmont Stakes Post Positions
1: Twisted Tom 20/1
2: Tapwrit 6/1
3: Gormley 8/1
4: J Boys Echo 15/1
5: Hollywood Handsome 30/1
6: Lookin At Lee 5/1
7: Irish War Cry 7/2
8: Senior Investment 12/1
9: Meantime 15/1
10: Multiplier 15/1
11: Epicharis 4/1
12: Patch 12/1
Top Contenders
Four months ago, many circled the name Epicharis as the one that was going to be able to come from overseas to contend in these Triple Crown races. He wasn't cleared from quarantine early enough to run at either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness Stakes, but he's here at Belmont Park for the last leg of the Triple Crown. He wouldn't have been favored over Classic Empire and probably wouldn't have been anywhere near either, but with Classic Empire out of the fold, the Japanese sensation is now the favorite.
Many are also talking about Tapwrit. He was a healthy 27 to 1 at the Kentucky Derby, finishing a relatively disappointing sixth. This field is smaller though, and his closing nature should play better in the third leg of the Triple Crown than it did in the first. Furthermore, his sire, Tapit is one of the top distance sires in the world, and that should play nicely.
Tapwrit is set at 6/1, just under both Epicharis, Irish War Cry and Lookin At Lee. The latter is the interesting closer in the field, knowing that he's come from deep in both of the first two jewels of the threesome to finish second at the Kentucky Derby and fourth at the Preakness Stakes. It's hard to see him finishing much worse than that on Saturday.
Belmont Stakes Picks
What's lost in all of this with Classic Empire being out is that the race should really open up for Epicharis. He wants to be a frontrunner, but aside from Multiplier, there isn't another really big time rabbit in the field. That means that Epicharis should end up settling in nicely in a stalking position and not worry about getting much in the way of dirt kicked up in his face. So long as he settles in a couple lengths of the pace and is in front of that second pack, he should be in good shape to finish this job. The price of 4 to 1 is just too good to pass on with what might legitimately be the best three-year old horse in the world.
To finish up our triple, we're not going to get all that inventive. Tapwrit has watched his price plummet for a reason from his Derby odds to here at the Belmont Stakes, and Irish War Cry was considered one of the top bananas at the Kentucky Derby with cause, too. That's how we'll wrap up the Triple Crown season. It won't be that $8,000+ superfecta we saw at the Preakness Stakes, but it'll still be a several hundred dollar trifecta if it comes in.
Belmont Stakes Odds: #11 Epicharis - #7 Irish War Cry - #2 Tapwrit
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