149th Belmont Stakes Odds and Prediction

The overall importance of the Belmont Stakes each year depends on what happens in the first two legs of American thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. If a horse has a chance to win the elusive Triple Crown, the Belmont becomes the biggest race of the year. Alas, that’s not the case this Saturday for the 149th running. Here’s a look at the Sports Interaction odds and some picks. Post time for the race in Elmont, N.Y., is set for 6:37 p.m. ET.

149th Belmont Stakes Odds

The Belmont Stakes is the longest of the three Triple Crown races at 1½ miles. It’s not going to draw anywhere near the attention of the 2015 race when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown. That’s because neither the Kentucky Derby winner, Always Dreaming, nor Preakness winner, Cloud Computing, are racing. The last time different horses won the Derby and Preakness and neither ran in the Belmont was 2010. There are 12 horses scheduled to run Saturday.

Always Dreaming was the -125 betting favourite at the Preakness following his victory at Churchill Downs but slipped to eighth in Baltimore. For the Belmont, the colt’s handlers believed he wasn’t ready to run another major race so soon. Always Dreaming is being pointed to late July to return to racing.

Cloud Computing didn’t run the Kentucky Derby, and the horse has only four career starts to his name so trainer Chad Brown didn’t want to risk it three weeks after the Preakness. The increased distance also was a concern. Brown will have a starter, however, in Twisted Tom, who won the Federico Tesio on April 22. Twisted Tom will try to become the third gelding in history to win the Belmont Stakes and is +2000 from Post 1.

The favourite for the Belmont was Classic Empire at +193. I picked that colt to finish second at the Kentucky Derby. He got caught up in a collision out of the starting gate but rallied to finish fourth. Thus, I liked him as a +300 second-favourite to win the Preakness. Classic Empire almost did but was run down in the stretch by Cloud Computing and finished second by a head. So an argument can still be made that Classic Empire, the 2-year-old champion, has been the best 3-year-old in 2017. But bad luck has struck the colt again as he was scratched from the Belmont on Wednesday with an abscess in his right front foot. The same ailment in the same foot sidelined him in February.

Lookin At Lee (+500) is the only horse entered in the Belmont to run in the Derby and Preakness, and he will start from Post 6. Lookin At Lee was a surprising second at the Derby as a long shot and then fourth at the Preakness. Lookin At Lee is trained by Steve Asmussen, who won the 2016 Belmont with Creator. It was the trainer’s first Belmont win. The last to go back-to-back was D. Wayne Lukas, who won three in a row from 1994-96.

The most intriguing newcomer is Epicharis, who is +400 and starts from Post 11. It’s the American debut for Epicharis, who has been one of Japan’s best horses in his short career. He last raced in the UAE Derby on March 25 and finished second to Thunder Snow – a horse who finished 20th at the Kentucky Derby. Epicharis is the grandson of Sunday Silence, who won the 1989 Derby and Preakness and finished second in the Belmont. The New York Racing Association offers a $1 million bonus to any Japan-based winner of the Belmont Stakes in an effort to attract a top international field.

Irish War Cry (+300), Senior Investment (+600) and Tapwrit (+750) are the only other horses currently under +1200. Irish War Cry was my Derby-winning pick but finished 10th after also getting caught up in that collision that hampered Classic Empire. Senior Investment was a +3000 long shot to win the Preakness but finished third. Tapwrit was sixth in the Derby.

149th Belmont Stakes Predictions

Classic Empire was my pick to win again, so it’s back to the drawing board. Go with Irish War Cry (Post 7) to win, Tapwrit (Post 2) to place and Epicharis to show.