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After the runnings of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown is almost here on FOX and the FOX Sports App!
The Belmont Stakes on Saturday wraps up several weeks of prestigious horse races. Speaking of horse racing, betting is synonymous with ponies, so you can be sure gamblers will take advantage of countless opportunities to cash in on winning wagers while enjoying this big race.
And if you are looking for help on how to throw down a couple of bucks on the ponies Saturday, we have you covered with the help of our betting talent.
Our experts — Chris "The Bear" Fallica, Sammy Panayotovich and Geoff Schwartz — are here to give you their best bets, predictions and insights for what will certainly be a thrilling weekend of horse racing. Let's dive into the details, last year's results, this year's odds, and of course, some best bets.
- 2023 Belmont Stakes: Saturday
- Location: Belmont Park in Elmont, New York
- Post time, TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FOX and the FOX Sports App
Recapping last year
Mo Donegal won the 2022 Belmont Stakes, taking home the title with +250 odds. Donegal's win gave jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his second Belmont Stakes win and trainer Todd Pletcher his fourth Belmont Stakes win, his sixth win overall in a Triple Crown race.
A Triple Crown title wasn't at stake in the 2022 Belmont Stakes. Rich Strike, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2022, skipped out on running the Preakness Stakes. He finished in sixth at the Belmont Stakes with +350 odds to win the race. Preakness winner Early Voting didn't run at Belmont. Favorite We The People, who had +200 odds to win the race, finished fourth.
[RELATED: Beginner's guide to horse racing]
The leadup to this year's Belmont Stakes
Mage won the 2023 Kentucky Derby with +1500 odds. But he couldn't recapture that magic at the Preakness Stakes, where he finished in third despite being the favorite at +160.
National Treasure won the race with +400 odds behind jockey John R. Velazquez and trainer Bob Baffert.
Belmont Stakes post-position draw, odds
The post-position draw was held Tuesday, and here are the latest odds with jockey:
1 Tapit Shoes (Jose Ortiz) +1700
2 Tapit Trice (Luis Saez) +600
3 Arcangelo (Javier Castellano) +700
4 National Treasure (John Velazquez) +500
5 Il Miracolo (Marcos Meneses) +2100
6 Forte (Irad Ortiz Jr.) +200
7 Hit Show (Manuel Franco) +800
8 Angel of Empire (Flavien Prat) +350
9 Red Route One (Joel Rosario) +1400
* Odds as of 6/10/2023
EXPERT PICKS
Chris "The Bear" Fallica's bets
Read here for his full breakdown and betting nuggets.
Sammy P's Best Bet
PICK: No. 4 National Treasure (+500 at time of pick)
I’m avoiding the big Belmont Stakes favorites and running it back with National Treasure, who cashed big for us in the Preakness.
As you know, National Treasure is a front-runner, and jockey John Velazquez will shoot for a similar trip – get ahead early and control the pace. There are no real speed demons in this race, so if everything breaks right, it’ll be difficult for other horses to run our guy down near the finish line.
Veteran horse handicapper Kirk Rockwell told FOX Sports he’s playing an exacta box with National Treasure, Forte, Hit Show and Red Route One.
Insight from Geoff Schwartz
PICK: No. 7 Hit Show (+1000 at time of pick)
There are currently nine horses with a post position for the Belmont Stakes.
Tapit Trace is the favorite, with 3-1 odds to win the longest race of the Triple Crown circuit. However, only six favorites have won the Belmont in the last twenty years, with many of those horses looking to complete the Triple Crown. That does not apply to Tapit Trace, so I’m out on him for this race.
That leaves us with eight horses.
A novice horse racing gambler like myself could make the mistake of wagering on a horse I’d just seen run in the Preakness three weekends ago. That would also be a mistake. Only three of the last 20 Belmont winners ran in the Preakness, and like the favorite information above, two of those winners completed the Triple Crown in this race. So that eliminates National Treasure and Red Route One.
I'm left with a pool of six horses.
Thirteen of the last 20 Belmont winners raced in the Kentucky Derby and had a previous graded stakes victory. Only Tapit Trace, Hit Show and Angel of Empire fit into the mold, but, as I mentioned, I’m out on Tapit Trace. So that leaves me with Hit Show and Angel of Empire.
The Belmont Stakes is the longest of the three Triple Crown races, which can lead to unexpected finishes as horses tire out before they reach the finish line. That explains why horses that opened with double-digit odds have won eight of the past 20 races. Angel of Empire opened at 7-2, so he is out of my wagering card, too. Hit Show opened 10-1, which is within that double-digit trend.
So, I’m going with Hit Show to win this race. It’s a horse that fits all the winning trends, and I’m rolling with him. Hopefully, my logic also helped narrow down your card.
Stay tuned to FOX Sports for everything Belmont Stakes related.
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