2023 Belmont Stakes Contenders and Odds Announced
The 2023 Belmont Stakes, the final jewel of the Triple Crown, is all set for Saturday, June 10 at Belmont Park. Set as the day’s 12th race, it will go off at 7:02 p.m. Eastern. After weeks of discussion about who might be headed to the race, the final field was drawn Tuesday. This means it is time to get to know the field, and get ready to figure out who to bet in the Belmont Stakes.
2023 Belmont Stakes Top Contenders
Although Kentucky Derby winner Mage is bypassing the Belmont Stakes in order to freshen up for a summer campaign, the field features nine classy horses from the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and beyond.
Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure will try to win another leg of the Triple Crown as well. Angel of Empire and Tapit Trice, both beaten as the top two betting choices in the Kentucky Derby, return to action Saturday. Forte, who shockingly scratched from the Kentucky Derby as the morning-line favorite, has been named the morning-line favorite in the Belmont Stakes despite that missed start.
2023 Belmont Stakes Online Betting
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2023 Belmont Stakes Odds and Field
This is the full field for the 2023 Belmont Stakes, including their post position draw, trainer, jockey, and morning-line odds.
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tapit Shoes | Brad Cox | Jose Ortiz | 20-1 |
| 2 | Tapit Trice | Todd Pletcher | Luis Saez | 3-1 |
| 3 | Arcangelo | Jena Antonucci | Javier Castellano | 8-1 |
| 4 | National Treasure | Bob Baffert | John Velazquez | 5-1 |
| 5 | Il Miracolo | Antonio Sano | Marcos Meneses | 30-1 |
| 6 | Forte | Todd Pletcher | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | 5-2 |
| 7 | Hit Show | Brad Cox | Manny Franco | 10-1 |
| 8 | Angel of Empire | Brad Cox | Flavien Prat | 7-2 |
| 9 | Red Route One | Steve Asmussen | Joel Rosario | 15-1 |
The morning-line odds reflect Belmont Park’s best estimate for what the price will be on each horse. They are a good guide to which horses are expected to take money or not, but remember that final prices are based on actual money bet on each horse. So, make sure to watch Belmont Stakes odds on FanDuel as post time gets closer, so you can know whether you are getting the right value on your Belmont contender.
Belmont Stakes Pace Scenario
The old adage in horse racing is that the pace makes the race, and never is that more correct than in the Belmont Stakes. Many new handicappers tend to pick closers in the Belmont Stakes, thinking that if they are closing up the distance in a race like the Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes, the extra ground will give them more space to finish. However, looking at the history of the Belmont Stakes reveals a different story.
Quite simply, if a horse does not have the stamina to last 1 ½ miles, even a closer is going to get tired, and their run will level out. And, even at 1 ½ miles, a frontrunner who gets an easy time up front is going to be less tired as the race reaches its conclusion. If that pacesetter has not had to use his energy early, he will have a lot left to keep going and hold off the closers.
This is especially relevant in the 2023 Belmont Stakes. After all, the three shortest prices on the morning line are all closers: Forte, Tapit Trice, and Angel of Empire. If the rest of the field were full of one-way speed, these runners would have a cozy time in the Belmont Stakes. However, that is not the case.
The pace looks like it is going to set up a lot like it did in the Preakness. National Treasure, who keeps the blinkers he wore in the Preakness, looks like the fastest and classiest speed horse in the field. On paper, there is some chance that longshot Il Miracolo could try to go with him, though like Preakness longshot Coffeewithchris he still may not be fast enough to stop National Treasure from clearing off.
With a Preakness winner like National Treasure loose on the lead again, it could be a tough assignment for even a horse as good as Forte, Angel of Empire, or Tapit Trice to reel him in. Horses likely to sit a little closer include Peter Pan (G3) winner Arcangelo and rail-drawn longshot Tapit Shoes. This gives them both some upset potential if the mile and a half does not end up to National Treasure’s liking.
Belmont Stakes Post Positions
In a field of nine, post positions may not be quite as critical or disastrous as they can be in a 20-horse Kentucky Derby. However, they still can have an impact on how the race is run.
Good Belmont Stakes Post Draws
Though the pace scenario does not do much to help Forte, Hit Show, Angel of Empire, or Red Route One, none of them were hurt by the post-draw. These four classy closers drew gates 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively: the four outermost gates in the field. In a field of nine, there are not quite the same ground loss worries as there would be in a bigger field.
From these gates, all four of them should be able to drop into a good spot to chase, work out fairly clean trips, and see if they get enough pace to try to run down the leaders. Their chances, in the end, will come down to how fast the likes of Il Miracolo, Tapit Shoes, or Arcangelo make National Treasure go early. But, at least these gates should minimize how much trip trouble they can get into in the early to middle stages of the race.
Challenging Belmont Stakes Post Draws
Just as Tapit Trice lost the post draw in the Kentucky Derby with a near-inside post, he lost the Belmont Stakes post draw for the same reason. He drew the 2 gate in a nine-horse field. Though an inside post in a large Kentucky Derby field is worse, he still has seven horses outside him this time.
For a horse who still is not the best gate horse, this opens up more chances for things to go wrong early. Also, for a horse who does his best work with an outside closing trip, it gives Luis Saez some work to do to get him that trip. That is not impossible, of course: Saez got him away well and worked him outside from an inside gate in the Blue Grass (G1). But, against a much deeper field, Tapit Trice will be such a short price that it is worth thinking critically about his post.
