Ten horses will be racing with $1.5 million on the line on Saturday at the Belmont Stakes, set for Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Called the “Test of the Champion” because of the long, 1 ½-mile track, this is the third leg in the Triple Crown. There have been 11 horses that lost the Kentucky Derby but won the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, and War of Will is looking to make it a dozen. The last time this happened was 2005, when Afleet Alex pulled it off. Post time is set for approximately 6:38pm Eastern time on Saturday, and you can catch the broadcast on NBC, with preliminary coverage starting at 2:30 on NBC Sports. We have your horses sports betting favorites here with a brief overview of each — pending the draw for post positions later today.
2019 Belmont Stakes Betting Odds & Favorites
“I had planned on jogging him this morning, but he had so much energy and was trying to jump on everybody and tried to jump on me, so I said to go ahead and gallop him.” @markecasse on War of Will War of Will & Sir Winston train for #BelmontStakes https://t.co/qO4kvx0zQm pic.twitter.com/JW8SsBWyKL
— Belmont Stakes (@BelmontStakes) June 4, 2019
Entry List with Early Odds
- Tacitus 2/1
- War of Will 5/1
- Bourbon War, Master Fencer 8/1
- Intrepid Heart, Sir Winston 10/1
- Everfast 12/1
- Spinoff 15/1
- Tax, Joevia 20/1
Tacitus
- 2019 Belmont Stakes Odds: +160
- Jockey: Jose Ortiz
- Trainer: William Mott
- Career Record: 5 starts (3 wins, 0 seconds, 1 third)
Tacitus was the third betting choice at Churchill Downs but caught up in some traffic in the early going at the Kentucky Derby. However, he made a diligent run around the back turn and down the homestretch to end up in third place after Maximum Security’s disqualification. He won the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and the Wood Memorial Presented by NYRA Bets before the Kentucky Derby, and he overcame some bad luck to win the Wood Memorial — and almost came back to win at Churchill Downs despite the traffic. Tapit, his sire, has also sired three other Belmont champions. There are a lot of similarities between Tacitus’ style and that of Tapwrit, who won at Belmont two years ago after a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Jose Ortiz rode Tapwrit and will ride Tacitus here.
War of Will
- 2019 Belmont Stakes Odds: +200
- Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione
- Trainer: Mark Casse
- Career Record: 10 starts (4 wins, 1 second, 1 third)
War of Will was another one of the group of horses that got caught up in Maximum Security’s traffic jam and saw his shot to win the Kentucky Derby go by the wayside, having to come to a hard stop right behind the disqualified horse, losing momentum for enough strides to have to use too much energy to get back to pace, running out of gas in the deep stretch. He pursued a similar strategy, hanging on the back of the lead, at the Preakness Stakes, and when space opened at the top of the stretch, he moved from the rail to take the win by 1 ¼ lengths. That was his third win in five dirt track races, all three of those wins coming in stakes races. That strategy will likely appear once again as Gaffalione will try to keep him just back of the leader until the end of the far turn. This is Gaffalione’s first Belmont Stakes, but his skill in other races and War of Will’s performance record still make him a compelling favorite.
Bourbon War
- 2019 Belmont Stakes Odds: +1600
- Jockey: Mike Smith
- Trainer: Mark Hennig
- Career Record: 6 starts (2 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds)
Bourbon War fell off the table at the Preakness Stakes, starting as the second betting choice but sinking back to eighth. He started out at a respectable pace, but the closing rush never showed up, and he finished 9 ½ lengths behind War of Will. He did race with blinkers this time, after a fourth-place result at the Xpressbet Florida Derby, but they will come off at Belmont Park. Mike Smith will ride Bourbon War this time, which should help him improve his standing. Even so, it’s hard to see him finishing ahead of either of the two favorites above him on the early odds list.
