We’ve arrived at the 155th Belmont Stakes.
Although there will be no Triple Crown winner this year, there is more than enough action for horse racing enthusiasts.
Forte, the Kentucky Derby morning-line betting favorite before being scratched, is set to make his Triple Crown racing debut. Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure will also run. There will be a nine-horse field Saturday, which is two more horses than started the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Derby winner Mage is not entered in the Belmont.
With Forte, National Treasure and Tapit Trice, the son of thoroughbred racehorse Tapit, entered, Saturday’s Belmont Stakes could be an exciting race.
Tapit’s offspring — Essential Quality, Tonalist, Creator and Tapwrit — have won the Belmont Stakes.
When is the 2023 Belmont Stakes?
The 2023 Belmont Stakes post time is approximately 6:50 p.m. ET at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The total purse will be $1.5 million, with the race televised on FOX.
Horses worth watching in 2023 Belmont Stakes
Forte is a horse to keep an eye on. A bruised foot kept him off the track for the Derby and was thus ineligible for the Preakness. Although he has not run since winning the Florida Derby on April 1, Forte is the morning-line favorite at 5-2 in Saturday’s race.
Tapit Trice is 3-1 in the morning line. He finished seventh at the Derby, but this horse’s lineage is best suited for the Belmont Stakes. Tapit Trice and jockey Luis Saez won the Tampa Derby and will look to add Belmont victory number five for the offspring of Tapit.
Belmont odds and post positions
The post positions were set Tuesday:
Post, Horse, Trainer, Jockey, Odds
- Tapit Shoes, Brad Cox, Jose Ortiz, 20-1
- Tapit Trice, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez, 3-1
- Arcangelo, Jena Antonucci, Javier Castellano, 8-1
- National Treasure, Bob Baffert, John Velazquez, 5-1
- Il Miracola, Antonio Sano, Marcos Meneses, 30-1
- Forte, Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz Jr., 5-2
- Hit Show, Brad Cox, Manny Franco, 10-1
- Angel of Empire, Brad Cox, Flavien Prat, 7-2
- Red Route One, Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario, 15-1
Betting on the Belmont Stakes — trends
In the last 26 years, 69% of Belmont Stakes winners had already run in the Kentucky Derby. It should also be noted 73% of winners skipped the Preakness Stakes.
Over the last two decades, no horse has finished outside of the money in the Derby and the Preakness and gone on to win the Belmont Stakes.
Finally, 42% of Belmont Stakes winners in the last 26 years ran in the Derby and finished outside the money, AND either didn’t run in the Preakness or if they did run the Preakness, they finished in the money.
Standard Bets and Exotic Bets
Much like its sister race, betting on the Belmont Stakes is practically identical to betting on the Derby and Preakness. However, unlike the Derby, which can be bet on at various times leading up to the race, pari-mutuel betting on the Belmont Stakes is restricted to just two days.
Bets once again fall into the standard and exotic categories.
Standard bets — one-horse bets — are a bet on the horse you think will win.
A standard bet is the way to go if you want to bet on Preakness winner National Treasure to win the Belmont Stakes. If you wish to up the stakes, you can instead try a “place bet.” A place bet means you are confident the horse you pick will finish first or second.
If you fared well by betting on the Derby and the Preakness, you can take things further and place a “show bet.” In this instance, the horse you select must finish first, second or third. But a reminder, payouts for place bets and show bets are significantly smaller than a standard one-horse bet.
Exotic bets are betting on the order of finish within a specific race. With every additional finishing position, the difficulty and your payday go up.
Exotic bets can also be viewed as a type of parlay bet for those looking for a comparable sports betting reference.
Types of exotic bets include:
- Exacta: picking the top two finishers in order
- Trifecta: picking the top three horses in order
- Superfecta: the top four finishers in order
- Super Hi-Five: the top five finishes in order
