Belmont Stakes Odds: American Pharoah Heavily Favored In Triple Crown Quest
Looking to become the first horse to win all three jewels in the Triple Crown of horse racing since Affirmed accomplished the feat in 1978, American Pharoah will take the track in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes as a heavy 5-7 betting favorite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
After picking up victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, the Bob Baffert-trained colt will start from the No. 5 position Saturday afternoon in the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
American Pharoah ran to victory in a crowded field of 18 horses at Churchill Downs in early May, edging out Firing Line and Dortmund to pay bettors as a 3-1 favorite at the sportsbooks.
It was a much smaller field of eight horses two weeks later at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, where American Pharoah once again crushed the competition, winning the Preakness Stakes by an incredible seven lengths while pegged as a heavy 10-13 favorite.
However, a number of competitors who challenged American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby skipped the Preakness to prepare for the Belmont Stakes, where they hope to spoil the 3-year-old’s Triple Crown bid.
Most notable are a pair of horses trained by Todd Pletcher, Materiality and Madefromlucky, who join Frosted, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, as American Pharoah’s closest competition on the Belmont Stakes odds.
Frosted finished a strong fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and sports 6-1 odds ahead of Saturday’s race. Frosted also is a +240 underdog in head-to-head Belmont props betting versus American Pharoah, who gets the nod as a -300 favorite.
Materiality, who saw a three-race winning streak ended by a fourth-place finish at Churchill Downs, closely follows at 13-2. Starting on the outside from the No. 8 post, Materiality sits as a +120 underdog to finish in the top three at Belmont, with -150 odds of once again finishing outside of the money.
Madefromlucky is joined at 14-1 by another horse that has not raced since the Kentucky Derby. Mubtaahij dominated on the track in Dubai before making his American debut in the Run for the Roses as a popular 14-1 dark horse but finished a disappointing eighth. While the UAE Derby winner is deadlocked with Madefromlucky on the odds, he is the -140 favorite to top the Kentucky-bred horse in head-to-head props betting.
Tale of Verve, who finished a distant second in the Preakness, is next on the Belmont Stakes odds at 20-1, followed by Keen Ice at 25-1, and longshot Frammento at 40-1.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
