Belmont Stakes 2015: Top Contenders and Unheralded Horses in Lineup Field

American Pharoah's Triple Crown bid continues in the 2015 Belmont Stakes, and the impressive colt will have to overcome fatigue and a strong field of contenders in a 1 ½-mile race to become the first horse to achieve the feat in 37 years.

While there are some very talented contenders gearing up for Belmont this year, one of the race's top horses has been withdrawn from contention. According to an interview with Frank Angst of BloodHorse.com, WinStar Farm president Elliott Walden explained why Carpe Diem was pulled:

"We just felt like he wasn't quite 100 percent. His last two works have been good—timewise they've been great—Todd just feels like he's not quite where he was for the Blue Grass or Breeders' Futurity. He's too good a horse to lead over there not feeling 110 percent confident."

So, without Carpe Diem in the field, let's take an updated look at the odds for the 2015 Belmont Stakes and assess the race's top contenders and sleepers.

Updated Odds

Horse	Odds
American Pharoah	4-5
Frosted	5-1
Materiality	13-2
Madefromlucky	12-1
Mubtaahij	16-1
Tale of Verve	20-1
Keen Ice	25-1
Frammento	33-1

All Belmont Stakes odds courtesy of Odds Shark.

Top Contenders

American Pharoah

This horse needs no introduction. The 2015 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, American Pharoah has been extremely impressive.

At Churchill downs, he displayed some phenomenal stamina, making up plenty of ground from an outside starting position and running three wide off the rail for the majority of the race while maintaining enough stamina to make a late charge and finish first.

At Pimlico, Pharoah was tasked with starting from the dreaded No. 1 gate—a position that only yielded one winner since 1961—in sloppy conditions. The colt was impressive yet again, accelerating through the soaked track to gain the lead position. He would go on to earn a wire-to-wire win by seven lengths.

The big question going forward is fatigue, as Pharoah will be running his third race in a matter of five weeks. Well, according to an interview with Jerry Bossert of the New York Daily News, trainer Bob Baffert described Pharoah's work as "good and golden."

Frosted

Frosted is a very intriguing contender in this year's Belmont Stakes. The horse raced four times in 2015, notching one win, a runner-up and two fourth-place finishes—one of which came in the Kentucky Derby.

While a fourth-place finish at Churchill Downs doesn't seem overly impressive, Frosted produced quite a dramatic run. He started slowly, falling to the rear of the pack, but he began to run hard over the final half-mile of the race. The colt passed several strong contenders en route to a fourth-place finish behind Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund.

Slow starts aren't unfamiliar to Frosted, as he had a similar showing in the Wood Memorial. He was one of the last horses out of the gate, falling to the rear early, but he showed his impressive stamina during the second half of the race to ultimately emerge victorious.

The extra distance at Belmont Park (1 ½ miles) may actually work in favor of Frosted, as the colt will have additional time to make up ground if he falls behind early once again.

Materiality

Materiality had a similar showing to Frosted in the Kentucky Derby. He fell behind early but made up plenty of ground late in the race to finish sixth. While he's not as strong a closer as Frosted, Materiality has been able to start quickly in the past—most notably during his Florida Derby victory. A strong start will be a crucial element to Materiality being a factor down the final stretch in the Belmont Stakes.

Unheralded Horses

Madefromlucky

Madefromlucky has faced Pharoah twice already, finishing second in the Rebel Stakes and fourth in the Arkansas Derby—Pharoah won both races. While those results weren't exactly favorable, this colt has improved since, emerging victorious in the Peter Pan Stakes after a very strong run from start to finish. He gets one more shot at Pharoah at Belmont Park.

Tale of Verve

It took Tale of Verve a little while to find his form, as he raced in a total of six Maiden Special Weights before finally winning. The Preakness was the colt's first Stakes race, and he put together a remarkable showing, battling the elements to finish second behind Pharoah. After watching his brilliant late-race charge, we can speculate Tale of Verve could be a big factor in the longer Belmont Stakes.