Belmont Stakes 2021 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Every Horse

Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer drew the No. 3 gate for the 2021 Belmont Stakes during Tuesday's post position draw at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

Rombauer is part of an eight-horse field set to close out the year's Triple Crown schedule Saturday. Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who's win in the Run for the Roses remains under review pending further drug testing results, is ineligible to compete because of trainer Bob Baffert's NYRA suspension.

Here's a look at how the field shapes up following the post draw along with the morning-line odds, per HorseRacing.net:

1. Bourbonic (Kendrick Carmouche; Todd Pletcher; 15-1)

2. Essential Quality (Luis Saez; Brad Cox; 2-1)

3. Rombauer (John Velazaquez; Michael McCarthy; 3-1)

4. Hot Rod Charlie (Flavien Prat; Doug O'Neill; 7-2)

5. France Go de Ina (Ricardo Santana Jr.; Hideyuki Mori; 30-1)

6. Known Agenda (Irad Ortiz Jr.; Todd Pletcher; 6-1)

7. Rock Your World (Joel Rosario; John Sadler; 9-2)

8. Overtook (Manuel Franco; Todd Pletcher; 20-1)

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This year's Belmont doesn't feature either of the storylines that typically dominate the Run for the Carnations: a horse chasing the Triple Crown or the winners of the Derby and Preakness facing off in a showdown to see whether either can claim two of the coveted titles.

That and the lingering uncertainty about Medina Spirit's victory in the Derby have created a Triple Crown season without the usual buzz or mainstream interest.

Rombauer isn't the favorite despite his triumph in the Preakness. Although it marked the best performance of his career, it came with a relatively modest 103 Equibase speed figure—a sign his win was a combination of a solid run and no other horse putting on a dominant showing.

The McCarthy trainee has been on a steady upward trajectory throughout his three starts in 2021, so another career-best run to win the Belmont can't be discounted.

Essential Quality returns after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and skipping the Preakness. He'd won each of his five career starts before the Triple Crown season, including a triumph in the Grade II Blue Grass Stakes in early April.

A victory Saturday would put Essential Quality back on the path to becoming the best horse from this year's three-year-old group.

"This horse has put us in this position and we feel very fortunate to be a part of it," trainer Brad Cox said. "He's accomplished so much already, being a champion two-year-old. But at some point, he'll be retired to stud and it's our job now to continue to add to his legacy. A Grade 1 win at 3 is going to be huge for this horse and we're hopeful it can happen in the Belmont."

Meanwhile, Bourbonic is another horse that attracted a lot of attention in the Derby thanks to his win in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in early April. His outing at Churchill Downs represented something closer to his first five career starts in that he lacked the high-end speed to compete with elite competition, finishing 13th.

The question heading into the Belmont is whether that performance in the Wood Memorial was a one-off fluke or a sign of an impending breakout that was briefly halted by the overcrowded Derby field. The answer could come Saturday with a smaller group of foes.

Post time for the Belmont Stakes is scheduled for Saturday at approximately 6:49 p.m. ET on NBC.