Belmont Stakes 2012 Odds: I'll Have Another Will Live Up to Lofty Expectations

I'll Have Another will dominate the field at this year's Belmont Stakes on his way to claiming the rare feat of winning a Triple Crown.

He is the overwhelming favorite in Vegas for this year's race with 13/10 odds that he'll win. Those odds are barely above 1/1, proving that the oddsmakers don't see any other horse taking the Triple Crown away from I'll Have Another in 2012.

The next-best odds given at this time are at 5/1 for Dullahan and Union Rags. While 5/1 odds don't seem like a long shot to win, when they're being compared to 13/10 odds they are a long ways off.

The first two legs of the Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes—were run on much shorter tracks than the one at Belmont Field. Those races were 1 3/16 and 1 1/4 miles long, while the track at Belmont runs a full 1 1/2 miles long. 

This gives I'll Have Another a significant advantage over the rest of the horses in this race. He is a long-striding colt with a penchant for picking up the pace right around the 1 1/8-mile mark—the distance that finds the rest of the competition usually losing steam.

I'll Have Another has another gear that the rest of the colts don't have. If he stays healthy up to race time there isn't any reason to believe he won't win the third leg of the Triple Crown.

Here are the latest odds for the entire field, courtesy of Bodava.com.

• Alpha 15/1
• Atigun 25/1
• Dullahan 5/1
• Five Sixteen 50/1
• Guyana Star Dweej 50/1
• I'll Have Another 13/10
• Optimizer 30/1
• Paynter 9/1
• Street Life 15/1
• Union Rags 5/1
• Unstoppable U 28/1
• Ravelo's Boy 50/1

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