Belmont Stakes Odds: Morning Lines and Analysis of Triple Crown's 3rd Leg

The Belmont Stakes odds don’t carry Triple Crown implications, but $1 million is still on the line.

On Saturday, June 8 at 6:36 p.m. ET, Kentucky Derby champion Orb and Preakness Stakes champion Oxbow will face off against each other for the third and final time this Triple Crown season. The spotlight will be on them, but there are plenty of horses in the field that could steal it.

Here are the morning lines and post positions of the 2013 Belmont Stakes competitors.

Post	Horse	Odds
1	Frac Daddy	30-1
2	Freedom Child	8-1
3	Overanalyze	12-1
4	Giant Fish	30-1
5	Orb	3-1
6	Incognito	20-1
7	Oxbow	5-1
8	Midnight Taboo	30-1
9	Revolutionary	9-2
10	Will Take Charge	20-1
11	Vyjack	20-1
12	Palace Malice	15-1
13	Unlimited Budget	8-1
14	Golden Soul	10-1

The odds may favor Orb, but history is on Oxbow’s side.

Saturday will mark only the eighth occasion in which the Derby and Preakness championships faced off in the Belmont in the past 25 years according to ESPN’s Chris Fallica. Of those previous seven races, the Preakness champ crossed the finish line six times and it finished ahead of the Derby champ in each instance. Five of those six finishes resulted in a Belmont Stakes title.

History isn't the reason Oxbow jockey Gary Stevens doesn’t expect an upset in the third leg of the Triple Crown.

“It's a tricky place,” he said, according to the Associated Press (via Yahoo! Sports). “It may look simple, but it's not simple. I think the best horse usually wins the Belmont, other than jockey error.”

If weather influences the race, Stevens’ claim—and history’s trend—will be challenged.

Oxbow finished just sixth in the rain-plagued Derby. Orb excelled in the muddy conditions, as did Belmont competitors Golden Soul, who finished second, and Revolutionary, who placed third.

In any competition, weather also levels the playing field, making for what should be a race in which anything could happen.

David Daniels is a breaking news writer at Bleacher Report and news editor at Wade-O Radio.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels