2015 Belmont Stakes: Early Odds and Predictions for Top Horses After Preakness

After storming to victory on a waterlogged track at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, American Pharoah now just needs to win the Belmont Stakes to secure the Triple Crown.

The thoroughbred also edged to victory at the Kentucky Derby and can therefore become the first horse to win the honour since Affirmed in 1978.

Despite a huge thunderstorm and torrential rain, American Pharoah was unperturbed and powered to victory well ahead of his rivals, as noted by Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde:

Here's the full video of the race, courtesy of NBC Sports:

After American Pharoah's Derby win, there was concern that jockey Victor Espinoza had to really push the colt in order for him to reach his full potential, per the Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman:

However, after pulling in front of Mr. Z early on, American Pharoah led the race all the way to the finish to win by seven lengths.

Espinoza rode the 140th race at Preakness perfectly to win it for the third time, per BloodHorse.com's Jeremy Balan:

The experienced jockey is another weapon in American Pharoah's arsenal, and they have an excellent chance of triumphing at Belmont.

The 42-year-old has won both the Derby and Preakness twice before, with War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome last year, but he could not secure the Triple Crown with victory at Belmont on either occasion.

Diane Bondareff/Associated Press/Associated Press

According to the Associated Press's Richard Rosenblatt (via Yahoo Sports), Espinoza said: "I hope the third one is the charm."

The win was also another successful race for trainer Bob Baffert, who won the Preakness for the sixth time:

Baffert was again full of praise for his latest Preakness winner, per Rosenblatt: "Great horses do great things and he showed it today. He's just an incredible horse."

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Though the field has yet to be set, American Pharoah's odds have improved to -140 to win at Belmont and claim the Triple Crown according to Odds Shark:

As Privman points out, though, history is not on the horse's side in his bid for racing immortality:

However, American Pharoah continues to justify his status as the favourite and is an incredibly impressive specimen. As ESPN Stats & Info indicated on Twitter, American Pharoah is arguably an even stronger contender than Affirmed was:

After strong runs in the Derby, Firing Line and Dortmund disappointed at the Preakness, finishing seventh and fourth respectively.

If the conditions are more favourable at Belmont—they could hardly be any worse—then the pair will likely prove strong challengers again.

It's early days, but American Pharoah is on an incredible hot streak right now and has already seen them off, so the colt has a great chance of making history on June 6.

There are plenty of factors at play, and the post positions could have a big impact on the outcome of the race, but American Pharoah has thus far taken everything that's been thrown at him in his stride.

The colt has a long and bright future ahead of him, and that future can grow brighter still at Belmont.