Belmont Stakes Draw 2015: Post Positions, Field and Race Preview
American Pharoah's quest for history took further shape heading into the 2015 Belmont Stakes, as the Triple Crown hopeful received a favorable position in Wednesday's post draw at Rockefeller Center in New York.
The Bob Baffert-trained colt will begin what he hopes is a 12-furlong trek into the history books from the No. 5 post position Saturday evening, which sets up much better than his draws at the previous two Triple Crown stops.
Now that adversity out of the gates isn't as much of an issue, the focus returns solely back onto the question of whether American Pharoah will have enough in the tank to pull off the incredible feat of three races in five weeks—capped off by a 1 ½-mile marathon.
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The last 13 horses that entered the Belmont with a Triple Crown on the horizon tried and failed, but American Pharoah could end the 37-year drought with one more magnificent run Saturday. Take a look below for everything to know.
2015 Belmont Stakes Post Positions
| 1 | Mubtaahij | Mike De Kock | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 10-1 |
| 2 | Tale of Verve | Dallas Stewart | Gary Stevens | 15-1 |
| 3 | Madefromlucky | Todd Pletcher | Javier Castellano | 12-1 |
| 4 | Frammento | Nick Zito | Mike Smith | 30-1 |
| 5 | American Pharoah | Bob Baffert | Victor Espinoza | 3-5 |
| 6 | Frosted | Kiaran McLaughlin | Joel Rosario | 5-1 |
| 7 | Keen Ice | Dale Romans | Kent Desormeaux | 20-1 |
| 8 | Materiality | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez | 6-1 |
Odds courtesy of Vegas Insider, updated post-draw
Race Info
Date: Saturday, June 6
Location: Belmont Park, Elmont, New York
Post Time (ET): 6:50 p.m.
TV: NBC
Preview of Top Horses
American Pharoah
No Triple Crown could be won Wednesday at the post draw. But based on how the last two draws unfolded, American Pharoah's camp had plenty of reason to celebrate drawing the No. 5 gate for Saturday's fateful race.
In an event not typically reserved for crowd reaction, you knew where the rounds of applause following announcement of American Pharoah's draw came from. Belmont Stakes captured the Zayat Stables crew cheering the favorable draw:
American Pharoah had no trouble overcoming tough draws at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, where he started from the outside and from the No. 1 post, respectively. But now that he's going up against fresher horses that will be more prepared for the 1 ½ miles, American Pharoah can use any break he can get.
Of course, with the longer distance comes more time for those fresher legs to catch up. Although the draw seems to indicate that Ameriacn Pharoah will take an early lead, he'll be hard-pressed to keep it for the duration of 12 long furlongs.
Frosted
One look at Frosted, and you can tell where his name comes from. One look at his performances on the track, and there's no doubting his potential for overcoming the favorite.
Out of the many horses in the Belmont field that have raced in the Kentucky Derby five weeks prior, Frosted emerged as the only one to seriously threaten a top-three finish. He finished in fourth place, just a nose behind Dortmund, but would have easily sniffed the top three had he not been boxed in early on.
Count trainer Kiaran McLaughlin among those who foresee the five weeks off as a big advantage for Frosted, as opposed to American Pharoah's tired legs, per Geoffrey Riddle of the National:
"American Pharoah has been awesome, but this is his fourth race in eight weeks and we hope it catches up with him. We feel the timing is to our advantage. We need Frosted to have an A-plus race and American Pharaoh to have a B race. We like our chances.
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As it turned out, Frosted drew the No. 6 post—right outside of American Pharoah—Wednesday in the post draw. With American Pharoah in the crosshairs, Frosted will have an early chance to put the favorite under some pressure.
Mubtaahij
After struggling through his first United States race at the Kentucky Derby and following it up with the valuable five weeks of rest, Mubtaahij looks intent on taking a big gallop forward at the Belmont Stakes.
Although Mubtaahij had dominated so many of his career races in Dubai prior to coming over for the Triple Crown slate, expectations were tempered heading into the world's biggest race in an unfamiliar country. That showed early on at Churchill Downs, but Mubtaahij rebounded brilliantly to finish eighth.
He's been putting up eye-popping numbers at Belmont in preparation for Saturday, as Mike Welsch of Daily Racing Form noted: "Mubtaahij looked the best I've seen him over the past 10 days and through a bevy of works. He went five furlongs with Irad Ortiz aboard in 24.53, 36.27, 1:00.97, changed leads nearing the eighth pole, finished willingly without being asked then galloped out well."
If Mubtaahij aspires to find his way to the front of the pack, it will have to come despite drawing the rough No. 1 post. A strong start will be necessary to remaining in contention.
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