Belmont Stakes 2015: Post Positions, Odds and Race Schedule for Belmont

American Pharoah had to start from the outside in his first and from the inside in his second triumph of the Triple Crown season. It's only fitting that he'll begin the 2015 Belmont Stakes smack dab in the middle.

One of the biggest threats for a Triple Crown in this 37-year drought will attempt to complete the trifecta Saturday from the No. 5 post, guaranteed after Wednesday's post positions draw. While there are many other obstacles to consider that could get in American Pharoah's way of history, the gate he's starting from won't prove to be one of them. 

Now that crisis has been averted and the draw is out of the way, the only thing standing between American Pharoah and history are 12 furlongs and seven hungry contenders. Let's take a look at all of them and glance closer into what Wednesday's post results mean for the race.

2015 Belmont Stakes

Date: Saturday, June 6

Post Time (ET): 6:50 p.m.

TV: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

Post Positions and Odds: 2015 Belmont Stakes

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
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 provided by Vegas Insider, updated post-draw 

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

Some might say the position that a horse draws for a big race is over-analyzed and nothing more than pre-race filler talk. It's certainly not the end-all, be-all as we've learned this Triple Crown season, but it undoubtedly plays a huge role.

With the Belmont Stakes setting up to be an exclusive, eight-horse field and run at its typical 1 1/2-mile distance, the post draws could be devalued even more. But track announcer Travis Stone made it clear that even in a race such as this weekend's, it will loom large:

Folks may point to American Pharoah's dominance despite tough draws this spring to prove the point that draws matter little. But those two races could have endured very different results had it not been for jockey Victor Espinoza.

With American Pharoah on the outside at the Kentucky Derby, he had no chance to grab an early lead. Instead of getting mixed in with the other 16 horses, Espinoza kept the eventual winner comfortable and even ran a wider distance to avoid trouble and allow American Pharoah to turn it on late.

More maneuvering was asked of Espinoza at Pimlico, where he pushed the colt out of the gates—which was more than necessary starting from the No. 1 post. That allowed American Pharoah to cruise to an early lead, and take a dominating wire-to-wire victory.

Wednesday's draw made sure that Espinoza wouldn't have to face either of those issues out of the gates at Belmont, and it wasn't surprising to hear trainer Bob Baffert so confident in the minutes afterward, per HRTV Belmont Stakes:

While the draw went ideally for American Pharoah, the same can't be said of some of his most serious threats.

Frosted—the second favorite behind the Triple Crown hopeful—drew the No. 6 post, which isn't terrible until you factor in American Pharoah right inside of him. He's been resting ever since an impressive fourth-place finish at Churchill Downs, and Chris Fallica noted an historical trend that could play in his favor:

United Arab Emirates phenom Mubtaahij won't have an easy time starting from the No. 1 post and likely to be pushed to the rail. He'll need to open up fast to set the pace, but that will almost certainly leave him tired for the final couple of furlongs.

It also set up difficult for trainer Todd Pletcher's Materiality, who will need jockey John Velazquez to pace himself in the early goings similar to American Pharoah's run at the Kentucky Derby. But although none of those three seem to have a simple road to victory, it all depends on how things begin, as NYRA handicapper Nick Tammaro noted:

While Materiality, Mubtaahij, Frosted and others promise to make things interesting in the final Triple Crown race of the season, there's no doubting which horse is the cream of the crop.

American Pharoah has proven superior on two of the sport's biggest stages, looking to have an extra gear than any other contender. After overcoming an impossible draw at Pimlico and running away with it down the stretch, he proved that his best simply cannot be beaten.

History has shown us that the most dominant of performances in the first two legs of the Triple Crown can often tire out a horse before the third and decisive race. If American Pharoah is truly the legend that he's shown himself to be over the last several weeks, he'll overcome that like the last 13 hopefuls didn't.