Belmont Stakes 2015 Horses and Jockeys with Best Odds of Winning Belmont Race
The post positions were revealed for the 2015 Belmont Stakes, and American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza are firm favorites to win the Triple Crown.
The duo will begin the race from the fifth post position in the eight-horse field. Here are the post positions and latest odds per the Courier-Journal:
| 1 | Mubtaahij | 10-1 |
| 2 | Tale of Verve | 15-1 |
| 3 | Madefromlucky | 12-1 |
| 4 | Frammento | 30-1 |
| 5 | American Pharoah | 3-5 |
| 6 | Frosted | 5-1 |
| 7 | Keen Ice | 20-1 |
| 8 | Materiality | 6-1 |
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There have been a number of near misses in the past—including Espinoza's run with California Chrome in 2014—but something about this year feels different.
Trainer Bob Baffert sounded relatively confident in this quote captured by HRTV on Wednesday:
Baffert should be confident. He has one of the sport's best jockeys riding a horse that has proved capable of winning in a variety of ways. This will be Espinoza's third opportunity to win all three Triple Crown races. In addition to his near miss with California Chrome, Espinoza also fell short in 2002 when War Emblem stumbled out of the gates at the Belmont and couldn't recover.
With this dynamic, it seems the common belief is that something out of the ordinary will have to happen to prevent American Pharoah from becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 37 years.
Kiaran McLaughlin, the trainer of Frosted, knows he has a good horse. However, he also knows that Frosted and jockey Joel Rosario must be at their best to seriously challenge American Pharoah.
Per Ron Mitchell of the Blood-Horse, McLaughlin said this back on June 1:
"We have to have an 'A-plus' day and he has to have a 'B' day. But it's a mile-and-a-half, it's a different race over a different track and we're here. We're as close to the paddock as you can get. So it's nice just to walk through the tunnel and be at the paddock.
"
Frosted finished fourth at the Kentucky Derby, thus he's already failed to beat American Pharoah in his first opportunity to shine this Triple Crown season. Rosario has been one of the best jockeys in the sport over the last two years. The 30-year-old Dominican has a bright future after leading Orb to the Kentucky Derby win in 2013 and Tonalist to the victory that spoiled California Chrome's Triple Crown party in 2014.
If he can engineer another win, he'll have to pick up the nickname: Spoiler.
The Todd A. Pletcher-trained Materiality will have the least successful of the three jockeys riding favorites in the race. John R. Velazquez has won three Triple Crown events. Most recently, he took the 2012 Belmont Stakes aboard Union Rags.
Considering Materiality finished a disappointing sixth at the Derby, it's still hard to place he and Velazquez higher than third in a prediction. When the dust settles, American Pharoah is my pick to win. He's strong, versatile and the field is small and very beatable.
Get ready for a media frenzy as horse racing opens the door for another horse to gain legendary status.
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