Triple Crown 2015: Odds Suit American Pharoah as Top Belmont Stakes Favorite

American Pharoah has been installed as the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the 2015 Belmont Stakes. Oddsmakers seem to have a lot of faith in him as the newest Triple Crown champion since Affirmed last completed the feat in 1978.

The extremely favorable odds create massive expectations and only add to the hype and pressure for the connections involved to ensure American Pharoah delivers.

And delivering is something American Pharoah has done so far. There's little reason to believe he'll do anything different on Saturday at Belmont Park, in spite of the 13 Kentucky Derby and Preakness double winners who've preceded him.

Post No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Morning-Line Odds
1	Mubtaahij	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Mike de Kock	10-1
2	Tale of Verve	Gary Stevens	Dallas Stewart	15-1
3	Madefromlucky	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	12-1
4	Frammento	Mike Smith	Nick Zito	30-1
5	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	3-5
6	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	5-1
7	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	20-1
8	Materiality	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	6-1

American Pharoah has the benefit of having a jockey in Victor Espinoza aboard who had a taste of potential Triple Crown glory as recently as last year. California Chrome finished fourth in the Belmont Stakes, though, denying Espinoza the chance.

ESPN's Chris Fallaca brings up a relevant point about Espinoza's recent prowess on the biggest stages in horse racing:

Although there are other prolific jockeys in the field including Joel Rosario, every horse pales in comparison to American Pharoah. His capability to grind through tough conditions was on display in a seven-length win in the Preakness Stakes, and he conserved his top-end speed for the end of both the Preakness and Kentucky Derby.

Owner Ahmed Zayat is certainly not lacking confidence in his horse, per HRTV Belmont Stakes:

All that's really missing from Espinoza's tremendous resume is a victory in the Belmont Stakes. There couldn't be a better time to have that breakthrough than Saturday's showcase. Just eight horses are competing in Elmont, New York, which will limit traffic problems and play all the more into American Pharoah's hands.

Starting from the fifth post makes for less work than American Pharoah had at the Preakness, where he overcame being pinned against the rail to pull away from everyone.

Espinoza was able to overcome that adversity and has shown he can pace his gifted horse properly on longer tracks in the previous races, even in sloppy conditions at Pimlico to boot.

Bob Baffert is a Hall of Fame trainer who is as deserving as any of a Triple Crown winner. This could be the year he finally gets it done, provided his horse capitalizes on such a gold mine of talent:

Richard Drew/Associated Press

Frosted is viewed as the next-best hope to win The Test of the Champion, listed with 5-1 odds, followed by Materiality (6-1), who finished all the way back in sixth at the Kentucky Derby.

The former is a Wood Memorial Stakes champion, which is no small feat, but thriving at 1.5 miles is a tall task considering Frosted didn't finish in the money at Churchill Downs. And if those are the two biggest threats, American Pharoah's connections don't have much to worry about beyond their own gifted colt.

Odds will fluctuate as post time draws nearer, but the canyon-like schism between American Pharoah and the best of the rest horse racing has to offer at Belmont Park will rightfully hold up.

This race and the Triple Crown are American Pharoah's to lose. All Espinoza needs to do is bide his time and break at the proper moment. As long as he's in it with a chance down the final few furlongs of the grueling jaunt, American Pharoah is as sure of a bet to become the 12th Triple Crown winner as any to come along in the past 37 years.