Belmont 2015: Undercard Schedule, Live Stream Info and Stakes Race Predictions
The Belmont Stakes is just a day away, as the second-richest day in American racing is set to kick off with its first post on Saturday at 11:35 a.m.
While everyone will surely tune in to see American Pharoah take a swing at becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed back in 1978, the undercard is where it's at.
The undercard is loaded with graded stakes races, including the Woody Stephens, the Acorn, the Met Mile and the Manhattan, and the fields for those races are some of the best in recent memory.
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Those who tune in will be treated to a great day of racing, one where nearly $8 million in purse money is handed out—a feat rivaled only by the Breeders' Cup card—and that's with three races slotting in under the $100,000 mark.
In short, it's going to be a great day.
So who's going to win these races? Where can you watch all the action?
Well, we've got you all covered on those questions. Here's an outline of the where and when for the day's racing, as well as predictions for every race on the card and a breakdown for some of those predictions.
Let's get to it.
Belmont Stakes Day 2015 Info
When: Saturday, May 6
Where: Belmont Park in Elmont, New York
First Post: 11:35 a.m. ET
Belmont Post Time: 6:50 p.m. ET
Where to Watch: NBC, NBC Sports Network, NBC Sports Live Extra
Undercard Schedule
| 1 | Winstar Farm Easy Goer Stakes | 11:35 a.m. | $150,000 | Stanford |
| 2 | Allowance Race | 12:07 p.m. | $90,000 | Wisecracker |
| 3 | Woody Stephens Stakes | 12:39 p.m. | $500,000 | Competitive Edge |
| 4 | Jaipur Invitational Stakes | 1:15 p.m. | $300,000 | Ageless |
| 5 | Ogden Phipps Stakes | 1:52 p.m. | $1,000,000 | Untapable |
| 6 | Brooklyn Invitational Stakes | 2:34 p.m. | $400,000 | Micromanage |
| 7 | Acorn Stakes | 3:15 p.m. | $750,000 | Condo Commando |
| 8 | Longines Just a Game Stakes | 4:00 p.m. | $700,000 | Filimbi |
| 9 | NYRA.com Metropolitan Handicap | 4:49 p.m. | $1,250,000 | Bayern |
| 10 | Knob Creek Manhattan Stakes | 5:46 p.m. | $1,000,000 | Big Blue Kitten |
| 11 | Belmont Stakes | 6:50 p.m. | $1,500,000 | American Pharoah |
| 12 | $62.5K Optional Claimer | 7:38 p.m. | $96,000 | Market Outlook |
| 13 | $62.5 K Optional Claimer | 8:12 p.m. | $96,000 | Matterhorn |
Ogden Phipps Stakes
The Ogden Phipps is an easy race to pick, but not such an easy race to bet. Untapable is going to win this race, and it may not even be close.
Her resume is nearly unparalleled among the current crop of top fillies, and she has won all but two of her nine starts dating back to February of last year. In that time, the Tapit filly has logged wins in five Grade 1 races and even tried her hand against the boys in last year's Haskell—she ran fifth behind Bayern, Albano, Wildcat Red and Irish You Well.
In short, she's the best there is right now, and at 2-5, according to NYRA.com, it's hard to argue that point.
Untapable isn't going to lose this race, but if she were to lose, it would be to Wedding Toast. The five-year-old daughter of Street Sense is working well lately and showed some great class last time out in the Grade 2 Ruffian Handicap, beating House Rules, Princess Violet and Shayjolie.
This is only a six-horse race, and Wedding Toast has beaten three of the other five runners.
Go to the window with a Wedding Toast-Untapable exacta, but if you're just picking a winner, it's Untapable in a landslide.
Prediction: Untapable
Met Mile
The Belmont Stakes is going to be the main attraction for the causal racing fan, but the Met Mile is the best race on the card. The field is stacked, and to really do it justice and give each horse the attention he deserves would require an entirely separate article.
That said, the pick is in for the Met Mile, and it's Bayern.
The Met Mile is an interesting race. Not many horses truly settle in at one mile—they generally run either shorter or longer distances—so essentially the entire field is either stretching out or cutting back.
Bayern is one of the horses cutting back. Traditionally, the multiple graded-stakes-winning son of Offlee Wild runs 1 1/8 or 1 1/4 miles. Here, he'll be running...well, one mile. This could help immensely, as the Bob Baffert-trained colt runs best when he's allowed to move loosely on the front end.
Private Zone should be there to push him, however, and if he does, things could get difficult, as this could tire out Bayern as the field turns for home. If Bayern is pushed by Private Zone, they'll set a torrid pace on the front and open up the race for one of Tonalist, Wicked Strong or Honor Code to step in for a win.
That said, Bayern possesses arguably the best gate speed in the world, and on familiar ground—he won here last year in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens—the four-year-old colt should be primed to walk home with an easy victory.
Prediction: Bayern
Belmont Stakes
This is what you all came for, right? Who's going to win the Belmont?
Well, we've stuck it out this long with American Pharoah, so why turn anywhere else?
If you're betting, steer clear of using Pharoah on top of your ticket, unless you plan to pump a bunch of money into straight exactas or just hammering him to win. But strictly for the purposes of this article, why not?
Pharoah is the best horse in this race. AP's won in the slop twice now and won on a fast, firm Churchill Downs track where he and about eight other horses had serious aspirations of wining the Kentucky Derby.
With nothing left to prove, AP and his connections—Bob Baffert and Victor Espinoza—will look to rewrite the Triple Crown narrative.
That said, it won't be easy, as there are two legitimate giant-killers waiting for Pharoah to misstep.
Frosted, a Tapit colt trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, was a winner in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial before running a respectable fourth in the Derby. The young colt was one of the few runners actually closing into the horrifically slow fractions set by Dortmund and Firing Line, and his recent workouts suggest that he is taking well to the Belmont dirt track—he was a runner-up here back in September.
Behind them looms Materiality, a three-year-old son of Afleet Alex.
Materiality is quick and should have no problems getting himself into a position where he'll be able to make a run at the lead as they enter the stretch run. The only question is whether or not Pharoah will have gotten so far out in front by that point that Materiality's run will come up short.
Prediction: American Pharoah
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