Belmont Stakes 2015: Post Time, Race Schedule and Latest Prize Money Info
For those brave enough to dance with Las Vegas when it comes to the 2015 Belmont Stakes, well, good luck.
It's not so much that the eventual winner may be tough to figure out—the honor seems sure to go to Bob Baffert's American Pharoah, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the top Triple Crown candidate since California Chrome last year.
The problem is the payouts and the lack of options in an eight-horse field. There are only so many combinations to throw down, and Baffert's horse won't pay out in a way some would prefer.
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Here's a look at the schedule so folks know how long they have to mull the tough decisions.
2015 Belmont Stakes
Date: Saturday, June 6
Where: Belmont Park in Elmont, New York
TV Time: 2:30-4:30 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Network); 4:30-7 p.m. ET (NBC)
Post Time: 6:50 p.m. ET
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
With the post draw a few days ago, the odds seem to continue to cement.
The No. 1 post position gets a favorable role as the one touting the most winners in the race's history, per Belmont-Stakes.info. American Pharoah looks overwhelming out of No. 5 not just due to his past performances but because there's a notable lack of speed to his inside:
| 1 | Mubtaahij | Michael de Kock | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 14-1 |
| 2 | Tale of Verve | Dallas Stewart | Gary Stevens | 20-1 |
| 3 | Madefromlucky | Todd Pletcher | Javier Castellano | 14-1 |
| 4 | Frammento | Nick Zito | Mike Smith | 40-1 |
| 5 | American Pharoah | Bob Baffert | Victor Espinoza | 5-7 |
| 6 | Frosted | Kiaran McLaughlin | Joel Rosario | 6-1 |
| 7 | Keen Ice | Dale Romans | Kent Desormeaux | 25-1 |
| 8 | Materiality | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez | 13-2 |
It comes down to just how risky bettors want to play it.
Mubtaahij next to the rail is interesting to consider thanks to the post's 23 wins at the race. The Michael de Kock-trained horse will make his second American start in the Stakes and figures to fare well at the sport's closest thing to a marathon thanks to his strong pedigree.
Of course, it's a moot point if he gets pinned on the rail and new jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. struggles to wiggle free and use his colt's elite speed.
A Todd Pletcher-trained horse is always a smooth way to go. Madefromlucky was never a big headline-getter but deserves some love now out of the No. 3 hole.
While Madefromlucky has yet to prove himself in a major race such as a Triple Crown event, he oozes upside, and it's impossible to ignore the assignment of jockey Javier Castellano, who will make his ninth start at the race.
The pre-draw attention when it comes to Pletcher horses went to Materiality. While Las Vegas still seems to like the colt, things cool a bit when a contender draws the outside in such a lengthy dash. Thanks to bad luck, Materiality may have to run longer than other contestants to be in the thick of things late.
Still, Materiality is a Pletcher horse, which means quite a lot in New York, where the legendary trainer continues to put on strong performance after strong performance each year in the Belmont.
"It's our home track. It seems like our horses do well there," Pletcher said, per Jennie Rees of the Courier-Journal. "I think sometimes with the additional time in between races, it works well for us. For whatever reason, it's been pretty successful for us."
Like Materiality, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's Frosted features elite speed and a strong resume but lines up outside of American Pharoah. The oddsmakers consider the fourth-place finisher at Churchill Downs a strong contender despite the draw, and bettors may want to do the same.
Frosted gets Joel Rosario up top, and there's a lot to like when it comes to pedigree, too, as Ed McNamara of Newsday points out: "Frosted has a strong distance pedigree—by top sire Tapit out of a mare by stamina influence Deputy Minister—and should handle 12 furlongs better than the rest. Expect Rosario to keep the 5-1 second choice close up in fourth and make his winning move entering the stretch."
The kicker to all this? American Pharoah trumps all in most ways, hence the iffy payout bettors don't have a choice but to consider more than anything else.
Baffert's horse wins in all ways, whether it's from behind at Churchill Downs or wire-to-wire at Pimlico. He wins in sloppy conditions, like at the latter. He wins out of iffy posts, whether it's in the middle, like at the Kentucky Derby, or against the rail, like at the Preakness.
Then there's jockey Victor Espinoza, who rode California Chrome last year, played the above strategies to perfection and is going face-to-face with a historic feat, a third opportunity at a Triple Crown.
If the first two legs of the Triple Crown taught bettors anything, it's that the safe bet is sometimes the necessary way to go. Let Las Vegas tell it, and the final leg is the same story thanks to American Pharoah.
Stats and information via BelmontStakes.com unless otherwise specified. Odds courtesy of Odds Shark as of June 5.
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