Belmont Stakes Post Time 2015: NBC TV Start Time, Final Predictions and More
The 2015 Belmont Stakes has arrived, and Saturday's final race at Belmont Park will decide whether horse racing's biggest prize will finally be attained or if the dust will continue to accumulate on the Triple Crown trophy.
No trainers or owners have hoisted the trophy since Affirmed last accomplished the feat in 1978. Ever since then, the undeniable rigors of competing in a longer race and against fresher horses have ended 13 others' chances once on the cusp of history at Belmont.
But alas, American Pharoah has his date with history Saturday and can end all of that talk over the span of 12 brutal furlongs. Here's a last-minute glance at everything to know.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
2015 Belmont Stakes
Date: Saturday, June 6
Post Time (ET): 6:50 p.m.
TV: NBC (coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET)
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
| 1 | Mubtaahij | Mike 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 | 33-1 |
| 5 | American Pharoah | Bob Baffert | Victor Espinoza | 10-13 |
| 6 | Frosted | Kiaran McLaughlin | Joel Rosario | 11-2 |
| 7 | Keen Ice | Dale Romans | Kent Desormeaux | 25-1 |
| 8 | Materiality | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez | 13-2 |
Odds courtesy of Odds Shark
Final Predictions
1. American Pharoah
Winning the Triple Crown is harder than ever before, with any hopeful almost assured to go up against more than a half-dozen horses with much more rest under their belts. But American Pharoah looks poised to finally end the 37-year drought.
Adversity strikes almost any horse throughout running two brutal races such as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. But that can't be said of American Pharoah, who breezed through both without hardly breaking a sweat and proving in the process that he has the stamina and versatility to make the 1 1/2-mile trek.
If he's going to follow in the footsteps of Affirmed and other Triple Crown winners, however, history shows he might have to do it from start to finish, as ESPN Stats & Info showed:
Jockey Victor Espinoza brilliantly rode AP from a No. 1 post to victory at the Preakness, doing so in wire-to-wire fashion. If he can pull it off from that spot, he's bound to start just as well from the wide-open No. 5 post in Saturday's race.
As AP showed down the stretch at Pimlico and Churchill Downs, he can either make up ground or extend his lead in no time. Even if fatigue catches up to him, it might happen late enough that it won't matter.
2. Frosted
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin might be having some deja vu. After he won the Belmont in 2006 with a horse that finished fourth at the Derby and skipped the Preakness, he faces the same exact challenge with Frosted nine years later.
Of course, unlike that race in which Jazil didn't have to go up against either the Derby or Preakness winner, Frosted is going up against one of the most touted horses of this generation.
Those in Frosted's camp have plenty of reason to aim high for a Belmont victory. The second odds favorite, Frosted overcame a sluggish start at Churchill Downs and bolted down the stretch to finish fourth, just a hair behind landing in the trifecta.
McLaughlin did acknowledge that his horse's chances of winning have every bit to do with the horse that will line up to Frosted's left, per the Courier-Journal's Jennie Rees:
"American Pharoah looks like a superstar and is going to be very hard to beat. The closer we get to the race, I just have to keep going back to the fact that it's been a long time since we've had a Triple Crown winner. I've watched his workouts and he just looks like a special horse.
Like I said, I love our horse. He couldn't be doing better. But wow, it's going to take a subpar race from American Pharoah, I'm afraid.
"
That quote just about sums up the feeling from anyone truly plugged into what's unfolded over the last month in Kentucky, Maryland and now New York. As much as every camp believes in its horse, it knows it will take a subpar race from the favorite to open things up.
That won't happen Saturday, but Frosted will remain the biggest challenger to AP down the stretch.
3. Keen Ice
In the same line as Frosted, Keen Ice finished much better at the Kentucky Derby than he started and hopes to carry that forward into the final Triple Crown race of the year.
Owned by Donegal Racing, Keen Ice struggled to log head-turning results prior to Churchill Downs. He finished behind International Star and War Story at both the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby before traffic early in the Derby prevented him from proving himself as better than those results indicate.
After skipping the Preakness, Keen Ice should have his legs under him to run a solid race. What's more, trainer Dale Romans likes the post position of No. 7 right outside of Frosted and American Pharoah.
"I like having horses on both sides of my horse when they break," Romans said, per the Blood-Horse. "That's the biggest thing. They seem to come out a little straighter and cleaner and not break into the open area like when they're in the one or the outside."
The simple fact that he'll be racing against seven other horses—not 17—will play in Keen Ice's favor and prevent the early adversity that doomed him at the Derby. From then on, his speed will be able to showcase itself from the middle of the pack down the stretch and allow him to come on furiously down the outside to challenge both American Pharoah and Frosted.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
