Belmont Stakes 2015 Horses: Triple Crown Insight and Pre-Race Odds for Lineup

Will an excruciating 37-year wait for a Triple Crown finally come to a screeching halt Saturday at the 2015 Belmont Stakes?

We're only a few short hours from finding that out as American Pharoah embarks toward the sport's 14th attempt at the elusive feat since Affirmed last accomplished it in 1978. History hasn't been kind to those descending upon Belmont Park with their hopes in tow, but that can all change in the span of 1 ½ miles Saturday afternoon.

By the end of Saturday, the sports world will either be ranking American Pharoah's place among the sport's most legendary names or scoffing at another failed attempt at history. With that said, let's look closer into what's at stake and who's in the mix to try to halt AP's run.

2015 Belmont Stakes Horses and Odds

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
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.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Whether you've been following it religiously for years or just got into it over the last couple of summers, the millions tuning in for Saturday's race know the historical implications of what's at stake.

The biggest prize in horse racing has proved impossible to obtain for even some of the greatest horses of the last generation. From Big Brown to Real Quiet to Smarty Jones, history is ripe with legendary horses that came up short at Belmont and failed to win the Triple Crown.

Heck, even those just tuning in over the last three years have seen it. 2012 saw I'll Have Another dazzle in the first two legs only to be scratched for the Belmont. California Chrome injected hope into the sport just as American Pharoah has only to fall flat and finish fourth at Belmont.

As tends to be the case, though, memories are short, with American Pharoah's recent dominance proving to be the lasting image in the minds of most. But track announcer Travis Stone called upon history to temper everyone's expectations:

While California Chrome did show signs of being beatable throughout his first two Triple Crown races and eventually got overtaken, the same can't be said of American Pharoah.

Horses tend to begin showing weaknesses throughout the Preakness, their second race in two weeks, but AP chose not to follow suit. After proving he can win in a competitive and jumbled race at Churchill Downs, he dominated at Pimlico with a wire-to-wire victory by seven lengths.

Mystery horses who have been resting all Triple Crown slate often surprise at the Belmont, but there are no such horses in 2015. As CNN's Mike Downey noted, all seven horses in the field have come up drastically short to AP as of late.

"Who's going to beat him? Few care or dare to try," Downey wrote. "Seven others have been entered. They include horses who tried to outrun Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby but ate his dust (Frosted, Materiality, Mubtaahij) and one who tried in the Preakness but ate his mud (Tale of Verve)."

With that said, those other horses all have a key advantage over American Pharoah that they hope proves decisive just as it has throughout much of the last four decades.

That, of course, is the fresher legs of not having to run a third race in five weeks. Tale of Verve is the only contender to have run at the Preakness while none of the seven ran in both May races, as ESPN Stats & Info notes:

The nature of going up against more rested horses has made the Triple Crown almost an impossible feat, which materialized in California Chrome owner Steve Coburn's rant following his loss at last year's Belmont. But that's just what makes it all the more special and is a central reason why it hasn't been done in so long.

Trainer Bob Baffert knows all about coming up short in these situations, having made it to the doorstep of history only to fail with three different horses. Could the fourth time be the charm?