2016 Belmont Stakes: Early Odds and Predictions Following Preakness

There will be no Triple Crown pursuit heading into the Belmont Stakes on June 11 after Exaggerator upset Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist at the 141st Preakness Stakes on Saturday.

It was the first time in five attempts that Exaggerator was able to beat Nyquist, delivering the first loss of the horse's career. NBC Sports shared the replay of the muddy race:

Like he did at the Santa Anita Derby, Exaggerator showed his late-push power on the final stretch to blow the field away after starting from the back of the pack. In the race's first few furlongs, Exaggerator was as many as 13 lengths behind Nyquist and Uncle Lino.

Nyquist wasn't able to maintain his fast start, like he had in his previous eight races, allowing Exaggerator to move up to fifth on the inside rail heading into the final turn. Once there, Exaggerator hit the jets to spoil any Triple Crown hopes.

Here are the final results of the Preakness:

Finish	Horse	Post	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
1	Exaggerator	5	Keith Desormeaux	Kent Desormeaux	5-2
2	Cherry Wine	1	Dale Romans	Corey Lanerie	17-1
3	Nyquist	3	Doug O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez	3-5
4	Stradivari	11	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	8-1
5	Lani	6	Mikio Matsunaga	Yutaka Take	30-1
6	Laoban	8	Eric Guillot	Florent Geroux	60-1
7	Uncle Lino	2	Gary Sherlock	Fernando Perez	35-1
8	Fellowship	10	Mark Casse	Jose Lezcano	50-1
9	Awesome Speed	4	Alan Goldberg	Jevian Toledo	50-1
10	Collected	7	Bob Baffert	Javier Castellano	16-1
11	Abiding Star	9	Ned Allar	J.D. Acosta	35-1

It isn't too early to look ahead to the final race of the Triple Crown, even though it might be without the drama that American Pharoah brought last year.

Here are the early odds, per OddsChecker.com:

Horse	Odds
Exaggerator	13-8
Nyquist	5-2
Stradiveri	8-1
Suddenbreakingnews	8-1
Cherry Wine	10-1
Lani	10-1
Brodys Cause	14-1
Unified	14-1
Mor Spirit	20-1
Creator	20-1

The final leg of the famous horse racing circuit is the longest, as the Belmont Stakes is 1 1/2 miles, compared to the 1 3/16 miles at the Preakness and the 1 1/4 miles at the Kentucky Derby. 

Regardless of the track conditions, this plays into Exaggerator's favor, as he can make his late push even later in the race, when opposing horses are even more tired.

Cherry Wine's run at the Preakness is also something to take note of heading into the Belmont. This is a horse that had a decent enough start, better than Exaggerator's, and stayed in the middle of the pack before turning it on down the stretch. 

Go on a longer track like Belmont and Cherry Wine could get even closer to the lead.

While it could have been attributed to the mud, Nyquist looked gassed in the final stretch of the Preakness, which was the shortest of the three legs. On a longer course, he could fade even quicker if jockey Mario Gutierrez sends him fast out of the gates again.

If the weather in New York is anything like what Baltimore had on Saturday, then the odds should tip even more in Exaggerator's favor. 

For now, I'd take Exaggerator on the large track as an early 13-8 favorite heading into the Belmont Stakes.