Belmont Stakes 2016: Post Time, Race Schedule and Latest Prize-Money Info

A year ago, we were skeptical. American Pharoah had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in impressive fashion. But we'd been here before. Time and again, we'd been to this place, only to watch failure. 

Then American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes, changing horse racing forever.

A year later, the excitement level is far different. Nyquist and Exaggerator split the first two Triple Crown races, which means we won't see a shot at history this Saturday. Nyquist built an impenetrable resume prior to his Derby win, and his triumph at Churchill Downs even caused a 7 percent ratings spike for the Preakness.

Event	Time (ET)	TV
Pre-Race Coverage	3-5 p.m.	NBC Sports Network
148th Belmont Stakes	5-7 p.m. (Post Time: 6:32 p.m.)	NBC
Post-Race Coverage	7-7:30 p.m.	NBC Sports Network

But a Baltimore downpour completely changed the Preakness. The field pushed Nyquist too hard early, which allowed Exaggerator to come from behind late for a dominant win. You could almost feel the wind being taken out of the sails at Pimlico. What was a long time coming for Exaggerator—he'd failed to beat Nyquist four prior times—created a moment of uneasiness for the horse racing community.

That's only become greater as we prepare for Saturday's Belmont Stakes ($800,000 grand prize). Nyquist was forced to withdraw because of an elevated white blood cell count. So not only will we not see a Triple Crown winner, but there will be no rubber match between Nyquist and Exaggerator.

Determining the horse of the year is a lot harder when they went 1-1 head-to-head.

Post No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Governor Malibu	Joel Rosario	Christophe Clement	12-1
2	Destin	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	6-1
3	Cherry Wine	Corey Lanerie	Dale Romans	8-1
4	Suddenbreakingnews	Mike Smith	Donnie Von Hemel	10-1
5	Stradivari	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	5-1
6	Gettysburg	Paco Lopez	Steve Asmussen	30-1
7	Seeking the Soul	Florent Geroux	Dallas Stewart	30-1
8	Forever d'Oro	Jose Ortiz	Dallas Stewart	30-1
9	Trojan Nation	Aaron Gryder	Paddy Gallagher	30-1
10	Lani	Yutaka Take	Mikio Matsunaga	20-1
11	Exaggerator	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux	9-5
12	Brody's Cause	Luis Saez	Dale Romans	20-1
13	Creator	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Steve Asmussen	10-1

Nyquist's absence leaves Exaggerator sitting alone as the sole favorite. After drawing the No. 11 post in the 13-horse race, Exaggerator comes in as a significant favorite. Per the Belmont Stakes website, his morning-line odds are 9-5, and he's the only horse in the field with odds at better than 5-1.

“It’s very rare in this day and age for a horse to handle the Triple Crown so well,” trainer Keith Desormeaux said, per Ed McNamara of Newsday. “Exaggerator is very intelligent, very athletic, very sound and has the pedigree to get the distance. With all of his attributes, it doesn’t look like this third race will be a problem.”

Sitting on the outside wouldn't be ideal for a front-running horse, but Exaggerator has come from behind in each of the first Triple Crown races. His camp seemed borderline pleased with the draw.

“I can’t see any horse that would cross over on him,” jockey Kent Desormeaux said, per CBS New York. “I’d like to establish position preferably without him getting a grain of sand in his face.”

Pimlico second-place finisher Cherry Wine is also in the field. It's been a bit of a strange career for the colt, who has lost six of his seven career races. His run in the Preakness was his second-best performance of his career, though. Assuming the weather holds and doesn't make for another sloppy track, that might make Cherry Wine a good bet at 8-1. 

“Cherry Wine will run on concrete, he'll run on mud, he'll run on gravel, it doesn't make any difference. It wasn't the mud that moved him up, he's a good horse. He's a good horse that'll run on anything," trainer Dale Romans said, per Ryan Martin of ChurchillDowns.com.

The current second favorite in the morning-line odds is Stradivari at 5-1. He's raced only four times in his career, so there's not much of a paper trail. He finished fourth twice (his first race and the Preakness) and won the two events sandwiched in between. Having Todd Pletcher in your corner is never a bad thing; he's won the Belmont twice, both with non-favorites.

Pletcher also trains Destin, who comes off at 6-1. 

“I think it's a wide-open field and I think Exaggerator is a deserving favorite,” Pletcher said, per The Associated Press (via Los Angeles Times), noting his horses have “both shown that on their days they're capable of running with the best of this crop.” 

The only horse we haven't seen run in this Triple Crown cycle is Governor Malibu, who is going off at 12-1 from the inside post. He'll have Joel Rosario as his jockey, who previously won the 2014 Belmont atop Tonalist.

All of these horses will have one goal: stop Exaggerator. We'll see Saturday if any of them can pull it off.