Belmont Stakes 2017 Post Time: NBC TV Start Time, Final Predictions and More

The field at the 2017 Belmont Stakes is shaping up to, well, leave something to be desired.

Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming? Bowed out after losing the Preakness.

Preakness winner Cloud Computing? Also not attending.

Classic Empire, the widely presumed favorite? Out with a hoof injury. 

Lookin At Lee is the only horses that competed in both the Derby and Preakness that will be running the 1.5-mile capper to the Triple Crown season. This is the second straight year the Belmont has gone out with a little bit of a whimper, with horse racing's momentum struggling to keep up after American Pharoah's 2015 ending of the Triple Crown drought.

With a bunch of unknowns, let's take a look at some of the favorites to win Saturday's race. 

Belmont Schedule

When: Saturday, June 10

Post Time: 6:50 p.m ET

TV Start Time: 5 p.m. ET

Channel: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra (app)

Belmont Post Positions and Odds (via OddsShark)

1. Twisted Tom (20-1)

2. Tapwrit (15-2)

3. Gormley (12-1)

4. J Boys Echo (16-1)

5. Hollywood Handsome (33-1)

6. Lookin At Lee (5-1)

7. Irish War Cry (3-1)

8. Senior Investment (12-1)

9. Meantime (14-1)

10. Multiplier (16-1)

11. Epicharis (7-2) (scratched, per Bloodhorse's Claire Novak and Jeremy Balan)

12. Patch (25-1)

Irish War Cry (3-1)

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

Irish War Cry was last seen finishing a disappointing 10th in the Kentucky Derby, a disappointing result for a horse that seemed like a potential winner. The Wood Memorial champion struggled out of the gate on a sloppy track, but trainer Graham Morton couldn't find one overarching reason for the failure. 

"The Derby, like the Fountain of Youth, is a little bit of a head-scratcher," Motion said, per Mary Rampellini of Daily Racing Form. "Physically, I can't give an answer why he ran so poorly in the Fountain of Youth or the Derby, other than the fact that they were run on slightly weird tracks. Gulfstream was really deep and cuppy that day. It was dried out. Churchill was kind of the other extreme. It was kind of wet and tacky. It was just a very clingy, sticky track. Does he need a perfect track? I don't know."

Irish War Cry's history seems to suggest he'll either win Saturday or fall well out of contention. In his six previous races, he has four wins, the 10th-placing outing at the Derby and a seventh-place finish at the Fountain of Youth Stakes.

Lookin At Lee (5-1)

Lookin At Lee has the chance to wind up walking away with Horse of the Year honors if he's able to finally get over the Triple Crown hump. The colt finished a strong second at the Derby and fourth at the Preakness, and he's the only horse running in all three legs. 

"He's a unique horse in how strong he is, how he takes things, how he comes out of his races, how gritty he is, how durable he is," trainer Steve Asmussen said, per Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form. "We realize how fortunate we are."

Lining up right next to Irish War Cry in the No. 6 post, this may wind up being a battle to see which of the two favorites gets off the line first. Lookin At Lee has won just twice in his 11-race career. None of those wins have come since August 2016.

Final Picks: Irish War Cry, Tapwrit, Lookin At Lee