Belmont Stakes 2018 Horses: Entry List, Vegas Odds and Dark-Horse Favorites

At the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, eight horses are expected to stand between Justify and Triple Crown glory.

On 23 occasions, a horse has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes only to fall at the final hurdle by losing or failing to compete at Belmont Park in New York. Justify will be hoping to avoid joining that list.

Given Justify is the overwhelming favourite to win, every other contender in the field could be considered a dark horse.

Read on for a look at the horses set to challenge Justify, but first, here is the expected entry lineup, complete with odds from OddsShark:

• Justify, 4-5
• Hofburg, 4-1
• Bravazo, 7-1
• Vino Rosso, 8-1
• Tenfold, 10-1
• Blended Citizen, 14-1
• Gronkowski, 25-1
• Noble Indy, 33-1
• Free Drop Billy, 50-1
• Restoring Hope, odds unavailable
• Seahenge, odds unavailable

                                     

Hofburg

Hofburg finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby after starting with odds of 27-1, but he could be set to impress at Belmont.

His sire, Tapit, has produced three of the last four Belmont winners—Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016) and Tapwrit (2017)—so he has excellent pedigree to succeed there.

TVG's Mike Joyce and Matt Carothers gave their take on Hofburg:

Meanwhile, the Daily Racing Form's David Crone noticed the remarkable similarities between Hofburg and 2014 winner Tonalist:

The omens look promising for him, then, and he'll be fresher than Justify having skipped the Preakness Stakes.

                          

Bravazo

Bravazo has enjoyed five podium finishes—including three wins—from 10 career starts.

After finishing sixth at Churchill Downs, he then came in as runner-up at the Preakness Stakes, where he became the first horse to finish within two-and-a-half lengths of Justify and was reeling in the winner over the final furlong.

Alicia Wincze Hughes of BloodHorse shared a look at Bravazo's preparations for Belmont:

Following his strong performance at Preakness, trainer D. Wayne Lukas told TVG he was impressed with the horse:

Bravazo has gone up further in Lukas' estimation in the weeks since. "He's actually buying into what we're doing pretty good," he said, per BelmontStakes.com. "He's a much better horse than I took to the Preakness, I know that. He'll have to be."

If he can put in a repeat or improved showing at Belmont, he can give Justify plenty to think about.

        

Gronkowski

Gronkowski is much more of an outsider than Bravazo or Hofburg, but he has won his last four races and has never finished outside of the top three in six total starts.

He qualified for the Derby thanks to his exploits in Europe. Though he missed it through an infection and did not compete in Baltimore, he should be fresh and raring to go in New York.

Trainer Chad Brown has been pleased with Gronkowski's work since arriving in the United States and is hopeful the horse can make the step up in Belmont's 12-furlong course:

It will be the toughest field and the biggest challenge of Gronkowski's career, but with his track record, he could be set to spring a surprise.