Belmont Stakes 2018 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Justify and Every Horse

Justify will start the 2018 Belmont Stakes in the No. 1 post spot as he tries to become the second horse in 40 years to win the Triple Crown.

The full post positions for Saturday's race at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., were announced Tuesday, with 10 contenders learning their starting spots as they prepare for the third leg Triple Crown. Justify is the favorite, per OddsShark, after winning both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but many horses have struggled in the third race.

With a longer race and some new faces in the field, there is plenty of uncertainty heading into the weekend. Here are the top contenders and post positions, via NYRA.com.

2018 Belmont Stakes Field

Post — Horse (Jockey; Trainer; Morning Line Odds)

1 — Justify (Mike Smith; Bob Baffert; 4-5)

2 — Free Drop Billy (Robby Albarado; Dale Romans; 30-1)

3 — Bravazo (Luis Saez; D. Wayne Lukas; 8-1)

4 — Hofburg (Irad Ortiz; William I. Mott; 9-2)

5 — Restoring Hope (Florent Geroux; Bob Baffert; 30-1)

6 — Gronkowski (Jose Ortiz; Chad Brown; 12-1)

7 — Tenfold (Ricardo Santana Jr.; Steven Asmussen; 12-1) 

8 — Vino Rosso (John R. Velazquez; Todd Pletcher; 8-1) 

9 — Noble Indy (Javier Castellano; Todd Pletcher; 30-1)

10 — Blended Citizen (Kyle Frey; Doug O'Neill; 15-1)

Most of the focus is rightfully on Justify, who is hoping to match American Pharoah as a Triple Crown winner.

The horse won each of his last two races from the No. 7 post, but he will now get a different look while starting from the No. 1 post.

"I never liked drawing the rail," trainer Bob Baffert said, per Lane Gold of ESPN. "Most importantly the horse is doing well. We have it (#1), can’t change it. Everything has been smooth since the Preakness."

It also wasn't met with much excitement from Twitter:

As Thoroughbred Insider noted, the No. 1 post has produced the most winners at the Belmont with 23, although most of those came when there were only a handful of horses in each race. Recent history has been much different, with winners coming from everywhere.

Last year's winner, Tapwrit, came from the No. 2 spot while Creator won in 2016 from the No. 13 post.

In the last 20 years, every post from one through 13 has at least one winner except No. 10, according to Sports Betting 3. No post has more than three wins in that span.

With a smaller field and a longer race, the start position simply means less than the other legs of the Triple Crown.

Of course, Justify was going to have plenty of competition regardless of where he lined up.

Bravazo is the most intriguing contender of the bunch, narrowly finishing in second place at Pimlico behind Justify and showcasing plenty of closing speed. He will begin in the No. 3 post on Saturday with a trainer who has won this event four times in D. Wayne Lukas.

However, he knows the challenge ahead of him.

"We're taking on Goliath, you know. This is not the junior prom we're dealing with," Lukas said, per World Horse Racing. "We're going to have a tough chore. I don't see any chinks in the armor."

No. 4 Hofburg is also a top contender after finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby while taking Preakness off. He will be more well-rested for Belmont and has a chance to pull off an upset.

Vino Rosso and Tenfold should also remain competitive after strong performances over the past couple of weeks.

Still, the main story is whether Justify can live up to expectations and beat the field.

Considering only one of the last 12 favorites have won the Belmont, per OddsShark, there is reason to be cautious regardless of post.