Bet On The Belmont Stakes, 3rd Race Of The Triple Crown

The Belmont Stakes is the third race in the prized Triple Crown and has been nicknamed The Test of the Champion, coming after both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Dating back to 1868 when it was run in the Bronx, it was the brainchild of Leonard Jerome who used August Belmont Snr’s money to finance the race, and indeed named it after him. Run over one and half miles it attracts the cream of the racing world, but if you want to bet on the Belmont Stakes who should you be backing?

The 148th Belmont Stakes

• Exaggerator @ 11/8
  
• Suddenbreakingnews @ 5/1
  
• Stradivari @ 7/1

These days the Belmont Stakes is run at the Belmont Park in Elmont, New York and in 2004 attracted a very healthy 21.9 million viewers, a massive celebration of the sport and this year, it’s 148th running, will take place this Saturday. The runners and riders are vying for a $800,000 first prize but in an eclectic field who is worthy of wagering on? US gambling laws might have relaxed but that doesn’t mean you should bet on the Belmont Stakes without looking at all the options, and this year there are plenty of those to go around.

Somewhere near the event horizon of possibility is the hugely outside bet you could make on Trojan Nation, a horse that appears to have been named after some sort of dystopian future in which well known brands of condoms have been made compulsory by the corporate authoritarian rules. It’s getting 40/1 here and there at bookies online but one would have to be clinically insane to touch even those odds with a bargepole, even each way it’s madness, although backing the 33/1 shot Wild About Deb seems equally pointless for all the chances it doesn’t have.

In the category of a bet on the Belmont Stakes that has relatively long odds but nothing excessive Betfair has Unified at 20/1, and if your brain cells have congealed perhaps that’ll seem attractive as anything other than an each way bet, and it shares those odds with Mor Spirit, which sounds like a drunk’s plea at the bar, and Creator a name that is far more grandiose than the reality, and only slightly better is Governor Malibu which at 16/1 appears named after a computer game bad-guy.

Bet On The Belmont Stakes In Its 148th Year

Entering the odds at a slightly more sensible level of long-shot is Mo Tom a name that looks like a shop sign that has had some letters stolen, and whilst it has a hope, it’s a 14/1 shot at Betfair and honestly there are better ways to risk your bank roll, even at a 1/5 each way, and those are the trio of 10/1 shots that Betfair offers up. If Lani doesn’t impress those of you that like to bet on sports in the US, there’s always Destin, a horse missing a Y and will possibly leave you asking yourself “Why?” if you back it, and Brody’s Cause which I sincerely hope is a Jaws reference.

It was, of course, Jermaine Stewart that advised us that “we don’t have to take our clothes off to have a good time”, and indeed encouraged people to instead “dance and party” all night and drink some Cherry Wine. Whether or not you believe dancing and cherry wine are an adequate replacement for all the good times one can have without one’s clothes, Betfair has the horse Cherry Wine at a decent enough 8/1, which means you can bet on the Belmont Stakes aiming for that big win without necessarily losing your shirt in the process.

Just a nose ahead in the odds Betfair is offering for all those of you thinking about placing a bet on the Belmont Stakes is the rather attractive name Stradivari, although whilst quite aesthetically pleasing you can’t help but think there’s something a tad strange about naming a powerful fast animal after a piece of elderly woodwork that is so fragile if you fart near it the damn thing goes out of tune. I’m sure the owner meant well, but at 7/1 I’m not sure it grabs me, even as an each way bet, which it really should give the very good chance it has of placing.

Is It An Exaggeration To Say Exaggerator Will Win?

If there ever need be proof that the horse racing world is slightly odd, and possibly requires some sort of collective therapy, it’ll be the names given to some of these thoroughbreds, and at 5/1 it’s the wholly under-truncated Suddenbreakingnews that indicates someone somewhere needs to drink a little less coffee and attempt to use some creative thinking when naming their race horse rather than just sticking it with whatever happens to be burbling on the television at the time. That all said if you want to bet on the Belmont Stakes this year, Suddenbreakingnews is no bad idea.

The only fly in that ointment is the favorite. Exaggerator which shows promise in the naming stakes, and sits firmly at the top of the Betfair odds table at 11/8, and that’s fair enough given its reputation, and its no exaggeration to say that it has attracted as much money as Suddenbreakingnews the question is do those odds really reflect its chance on the day? We’ll find out on Saturday, but where should you place your bet on the Belmont Stakes?

Well much as Exaggerator is the big favorite I think Suddenbreakingnews has a lot going for it and may making gambling news at those odds which are a bit of a steal, even each way if you must, although I think a bet on the Belmont Stakes like that that shows a lack of spine, this is the final race of the Triple Crown and not a moment to weakly aim to do just alright, but a moment on the racing calendar to aim firmly at that big win that you just know is out there at Betfair just waiting for you to collect on it.