Now that the Post Position Draw for this Saturday’s 147th running of the Belmont Stakes is set, it’s time to take a look at how each horse’s starting spot directly affects the odds for the eight-horse field.
As most know, American Pharoah has the opportunity to become horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. American Pharoah is the runaway favorite for Saturday’s race and before Wednesday morning, his odds were fluctuating anywhere from 5/6 to 4/5.
The odds below were provided by sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com and were the odds in place before Wednesday’s Draw:
| Horse: | Odds: |
| American Pharoah | 4/5 |
| Frosted | 5/1 |
| Materiality | 13/2 |
| Madefromlucky | 12/1 |
| Mubtaahij | 16/1 |
| Tale of Verve | 20/1 |
| Keen Ice | 25/1 |
| Frammento | 33/1 |
Here are the Morning Line Odds for the 2015 Belmont Stakes:
| Horse: | Jockey: | Morning Line Odds: |
| American Pharoah | Victor Espinoza | 3/5 |
| Frosted | Joel Rosario | 5/1 |
| Materiality | John Velazquez | 6/1 |
| Madefromlucky | Javier Castellano | 12/1 |
| Mubtaahij | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 10/1 |
| Tale of Verve | Gary Stevens | 15/1 |
| Keen Ice | Kent Desormeaux | 20/1 |
| Frammento | Mike Smith | 30/1 |
There weren’t many drastic changes from this set to the Morning Line Odds. The main competitors for American Pharoah in Saturday’s mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes will be Frosted, Materiality and Madefromlucky. If any horse benefited from a change in starting post-position, it was Mubtaahij, who will get a jockey change to Irad Ortiz Jr. and inside post-position of No. 1 for the 2015 Belmont Stakes.
Frosted was the winner of the 2015 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and ran a strong 4th in the Kentucky Derby behind American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund. Dortmund and Firing Line floundered a bit on a sloppy track for the Preakness as American Pharoah outclassed both in the “rematch” so to speak. Frosted is a New York bred horse who has had experience working at Belmont Park before.
Materiality’s speed figures heading into the Kentucky Derby were outstanding and remained relatively well after a 5th place finish in the race. After skipping the Preakness to keep the horse fresh, Todd Pletcher is looking for his 3rd Belmont Stakes victory (Rags to Riches in 2007 and Palace Malice in 2013). Materiality’s toughest test will be the distance. as a horse that has accumulated less races and mileage than the other top choices in the field, it’s imperative that Materiality stick to the pace, rather than set it and tire himself out.
Madefromlucky is the wild card in the Belmont Stakes. Ridden by Javier Castellano — who will have a big decision to make between Materiality and Madefromlucky, both Pletcher trained horses — Madefromlucky won the 2015 Grade 2 Peter Pan in early May at Belmont Park, the same race that 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist won as his main prep race last year.
Those will primarily be the 2nd, 3rd and 4th betting choices and other-than American Pharoah picks for Saturday’s race. The other horses are more than likely set to go off at least 12/1.
Coverage of the Belmont Stakes begins at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on NBC.
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Belmont Stakes 2015: Betting Odds, Gambling & Wagering Trends