Top Favorites To Win The 2017 Belmont Stakes

After traveling through Kentucky and Baltimore, the best horses in North America will now be heading to New York for the final leg of the Triple Crown. If truth be told, this year’s version is a bit of a letdown in that we won’t have the Kentucky Derby winner, Always Dreaming, in the field, and we also won’t be seeing Classic Empire on the track, as he was scratched earlier in the week. The good news, though, is that we have a field of 12 really great horses, not to mention one of the most open fields that we have seen in years. There are probably only a couple of horses in this field who don’t really have a shot at winning, but there are also a few who are more likely to win than the rest. We are going to be looking at the favorites in this piece, and then we will have some Belmont Stakes betting picks for you guys in another article.

A Closer Look At The Top Favorites To Win The 2017 Belmont Stakes

   

Irish War Cry

The morning line favorite for the Belmont Stakes, Irish War Cry has 4 career wins, including a pair of big wins at the Holy Bull and the Wood Memorial. I would suggest that this horse is a bit of a prohibitive favorite, as he has been a little inconsistent at times. He showed very little in the Kentucky Derby, fading down the stretch to finish in 10th place. The state of the track may have had something to do with that performance, though, and it’s safe to say that he is one of the few horses in this field who has the pedigree to suggest he can handle the mile and a half distance.

Epicharis

This is one of the more intriguing horses in the field, simply because he is from Japan, and has all of his major successes abroad. He has faced some of the best horses in the world, and has yet to finish worse than second. His biggest race was in the UAE Derby, where he finished second. It’s always interesting to see how these international horses take to tracks in North America, but it’s fair to say that this is a horse that should not be ignored.

Lookin At Lee

The only horse in the field that will have run all 3 legs of the Triple Crown this year. There are two ways to look at that. The first is that he has experience running against the best, but the other is that he has done a lot of racing in a relatively short space of time. Still, a very good horse, and one that is deservedly among the favorites.

Tapwrit

We are starting to slip into dark horse territory with this one, but I believe that he is a horse that needs to be paid attention to. His speed figures have not been particularly impressive in his last few races, but let’s not forget that he had a solid showing at the Derby, where he finished in 6th place. I think he has a legitimate shot at winning this one.