The field for the 2023 Belmont Stakes is set and according to the oddsmakers this looks like a race between the haves and the have-nots.
Four of the nine horses entered into the race are sitting at 5/1 or shorter and the biggest price in that foursome is the Preakness winner, National Treasure.
No. 6 Forte, who was the morning-line favorite at the Kentucky Derby before he was scratched, was installed at the top of the betting board for the Belmont.
Forte did not participate in the Preakness, but comes into the third leg of the Triple Crown with four wins in his last four starts, including his last time out at the Florida Derby.
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Forte’s stablemate, No. 2 Tapit Trice, is second on the board at 3/1, putting him just ahead of Kentucky Derby post-time favorite and third-place finisher No. 8 Angel of Empire (7/2) and No. 4 National Treasure (5/1), Bob Baffert’s Preakness winner.
Any of these four horses could win this race going away, but the fact that this field is led by a lukewarm favorite coming off an injury tells you this is a pretty beatable field and that it wouldn’t be a huge shock if we see an outsider upset the odds.
Thus, it makes sense to circle a long shot or two to add some juice to your tickets.
We’ll start with No. 3 Arcangelo at 8/1.
The fifth-choice according to the oddsmakers, it’s likely that this price will stick around or even get longer before post time unless we see a scratch or two before the race.
Arcangelo is coming off a win at the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park four weeks ago, has strong speed figures and a good pedigree for this distance.
And like Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Arcangelo seems to be an improving horse that is peaking at the right time.
After finishing second and fourth in his first two races, Arcangelo stormed away with back-to-back wins in his last two outings.
It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a horse with double-digit odds win the Belmont Stakes — Sir Winston was 12/1 when he won the Test of a Champion in 2019 — but this field will leave some doors open and No. 7 Hit Show (10/1) has the potential to burst through.
Although he missed the board at the Kentucky Derby, Hit Show ran a pretty encouraging race to finish fifth in the Run for the Roses.
It was the type of performance that was good enough to make him an intriguing long shot, but it wasn’t notable enough that it will attract enough money to shorten his price out of range.
Hit Show has three wins and a runner-up in six career races, so if you consider his performance at Churchill Downs to be a positive, you can argue that he’s put up five strong results in his half-dozen career starts.
The pace in this race projects to be pretty mild, so Manny Franco will look to have Hit Show in the middle of the pack and hope he can kick it into an extra gear late.
He may not have enough to put away some of the favorites, but Hit Show’s ability to finish makes him well worth adding to your exactas at this price.