Offshore betting sites favor Forte to win the 2023 Belmont Stakes. With only one week left before the third and final leg of the 2023 Triple Crown, the time has come to take a look at the field as well as the odds that the best online sportsbooks are offering. It is quite an intriguing field because we have a blend of horses wherein some didn’t run the Kentucky Derby and others didn’t run The Preakness Stakes.
2023 Belmont Stakes Odds
| Horse | Odds |
|---|---|
| Forte | +200 |
| Tapit Trice | +375 |
| Angel of Empire | +350 |
| National Treasure | +700 |
| Arcangelo | +1600 |
| Raise Cain | +1600 |
| Hit Show | +1400 |
| Red Route One | +1600 |
| Reincarnate | +3300 |
| Sun Thunder | +3300 |
| Tapit Shoes | +2500 |
| Prove Worthy | +3300 |
| Il Miracolo | +5000 |
Forte +200
Forte won the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on his most recent outing to remain undefeated in the year of Our Lord 2023 and even though he had an injury prior to the Kentucky Derby, and thus was not able to run that race or the Preakness.
He continues to be the horse that everyone wants to see. If he can deliver his best form to the race then he is going to be a worthy fave at betting sites. The training preparation has been good, and Todd Pletcher was recently quoted as saying “It was a very well-executed breeze. He kind of gradually picked it up throughout and then had a very impressive gallop-out.”
Pletcher elaborated that “He came back in good order; very impressed by his level of fitness and how he recovered after the breeze.” Forte went 5 furlongs in a little over a minute and with some prodding from Ortiz past the wire.
Forte galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:12.72, 7 furlongs in 1:25.94, and a mile in 1:38.74. everything looks good for Pletcher’s stellar three-year-old.
Angel Of Empire +350
This is a horse that is looking sure to appreciate this stretch out in the distance. He remains very much unexposed here. There ought to be more to come following his most recent outing in the Kentucky Derby where Angel of Empire was a solid closing third behind Mage and Two Phils (neither of those horses is going to run here).
Brad Cox has made it very clear that following that race that they would skip The Preakness in order to have a shot at this third leg of the Triple Crown. He deserves a high spot on any betting site’s odds board.
Tapit Trice +400
There isn’t any doubt that this horse is going to stay the distance of the Belmont Stakes but the question is whether he is actually that good. The race in the Kentucky Derby was strong but he did not truly close as hard as you would have expected and he still went on to finish in behind Hit Show who placed 5th in that race.
He skipped The Preakness which does give his outlook some upside but with his slow starts and that last run not really raising eyebrows, he is the least fancied horse of the top 5 on the early morning line picks.
He did do well at the back end of the previous month going in a very similar time to his stable mate Forte and perhaps the break has refreshed him up for a showing with a little more early chutzpah.
National Treasure +700
What can be said of last month’s winner of the Preakness? He displayed quickness, endurance, and brass balls to win that race. Because he does race close to the speed, he is going to have a good race position when the horses exit the far turn and then into the home stretch run.
It is a little longer turnaround this year going between the 2nd and 3rd legs of the triple crown. Bob Baffert sure wouldn’t be running if he did not feel that the horse was at a hundred percent. Baffert put his horse back into important track work lately and covered a four-furlong breeze in 50.85 secs.
That is nothing to write home about, but on closer inspection, he covered the first quarter in a rather quick 23.63 secs. Jockey John Velazquez said that “He picked it up way too fast around the [far turn], I just kind of held him there, held him, held him, and slowed him down the best I could,” Velazquez added. “I didn’t want to let him do too much, then I let him gallop out and he galloped out very good. I overcompensated a little bit down the stretch.”
