Belmont Stakes Handicapping Picks
Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2023 Belmont Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2023 Belmont is set for June 10 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Here’s a preview of our top contenders.
Belmont Stakes Preview
- Race: Belmont Stakes
- Purse: $1.5 million
- Track: Belmont Park
- Date: June 10
- Post Time: 7:02 PM (ET)
- Live: Belmont Stakes Odds: Click Here
2023 Belmont Stakes Racebooks / Betting Apps We Like!
Before we can give you our expert 2023 Belmont Stakes free pick, we have to break down the entries! In fact, we’d love to hear from you after you’ve given this post a read to see if you see an angle that we don’t!
2023 Belmont Stakes Handicapping
The smoke is clearing out of New York City, and with that, the race is on.
After having to cancel Thursday racing at Belmont Park due to Canadian wildfire smoke creating hazardous conditions for animals and people, on Friday horsemen were given the all-clear to continue, thus ending concerns the big race would have to be postponed.
The third leg of the US Triple Crown, the (G1) Belmont is open to horses age three and run on the Belmont dirt track. At a distance of 1 1/2 miles, the race is longer than any of the nine colts entered have ever run before – and likely will never run again. This year’s edition has drawn an excellent and wide-open field that offers some very good betting value.
Incidentally, Belmont is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic 1973 Belmont win by Secretariat, whose 31-length margin of victory and time of 2:24 are both records that stand to this day. If you’ve never seen video of the race, it’s something to behold. To quote the late race announcer Chick Anderson: “Secretariat is moving like a tremendous machine!”
Odds listed here are provided by the Belmont Park track oddsmaker.
2023 Belmont Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Forte Race Odds: 5-2
The morning line favourite for the Kentucky Derby, Forte had to be scratched out of that race due to a foot bruise, and then missed two weeks of training, also causing him to miss the Preakness Stakes.
What that all means is that it will be 10 weeks since the 2022 Juvenile champion last raced, when he won the (G1) Florida Derby by one length over Mage, who then came back to win the Kentucky Derby. Overall he sports a record of six wins in seven lifetime starts, four of those at the Grade 1 level.
Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. teamed up last year to win the 2022 Belmont with Mo Donegal. That was Ortiz Jr’s second Belmont win and Pletcher’s fourth.
2023 Belmont Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Tapit Trice Race Odds: 3-1
The winner of the (G1) Blue Grass Stakes in early April, Tapit Trice looks to bounce back from a disappointing Kentucky Derby where he finished seventh, while recording his lowest Equibase speed figure in his past five races.
After breaking very slow in the Derby and still sitting in 18th place a half-mile into the race, he had a lot of ground to make up late. He also ran into some traffic trouble mid-race and was eventually forced to go eight-wide in the stretch to try and catch the leaders.
He’s the second Todd Pletcher entry in the race. Jockey Luis Saez was the winning rider in 2021.
Angel Of Empire Race Odds: 7-2
The winner of the (G2) Risen Star Stakes and (G1) Arkansas Derby, Angel Of Empire was charging hard at the end of the Derby and ran out of racetrack to finish third, beaten by 1 1/2 lengths.
Similar to Tapit Trice, he was a bit slow early on in that race, and the trainer has decided to add blinkers for Saturday to help him be a bit more focused and closer to the early lead, something that should be possible given the much smaller size of this field.
If he wins, he’ll be just the second Pennsylvania-bred colt – and first in almost 150 years – to do so.
The aforementioned trainer is Brad Cox. Flavian Prat will be in the irons.
Arcangelo Race Odds: 8-1
A new shooter in the Triple Crown series, Arcangelo comes into this race off a win in the (G3) Peter Pan Stakes, run at 1 1/8 miles on the Belmont dirt track one month ago.
That race was a big step up in class after taking three tries to get his maiden score. Although he has yet to hit a triple-digit Equibase speed figure in any of his races – something Forte has done in his last four races in a row – he is a lightly raced colt with only four starts to his name and still has lots of room for improvement.
Jena Antonucci looks to become the first female trainer to win the Belmont. Jockey Javier Castellano also looks for his first Belmont win.
Here’s My 2023 Belmont Stakes Free Pick.
Prior to the scratch I had picked Forte to win the Derby, and I think it’s unfortunate the last minute injury means we’ll never know how close he might have come to making a Triple Crown bid. I’m a big fan of his, but at the same time it’s a lot to ask of a horse to win a race of this distance after a 10-week layoff. He’s been training very well, but training can’t replicate race conditions and I think that will make a difference here.
I had picked Angel Of Empire to finish second in the Derby, and so here I’m going to reverse the order and put him on top as the pick to win. Normally it would be of concern to see an equipment change like added blinkers going into a big race like this, as it usually seems like a desperation move. However, as trainer Cox has pointed out, Angel Of Empire often trains in blinkers, and jockey Prat himself has encouraged Cox to make the move.
So it’s Angel Of Empire to pass a tiring Forte deep into the long Belmont stretch.
Full Field: 2023 Belmont Stakes Odds
By post position
- #1 – Tapit Shoes 20-1
- #2 – Tapit Trice 3-1
- #3 – Arcangelo 8-1
- #4 – National Treasure 5-1
- #5 – Il Miracolo 30-1
- #6 – Forte 5-2
- #7 – Hit Show 10-1
- #8 – Angel Of Empire 7-2
- #9 – Red Route One 15-1
Belmont Stakes Tweet Of The Day
We are 1 day away from Belmont Stakes day! Racing starts at Belmont today on a great Friday card in a half-hour. @britneyeurton checks with @ToddTVG, who is live on-site.
Wager at https://t.co/nBYFHiPrdh. pic.twitter.com/LHfhEBaweO
— TVG (@TVG) June 9, 2023
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