2019 Belmont Stakes Expert Predictions and Betting Advice

2019 Belmont Stakes Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 6/6/2019

I'm not going to make my final Belmont Stakes picks just yet. I have an idea of how I am leaning but haven't buttoned down the full set of picks just yet. However, after we have broken down the race from countless different angles - including writing up Tapit's pedigree about a hundred times - what I am ready to do is make some Belmont predictions. Without further ado, here are some of the things I am expecting from this race:

Expert Belmont Stakes Betting Advice: Live Long Shots Can Provide Big Payday
by Trevor Whenham - 6/5/2019

The field for the Belmont Stakes sets up as particularly top-heavy. The 10-horse field features Tacitus favored at 9/5, with Preakness winner War of Will right behind at 2/1, and no other horse at better than 8/1. It would be easy to convince ourselves that the race is over before it starts and that one of those two will come out on top.

Belmont Undercard Races Feature Top-Level Racing Action
by Trevor Whenham - 6/5/2019

Even in years like this one in which the Belmont Stakes doesn't set up as an all-timer, the day still typically delivers as one of the best racing days on the calendar. The Belmont undercard is absolutely loaded with top races. Aside from the Belmont itself, the card offers seven other Grade 1 races, a Grade 2, and another often-interesting listed stakes.

Ranking Belmont Stakes Field Entries by Breeding Pedigree
by Trevor Whenham - 6/4/2019

The Belmont Stakes is the longest and toughest challenge that any horse in this race will face in his career. It's a full quarter mile further than the Derby, and even more of a step up from any other race these horses would have run in. And it's a distance beyond what horses in North America are typically bred for. We favor speed over stamina here. So, the breeding of these horses is as important as any factor when it comes to picking a winner in this race.

2019 Belmont Stakes Pace Scenario
by Trevor Whenham - 6/4/2019

Your first instinct may be to think that the way the pace sets up in the Belmont Stakes is far less important than in the first two legs of the Triple Crown. It's an opinion that would make sense - the very long distance and almost endless stretch drive gives room for any horse to overcome whatever has happened before.

Best Belmont Stakes Trifecta Bets in 2019
by Trevor Whenham - 6/4/2019

One of my favorite things to do leading into every Triple Crown race is to look at possible trifecta bets you could make in each race. Some would make sense, and some would only appeal to Triple Crown geeks like me. For example, last year if you had boxed the former Belmont winning jockeys in the race you would have hit the trifecta - Mike Smith and the two Ortiz brothers. Heck, two-time Belmont winner John Velazquez finished fourth, so you could have hit the superfecta, too.

Bourbon War Odds to Win the 2019 Belmont Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/31/2019

The middle week of the gap between the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes is usually a little dull, and this year is no exception. Just not much goes on. The field is typically mostly set, but horses heading to the race aren't working out seriously, many of them aren't in New York yet, and all we can do is wait.

Sir Winston Odds to win the 2019 Belmont Stakes with Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/30/2019

Sometimes a trainer is already heading to a race anyway, so he knows it won't cost that much more - in time or effort - to bring a second horse. I'm not saying that that is what is happening with Sir Winston joining the list of Belmont probables along with his much more accomplished stablemate War of Will, who is fresh off a Preakness win.

Intrepid Heart Odds to win the 2019 Belmont Stakes with Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/30/2019

Todd Pletcher returns to the Triple Crown trail after skipping the Preakness - something he typically does unless he has a Derby winner to bring along. He has two horses here this year - a major Derby disappointment in Spinoff, and a very lightly raced colt with regal breeding in Intrepid Heart. It's the latter that we are interested in here. There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of this colt in the Belmont but also a couple of reasons to be at least a little intrigued. So, can Intrepid Heart pull off the upset and win the Belmont?

Everfast Odds to win the 2019 Belmont Stakes with Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/30/2019

Heading into the Preakness, this horse, which was the last entry into that race, was very easy to toss out. He had done absolutely nothing in his career to make us think he belonged in the race in any way. So, of course, everything went his way, he had the race of his life, and wound up grabbing second place. He seemed to be an overlay at nearly 30/1, but instead he was the cause of some large serious payoffs for the exotics.

How to Bet on the Belmont Stakes in 2019: Expert Strategy and Handicapping
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2019

As I sit here writing this, the Belmont Stakes are still more than a week and a half away. The field isn't set in stone, and the horses haven't done their serious works yet. We don't know enough to know who is going to win this race for certain. That means that we can't lock our bet in yet - not even close. But we can do some bigger picture thinking about how to bet on the Belmont. Each year is different, and here's the bigger questions for this race:

Expert Handicapping for Kentucky Derby Horses in the 2019 Belmont Stakes
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2019

If you are not a hardcore handicapper and you want a good shot at cashing a ticket on the Belmont Stakes, then you could do much worse than just betting the horses that previously ran in the Kentucky Derby. In the last 21 years, the Belmont winner has previously run in the Derby 15 times. That includes the last four winners.

Expert Handicapping for the Fresh Horses in the 2019 Belmont Stakes
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2019

We hear a lot about fresh horses coming into the Belmont every year. The theory is that a horse that has not run in the last four or five weeks - since the time of the Kentucky Derby, approximately - is going to have an edge over horses that ran twice in that time. Trainers like to give their horses a month or more between starts whenever possible these days, so running more than that is asking a lot.

Tacitus Odds to win the 2019 Belmont Stakes with Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2019

Tacitus is the most heavily-hyped horse in the prospective Belmont Stakes field as I write this almost two weeks before the race, and he is very likely to be the favorite by post time. As much as our job here today, then, is to figure out if he is any good, it is to figure out if he justifies the hype that is around him. We know he is good, in other words, but is he good enough?

War of Will Odds to Win the 2019 Belmont Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2019

We have yet to see the Kentucky Derby winner, or the one who was disqualified, return to the track since that race. But at least we have the Preakness winner here for the Belmont. War of Will is on track to be the only horse to have run in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year, and he has a real chance to add a second title to his trophy room in this spot.

Where to Bet on the Belmont Stakes in 2019
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2019

The 2019 Belmont Stakes is not likely to go down as the finest edition of the race ever, and it certainly doesn't present as the most compelling ever. Twice in the last four years we have had Triple Crowns on offer - and claimed - so we have been spoiled, and a letdown is inevitable. But it is still a race that will have a big crowd, a big handle, and plenty of opportunities to make some money.

Horses That can Win the Belmont Stakes in 2019
by Trevor Whenham - 5/28/2019

The 2019 edition of the Belmont Stakes is likely not going to go down in history as an all-time great edition of the race. The winner of the Derby isn't here. Neither is the disqualified winner. And Bob Baffert is skipping the race. There are still a couple of really good horses here, but they are joined with a bunch of runners we have to learn about on the fly.

How to Place a Bet on the Belmont Stakes in 2019
by Trevor Whenham - 5/24/2019

A lot of you who are reading this article are probably much more sports bettors than avid horseplayers. But when the Triple Crown comes along - even a Triple Crown as uneven and frankly underwhelming as this one has been - people get drawn to the sport. Betting on the Belmont is no different in many ways than betting on any sport - you just need to understand the basics, evaluate the opportunities, and make your best decision.

2019 Belmont Stakes Trivia Questions and Answers
by Trevor Whenham - 5/24/2019

The Belmont Stakes is the last leg of the Triple Crown, and in many ways it is the toughest. It only makes sense, then, that the trivia quiz for this leg of the Triple Crown is also the toughest. The quiz for the Derby this year was tough - tougher than the one for the Preakness. But this will be on a whole new level. There is one very easy question at the end - but you have to get there first. This set of Belmont trivia questions and answers will prove what you are made of.

2019 Belmont Stakes Facts
by Trevor Whenham - 5/23/2019

Last year at this time we had the privilege of getting ready to watch Justify claim a Triple Crown - the second in four years, making us spoiled after a very long drought. This year the Belmont Stakes are not going to be nearly so dramatic. We aren't going to have the Kentucky Derby winner here - no matter which horse you think that that should be.