Belmont Stakes

Essential Quality Tops Odds Board For Belmont Stakes

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  • Bob Baffert’s horses will not be participating in the Belmont Stakes.
  • Essential Quality leads the field with +225 odds.
  • Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer will have a different jockey for the Belmont.

LAS VEGAS - Bob Baffert’s horses will be out of the picture at the Belmont Stakes pending an investigation into Medina Spirit’s positive drug test at the Kentucky Derby.

Preliminary results from the investigation suggest that Medina Spirit was taking Betamethasone in prohibited amounts, and cast the horse’s victory at the Kentucky Derby into doubt.

The NYRA already suspended Baffert and his horses, meaning that Baffert’s horses will not be allowed to participate in the Belmont Stakes.

This leaves the field a few contenders short of what it may have been expected to be, and leaves it fairly open as well.

In order of pole position, the odds to win the Belmont Stakes are as follows:

2021 Belmont Stakes Odds

  • 1. Bourbonic +1800
  • 2. Essential Quality +225
  • 3. Rombauer +375
  • 4. Hot Rod Charlie +400
  • 5. France Go De Ina +2800
  • 6. Known Agenda +600
  • 7. Rock Your World +425
  • 8. Overtook +2500

Essential Quality is the favorite in the field, although his odds are not prohibitive, at +225, demonstrating that there are several serious contenders in the field.

Should Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby win be overturned, the winner of the Derby will be - retroactively - Mandaloun.

Mandaloun is one of Essential Quality’s stable-mates, but only Essential Quality will be running in this race.

This does carry the implication that owner Brad Cox thinks that Essential Quality is the better of the two horses in terms of chances to win the race.

Rombauer, the winner of the Preakness Stakes is in second place on the odds boards, although his jockey will be different.

Flavien Prat had an earlier commitment to be the jockey for Hot Rod Charlie, who is currently in third place on these odds.

Fourth place is Rock Your World, followed by Known Agenda, after which the odds take a large spike upwards.

There are a lot of high level competitors in this race, even without Baffert’s horses, and it should be a very exciting one.

Horse race betting fans can catch the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5, 2021.