Belmont Stakes Prediction

The 2011 Belmont Stakes betting lines are set to open with three weeks to go until the big race. For the 33^rd year in a row, Belmont betting enthusiasts will be watching a new horse try to win the Belmont Stakes, instead of one horse winning all three races. With the field yet to be determined, here are some predictions.

On Saturday June 11^th at 6:25 PM Eastern Time, 14 horses will lineup at the gate, and only one will ride away victorious. This year's Belmont Stakes field is one for the ages, as what was expected to be an off year for Triple Crown bettors turned into one of the best in recent memory. Belmont will feature Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, Preakness Stake's winner Shackleford and Kentucky Derby second and third place finishers Nehro and Mucho Macho Man.

Of the four horses, Mucho Macho Man has the longest odds at eight to one. In a rather intriguing spectacle, despite finishing second two and a half weeks ago at Churchill Downs, Nehro finds itself tied with Animal Kingdom and Shackleford as the odds on favorites at four to one to win the Belmont Stakes for 2011.

In theory, the Belmont Stakes is the perfect race to determine who is the better horse, Animal Kingdom or Shackleford. It is also a great race to figure out if Nehro was for real at the Kentucky Derby or was just running out of its mind when it finished a close second. For the latter, considering it did not run at the Preakness Stakes this past weekend, many fans and experts believe it overachieved.

What's more, the Belmont Stakes is built for a horse with a good combination of speed and distance. Shackleford has shown that it can lead from wire to wire on basically any track, but can it hold on at Belmont Park? Conversely, Animal Kingdom has made a reputation of coming from behind to capture the victory, and given how long the track is at Belmont Park, it may just be able to do so again.