The final leg of the Triple Crown has arrived: the 155th Belmont Stakes.
Horse racing’s spotlight will shine down on Belmont Park on Saturday as nine contenders look to emerge victorious at the Test of Champions that is the Belmont Stakes.
While no Triple Crown title is at stake, that doesn’t mean that this final leg will not be entertaining.
After all, Bob Baffert makes his return to New York following a suspension. A championship pedigree may well be on full display. And championship-laden jockeys are set to ride yet again.
Looking at the field for the 2023 Belmont Stakes
The field of nine for the Belmont Stakes is stacked.
From the favored Forte to top contender Tapit Trice, even down to Angel of Empire and National Treasure, the starting gate looks as even as possible based on morning odds alone.
| Post Position | Horse | Jockey | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tapit Shoes | Jose Ortiz | 20-1 |
| 2 | Tapit Trice | Luis Saez | 3-1 |
| 3 | Arcangelo | Javier Castellano | 8-1 |
| 4 | National Treasure | John Velazquez | 5-1 |
| 5 | Il Miracolo | Marcos Meneses | 30-1 |
| 6 | Forte | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 5-2 |
| 7 | Hit Show | Manny Franco | 10-1 |
| 8 | Angel of Empire | Flavien Prat | 7-2 |
| 9 | Red Route One | Joel Rosario | 15-1 |
Belmont Stakes rife with championship pedigree
From horse lineage to jockeys to trainers, plenty of past success at the Belmont Stakes exists in the 2023 field.
The trainers
Start with trainers. Brad Cox has three horses expected to run Saturday: Angel of Empire, Hit Show and Tapit Shoes. Two other entrants come from Todd Pletcher in Forte and Tapit Trice. Meanwhile, Bob Baffert makes his return to New York with Preakness champion National Treasure. And Steve Asmussen boasts Red Route One.
Those four names have combined for nine Belmont Stakes wins, led by Pletcher’s four victories and Baffert’s three. The lone outlier is Jena Antonucci. Should her trainee Arcangelo win, she would become the first female trainer to groom a Belmont victor.
The jockeys
The jockeys, naturally, have their own stacked résumés.
Five riders have combined for nine Belmont Stakes wins over the past 16 years, including each of the past four races. Among them is Irad Ortiz Jr., who will saddle up Forte and guided Mo Donegal to the 2022 Belmont Stakes win — his second Belmont victory in seven years.
It’s a family affair for the jockey, as his brother Jose Ortiz won in 2017 aboard Tapwrit.
Joel Rosario, riding Red Route One on Saturday, has wins in 2014 and 2019, while Luis Saez (2021) and Manny Franco (2020) have also enjoyed success at Belmont.
Of note, John Velazquez will mount National Treasure for trainer Bob Baffert. That combo made headlines in 2021 with Medina Spirit, who tested positive for a substance beyond allowable limits. That led to Baffert’s suspension, setting up his 2023 return.
The lineage
Over the past 10 years, four Belmont Stakes winners came from the sire Tapit.
This year, two will attempt to add to that run.
Tapit Shoes and Tapit Trice will fittingly start side by side on Saturday. (Fun fact: Jose Ortiz, riding Tapit Shoes, won in 2017 aboard another Tapit byproduct: Tapwrit.)
With Essential Quality’s win in 2021, Tapit tied Lexington for the most Belmont Stakes winners from the same sire. He will have two chances on Saturday to take the record for himself.
Historical data heading into 2023 Belmont Stakes
No post position has produced more Belmont Stakes winners than the No. 1 spot. That may prove fortuitous for Tapit Shoes, who has the second-longest odds to win on Saturday.
The first position has sent off 24 winners at Belmont, nine more than the next-best starting spots in No. 3 (Arcangelo on Saturday) and No. 5 (Il Miracolo).
Since 2000, here is how the starting positions have fared at the Belmont Stakes.
| Post position | Total winners | Winners since 2000 |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | 24 | Empire Maker (2003), Justify (2018) |
| No. 2 | 13 | Tapwrit (2017) Essential Quality (2021) |
| No. 3 | 15 | Commendable (2000), Ruler on Ice (2011), Union Rags (2012) |
| No. 4 | 10 | Birdstone (2004), Summer Bird (2009) |
| No. 5 | 15 | Da' Tara (2008), American Pharoah (2015) |
| No. 6 | 9 | Mo Donegal (2022) |
| No. 7 | 14 | Rags to Riches (2007), Drosselmeyer (2010), Sir Winston (2019) |
| No. 8 | 7 | Jazil (2006), Tiz the Law (2020) |
| No. 9 | 4 | Point Given (2001), Afleet Alex (2005) |
A few noteworthy coincidences dot the starting gates on Saturday.
Irad Ortiz Jr., for example, will start out of the No. 6 position aboard Forte. Last year, Ortiz guided Mo Donegal to the win out of the same position, the first time No. 6 produced a winner at the Belmont Stakes since 1989.
Similarly, Luis Saez will ride Tapit Trice out of the No. 2 spot, the same gate he started in with Essential Quality en route to the 2021 victory.
