After a lackluster seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, War of Will would recover quite well to win the Preakness Stakes. However, the colt isn’t getting his respect, coming second in the odds behind Tacitus’ +175 — War of Will is at +333.
Opening as the favorite to win the 2019 Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of the race horsing Triple Crown, Tacitus is a Bill Mott-trained horse. The three-year-old didn’t run in the Preakness Stakes, but the colt did have an impressive showing in the Kentucky Derby, finishing third after the disqualification of Maximum Security. It’s understandable why Tacitus is coming in as the favorite though; he would win back-to-back prep races to get him into the big race — the Tampa Bay Derby and the Wood Memorial.
War of Will comes in as the second favorite to win Belmont for one reason, and one reason alone: He was the victor of the Preakness, and did so in impressive fashion by having to rally. The colt would eventually distance himself to win by 1 1/4 lengths. This would come after War of Will would fall all the way back to eighth place in the Kentucky Derby after the veer from Maximum Security. He would eventually be moved up to seventh place courtesy of the disqualification. Keep an eye on this horse and make a profitable bet with the +333 odds; his connections are saying that the horse is looking in great shape after the Preakness victory.
You’ve certainly got to have a Bob Baffert-trained horse among the favorites, and we have one with Game Winner. The three year old won the Eclipse Award last year for being the top juvenile, and he would have a top five placement in the Kentucky Derby. He’s currently listed third in the odds at +450. But here’s the issue right now as far as this bet is concerned: Baffert hasn’t fully committed Game Winner to the Belmont Stakes, saying that right now it’s a ‘maybe.’ Wait and see before you place this bet. Game Winner has been inconsistent anyways: He would win his four races in the 2018 campaign, but wouldn’t win a single one in three here in 2019 — fifth in the Kentucky Derby, and second in both the Santa Anita Derby and the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
With the remaining favorites, you have Country House who is listed fourth at +500, but his connections are saying that he will most likely not race in the Belmont Stakes. On the other hand, you have Owendale looking very likely to make an appearance in New York, and why not? He had a great showing in the Preakness Stakes, finishing third. Before that race, the Brad Cox-trained horse would be the victor of the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland — this back on April 13. A very profitable horse to bet on in the Belmont would be Everfast at +1000; he would finish second in the Preakness. That result would see his +2900 odds award a $2 exacta a total of $947.00. I would take advantage if I were you.
Keep in mind before we go over the odds, however, that the 2019 Belmont Stakes isn’t until Saturday, June 8, which is obviously a couple of weeks away. With that being said, a lot of things could change, and the field can get even more complex as a result.
In five races in his career, Tacitus has nothing but nice performances to show for them, with top five finishes in every single race. It would start out with a Maiden Special Weight at Belmont Park where he would tally a fourth place finish, and then in his very next MSW at Aqueduct, the colt would tally the first victory of his career.
After that win, Tacitus would then take the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs, followed by a third straight victory winning the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. At the prestigious Kentucky Derby, the three year old would do great — finishing third in the big race.
War of Will has a long stretch of races throughout his career, partaking in 10 of them. He has a 40% success rate as far as winning goes, winning four of those races. The colt’s career would start out in a Maiden Special Weight race at Woodbine where he would tally a third place finish, and in his next race at Woodbine (Summer-G1), he would improve with a second place finish.
In the Bourbon-G3 at Keeneland, he would grab another top five finish after finishing fourth in the race. It would be another top five finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-G1 where War of Will would see a No. 5 placing — then the three-year-old would go on a tear. He would claim his first victory in a MSW at Churchill Downs, followed by another win in the Lecomte-G3 at Fair Grounds, and then he would get a three-peat victory at the Risen Star-G2 at Fair Grounds as well.
The colt would take a hit in his next two races, however, suffering a ninth place finish in the Louisiana Derby-G2 at Fair Grounds, and then another lackluster performance in the prestigious Kentucky Derby — he would tally seventh. But this is why War of Will comes in as the second favorite: He would win the Preakness Stakes, the second crown jewel of the Triple Crown.
Three-year-old Game Winner has raced a total of seven races in his career, and he has a pretty solid success rate winning four of those races, finishing in the top two in two, and in the top five in the other. The colt would start out his career on a tear, winning four races in a row: It would start out with a Maiden Special Weight race at Del Mar, the Del Mar Futurity-G1 at Del Mar, the American Pharoah Stakes-G1 at Santa Anita Park, and then the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1 at Churchill Downs.
After the stretch of winning, Game Winner would then take a second place finish in the Rebel Stakes-G2 at Oaklawn Park, and then another second tally in the Santa Anita Derby-G1 at Santa Anita Park. In the prestigious Kentucky Derby, Game Winner would also show up in that one, having a nice day finishing in fifth in a controversial race.
Country House would start out his career on a sour note, tallying up a ninth place finish in his very first Maiden Special Weight race — this at Belmont Park. After that, however, it’s nothing but solid finishes on his resume, including two victories. After the ninth place finish at Belmont, he would run in another MSW (this time at Aqueduct) and would take second.
The three year old would then take the victory, the first in his career, at another MSW — that race would be at Gulfstream Park. After that race, Country House would then race in the Risen Star-G2 at Fair Grounds where he would nearly get another victory — he would finish in second place. In the Louisiana Derby-G2 at Fair Grounds, he would set himself in the top five again with a fourth place finish.
In his next race, he would show for a third place finish in the Arkansas Derby-G1 at Oaklawn Park, and then in his most recent race, he would claim the victory — and where? — the 2019 Kentucky Derby. If Country House is 100% committed to the race and ends up running, expect to see a lot of bets placed on this horse for the Belmont Stakes.
The Brad Cox-trained Owendale has been featured in six races in his career, and all of them would be elite finishes with the exception of an eighth place finish in the Risen Star-G2 at Fair Grounds. Other than that, it’s nothing but flashy numbers.
It would begin with a Maiden Special Weight race at Ellis Park where Owendale would see a third place finish, and then afterwards, he would tally second in an AlwOC at Fair Grounds. In another AlwOC at Fair Grounds, the three-year-old would be victorious for the first win of his career.
His next, and last, victory would come in the Lexington-G3 at Keeneland. Owendale would also have another elite showing in the Preakness Stakes, having the No. 3 beside his name when the smoke was clear.
Code of Honor could be quite the profitable pick to make at +800 odds, the three year old colt has nothing but elite finishes on his resume — literally, there’s nothing tainted about it. He would come right out of the gate with a victory, securing a win in his very first race which would be a Maiden Special Weight at Saratoga. Following the victory, it would be an elite second place finish in the Champagne-G1 — that race would take place at Belmont Park, home of the Belmont Stakes.
Afterwards, Code of Honor would secure a top five placement by finishing fourth in the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park, and then came victory again. He would win the Fountain of Youth-G2 at Gulfstream Park, and following that would be a solid third place finish in the Florida Derby-G1, also at Gulfstream. In the Kentucky Derby, Code of Honor would nearly win the thing, but would fall just short with a second place finish. I can honestly say, Code of Honor is my favorite horse to win the Belmont Stakes — go ahead and place your bet on this colt.
Straight out of Kentucky USA, Everfast doesn’t have the swagger of other horses from the state. His results are riddled with inconsistency, and as a result, I would stay away from Everfast — don’t even think about it. He would start out things great, winning his Maiden Special Weight race at Ellis Park, but after that, it would fall apart.
After a fifth place finish in the Iroquois-G3 at Churchill Downs, Everfast would be dismal in the Breeders’ Futurity-G1 at Keeneland with an eighth place finish. He would get even more terrible in the following race, nearly falling out of the top 15 with a 14th place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club-G2 at Churchill Downs. He would recover a bit with a fourth place finish in an AlwOC at Gulfstream Park, and he would nearly win the Holy Bull-G2 at Gulfstream — he would finish second — but then things would get rocky again.
In another set of races at Gulfstream Park, Everfast would tally an eighth place finish in the Fountain of Youth-G2, and then would decline a bit more in the Florida Derby where he would finish ninth. He would do well in his two most recent races, however: A fifth place finish in the Pat Day Mile-G3 at Churchill Downs, and then second at the prestigious Preakness Stakes. As you see though, there’s a ton of inconsistency. Stay away from Everfast and his long shot +1000 odds — he has that ‘long shot’ title for a reason.
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