Belmont Stakes Longshots Could Hit It Big

The Belmont Stakes takes place on June 10. The final leg of the Triple Crown often pays out the most money. I already published a blog about my Top 5 most memorable big time upset winners of the Belmont Stakes.

Although upset winners occur often in the Test of Champions, Classic Empire figures to be no better than an 8/5 favorite to win the Belmont on race day. He might go off at odds lower than that. Based on what I've seen so far in the futures, Empire's only competition figures to arrive from Japanese invader Epicharis. That's good news for any horseplayers, like me, considering a bet on one of the below 4 equines.

Gormley  +1200

I don't think he was ready for the Kentucky Derby. I'm not saying that John Shirreffs didn't get him ready for the Run for the Roses. I'm saying that Gormley wasn't mature enough either physically or mentally for the Derby. After 5 weeks, there's no telling how mature he's gotten. That's why underdogs win the Test of Champions so often. Between the Derby and the Belmont, three-year-olds grow up.

Gormley knows how to rate. He can run close to the lead if need be. He's a fighter. If he's grown up, he could easily win the Belmont on June 10.

Irap  +1400

Here's another that may have grown up some since the Derby. Irap has all the makings of being a seriously talented racehorse. He's got the breeding, the connections, the trainer, everything. He had no shot in the Kentucky Derby. I think with a better set up, he gives Classic Empire all the two-year-old champ can handle in the Belmont.

Multiplier    +2500

He bounced in the Preakness Stakes. That doesn't mean he won't have a shot in the Belmont. His Illinois Derby win was impressive. If I'm his connections, I might have waited for the Belmont instead of entering him in the Preakness Stakes. I'm not sure if he'll be ready to run 1 1/2 miles after chasing Classic Empire and Cloud Computing at Pimlico only three weeks prior. Still, the race might set up for him.

Patch  +2500

I might end up with an all Team Pletcher exacta. Like Tapwrit, whom I wrote about in my Belmont under double-digit odds piece, Patch follows Todd Pletcher's formula:  run three-year-olds in the Derby, skip the Preakness, and run them in the Belmont Stakes. The Kentucky Derby was Patch's fourth lifetime race. He also broke out of post 20. It's amazing that he finished 14th.

Check out his second place finish in the Louisiana Derby. He's got some talent. Not only that, but like every horse listed here that skipped the Preakness Stakes, he'll be fresh. Destin almost won the Belmont Stakes last year at over 8 to 1. Patch could win, or at least finish in the exacta, at over 25 to 1.