2021 Belmont Stakes Betting Preview PT 1

We are just a short time away from the final leg of the American Triple Crown and there have been plenty of subplots to follow as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes have both produced two very notable (for entirely different reasons) contenders and we could be adding a third name to the list of winners once we figured out the 1m4f contest next weekend. 

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There’s a lot to like about this race historically and the fact that we do not have a Triple Crown being contended this year is probably - in hindsight - a good thing. 

Bob Baffert’s medication overage fallout with Medina Spirit is not going away and it has resulted in bans from various jurisdictions and a lot of negative mainstream media coverage. Baffert’s problem wasn’t necessarily the oveage but how he handled it subsequently. 

It looks like it will be the former Kentucky Derby favourite Essential Quality, lining up in the colours of Godolphin, who is likely to take the bulk of the betting action. The bookmakers have installed him at a price of around 3/1 in the ante post markets to emerge triumphant over the mile and a half distance to be contested in Elmont, New York. 

The fourth place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, he ran his race about as well as anyone could expect but the speed that Medina Spirit was able to hold throughout the contest ensured he still had plenty left on the run-in. It remains to be seen whether Medina Spirit will even be declared the winner as Mandaloun looks set to be put up to first if the split sample comes back positive.