A short field of 7 was entered for the 139th Belmont Stakes and post positions were drawn on Wednesday. Preakness winner Curlin and Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun are back to renew their rivalry while Kentucky Oaks winner Rags to Riches joins the fray, taking on males for the first time. Curlin was made the morning line favorite at 6-5 with Hard Spun the second choice at 5-2 and Rags to Riches at 3-1.
Curlin comes in to the Belmont after winning the Preakness and finishing third in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Steve Asmussen knows he won't have an easy time of it here and said, "I think the race will be extremely ompetitive. Hard Spun is a very formidable horse who could be awfully hard to beat in the Belmont. Rags to Riches is very intriguing. She's just another quality horse in the race and Curlin is going to have to run extremely well to win."
Second choice Hard Spun led most of the way in the Preakness before weakening to finish third and set the pace in the Kentucky Derby as well only to be caught in the stretch by Street Sense. Trainer Larry Jones said, "For him to run so credible in both races, it's a good feeling. Both times he's put in a whale of a run. Anything that's tried to run with him early has been stopping like they hit a wall. For him to keep finishing as well as he does running fractions like he's been running, he's just awesome."
Rags to Riches will be only the 22nd filly to run in the Belmont, the last being Silverbulletday in 1999 who finished 7th. Only two fillies have ever won the 1 1/2 mile race, Ruthless in 1867 and Tanya in 1905. She will get a five pound weight break from the colts, but will that be enough to get the win? Trainer Todd Pletcher said, "What we have to gain is, it hasn't really been done in modern times. She's sort of accomplished everything a three-year-old filly could accomplish. From a historical perspective, it would place her at the highest level."
The Belmont Stakes will be race 11 on a 13-race card with post time for the Belmont at 6:25 pm Eastern. The race will be televised on ABC from 5 to 7 p.m. ESPN will provide additional coverage on the card from noon to 5 p.m.
Below are the entries with post positions and odds for the 2007 Belmont Stakes. Be sure to click the link on each horse's name to view full info, stats, and a photo where available.
Triple Crown quick links:
- Analyzing the Belmont Contenders - trying to pick a winner by profiling
- Free Belmont past performance - from DRF
- Kentucky Derby Results and Photos
- Preakness Results and Photos
- Belmont Weather Forecasts
- Triple Crown Mania - from Blood Horse
- Belmont Special - from DRF
- Triple Crown Special - from Thoroughbred TImes
- Triple Crown Trivia Quiz - test your knowledge of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont and compete with others.
- Triple Crown Index - the master list with even more info
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Dosage | Jockey | M/L Odds |
| 1 | Imawildandcrazyguy | William Kaplan | 6.00 | Mark Guidry | 20-1 |
| 2 | Tiago | John Shirreffs | 1.91 | Mike Smith | 10-1 |
| 3 | Curlin | Steve Asmussen | 4.00 | Robby Albarado | 6-5 |
| 4 | C.P. West | Nick Zito | 2.00 | Edgar Prado | 12-1 |
| 5 | Slew's Tizzy | Gregory Fox | 2.00 | Rafael Bejarano | 20-1 |
| 6 | Hard Spun | Larry Jones | 2.67 | Garrett Gomez | 5-2 |
| 7 | Rags to Riches | Todd Pletcher | 3.00 | John Velazquez | 3-1 |
