A field of ten was entered and post positions were drawn for the 140th Belmont Stakes on Wednesday. Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown drew the rail and was set as the morning line favorite at odds of 2-5. Second choice Casino Drive drew post #5 and was set at 7-2, while Denis of Cork, who drew post #4, was made the 12-1 third choice. If Big Brown can win, he will become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years and only the 12th horse ever to achieve the feat. He will likely be a huge favorite as he was in the Preakness, especially with many fans buying $2 souvenir win tickets to save.
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. seemed to have no problem with the inside post. He said, "We were kind of hoping for the outside but I just can’t see a post getting this horse beat. We'll take it and go with it. I can't imagine anything could be any better with the horse. He was awful rough this morning around the barn just walking. I've never seen him like that. So he knows something's coming; he knows it's soon; I just couldn't be happier with the horse."
Update: Casino Drive was scratched Saturday morning due to a stone bruise on his left hind hoof. Spokesman Nobutaka Tada said, "This morning, he was feeling well, so we took him to the track for a canter. He came back well to the stable, but later he started favoring his left hind again. It's not serious, just a small stone bruise, and he will be fine. But the timing is terrible."
Post time for the Belmont is 6:25 pm Eastern and 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 2008 Belmont Stakes. Be sure to click the link on each horse's name to view full info, stats, and a photo.
Triple Crown quick links:
- Free Belmont Stakes past performances - from DRF
- Belmont Contender Analysis - As usual, we took several of the more popular and effective angles to try and pick the winner by matching the profile of a Belmont winner. Who tied Big Brown as most likely to win?
- Belmont Contender Memorial Day holiday weekend workouts - Photos and info about the Belmont contenders on the track and in the barn over the weekend at Belmont Park. Includes details about Big Brown's quarter-crack and photos of him, Casino Drive, Tale of Ekati, and others.
- Big Brown Photo Gallery - 28 photos of him from the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Florida Derby.
- Kentucky Derby Results and Photos
- Preakness Results and Photos
- Belmont Weather Forecasts
- Belmont official site - lots of news here
- Blood Horse Triple Crown Mania
- Thoroughbred Times Road to the Triple Crown
- DRF Belmont Special
- New York Post Triple Crown Section - lots of info and photos
- New York Time Sports - will have Belmont coverage mixed in the other sports page
- Triple Crown winners and near misses - Only 11 have won the Triple Crown, but 20 have won the Derby and Preakness only to fail in the Belmont.
- Belmont Stakes Videos - Lots of video clips of past Belmonts including most of the Triple Crown winners
- 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 | Big Brown | Richard Dutrow Jr. | 1.67 | Kent Desormeaux | 2-5 |
| 2 | Guadalcanal | Fred Seitz | 3.00 | Javier Castellano | 50-1 |
| 3 | Macho Again | Dallas Stewart | 3.80 | Garrett Gomez | 20-1 |
| 4 | Denis of Cork | David Carroll | 1.80 | Robby Albarado | 12-1 |
| 5 | Casino Drive | Kazuo Fujisawa | 3.67 | Edgar Prado | *scratched* |
| 6 | Da' Tara | Nick Zito | 2.43 | Alan Garcia | 30-1 |
| 7 | Tale of Ekati | Barclay Tagg | 2.00 * | Eibar Coa | 20-1 |
| 8 | Anak Nakal | Nick Zito | 4.00 | Julien Leparoux | 30-1 |
| 9 | Ready's Echo | Todd Pletcher | 2.67 | John Velazquez | 30-1 |
| 10 | Icabad Crane | Graham Motion | 3.31 | Jeremy Rose | 20-1 |
