There will be no Triple Crown at stake this year in Belmont Stakes betting after Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver was beaten in the Preakness. Lookin at Lucky was the winner of the Preakness but he will not be part of the field in Belmont Stakes odds nor will Super Saver.Belmont Stakes betting should definitely be wide open with the Derby winner and the Preakness winner skipping the race. Lookin at Lucky trainer Bob Baffert said that if a Triple Crown was on the line he would send Lookin at Lucky to the Belmont but since that is not the case he will give the horse some rest. “If we were going for the Triple Crown, I would take him,” Baffert said, “But I want to take him home and fresh-en him up. I ran him real hard as a 2-year-old. He deserves a little rest.” Baffert definitely deserves some credit for the Preakness win as he switched from leading jockey Garrett Gomez to the unheralded Martin Garcia. “I love Pimlico the morning after you win,” Baffert said. “Smells like victory.” Looking at Lucky will be pointed to the Haskell in early August. “One thing we do know, we will be at the Haskell,” Baffert said. Baffert will still have a horse in the Belmont as Game on Dude will be entered and he will be ridden by Garcia.
Super Saver was the favorite in the Preakness after winning the Derby but his trainer Todd Pletcher does not want to bring the horse back for the Belmont. It was too much for him coming back so soon after the Derby.
“He tried hard, but two weeks back was too quick for him,” Pletcher said. “Now we got time to come back for a big summer.” Pletcher may still have a horse in Belmont Stakes betting though as he is considering bringing back Devil May Care who ran in the Kentucky Derby although the Mother Goose is a more likely race for the filly.
Belmont Stakes odds will not have a Derby or Preakness winner for the first time since 2006. “It’s sad that the Derby winner and the Preakness winner aren’t in there,” trainer Nick Zito. The Belmont field could still be large with Zito sending Ice Box and Fly Down, Baffert’s Game on Dude, Preakness second place horse First Dude, Dublin, Make Music for Me, New Madrid, Setsuko, Stately Victor, Uptowncharlybrown and Stay Put.