Belmont Stakes News & Key Info Before the Big Day

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival takes place June 8-10 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, and features the 149th Running of the Belmont Stakes. The oldest of the Triple Crown events is taking place soon and it's worth sharing news of the event. The creator is the winner from the 2016 edition.

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Latest Belmont Stakes News

It's worth saying that both the Preakness and the Kentucky Derby came off without a surprise, yet the Belmont Stakes, which is already suffering from a lack of famous star power, was not so lucky. On June 7, trainer Casse announced that Classic Empire, a very likely Belmont favourite and a Preakness runner-up, would miss June 10's race due to a bad foot abscess.

Neither Cloud Computing (Preakness winner) nor Always Dreaming (Kentucky Derby winner) will be running the Belmont Stakes, so the presence of Classic Empire was quite a good thing. There's a field bereft of famous names now.

Irish War Cry, the narrow 2nd betting choice in the Kentucky Derby, got the mantle of favouritism.

Let's have a look at the twelve horses running on Saturday.

The Post Positions And Field For The 2017 Belmont Stakes

1) Twisted Tom: His family includes winners of the Belmont - Thunder Gulch (Kentucky Derby winner, Belmont winner), and Seattle Slew (Triple Crown winner). Makes his graded stakes debut here.

• Jockey: Javier Castellano
• Trainer: Chad Brown

2) Tapwrit: Worth $1.2 million, he is one of the only graded stakes winners in the field. He skipped the Preakness after being 6th in the Kentucky Derby.

• Jockey: Jose Ortiz
• Trainer: Todd Pletcher

3) Gormley: It was undecided whether this horse would run, but the owners shipped him ultimately. 9th in the Kentucky Derby. Won 4 of 7 lifetime starts. 3-time graded stakes winner. Our Belmont Stakes preview must contain his name.

• Jockey: Victor Espinoza
• Trainer: John Shirreffs

4) J Boys Echo: Worth $500,000 according to racing news, won the Grade 3 Gotham (Aqueduct, March). 15th in the Kentucky Derby.

• Jockey: Robby Albarado
• Trainer: Dale Romans

5) Hollywood Handsome: Competed in 2 graded stakes races. Was 4th in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, and 5th in the Grade 3 Illinois Derby.

• Jockey: Florent Geroux
• Trainer: Dallas Stewart

6) Lookin at Lee: He's the only runner to be present in all 3 legs of the Triple Crown in 2017, including Belmont Stakes. Runner-up in the Kentucky Derby, 4th in the Preakness. It cost $70,000 as a yearling.

• Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
• Trainer: Steve Asmussen

7) Irish War Cry: 4 wins in 6 races. 7th place at Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. 10th place in the Kentucky Derby. It's definitely worth mentioning this in our Belmont Stakes preview.

• Jockey: Rajiv Maragh
• Trainer: H. Graham Motion

8) Senior Investment: 3rd place in Preakness. 1st in the Grade 3 Lexington (Keeneland).

• Jockey: Channing Hill
• Trainer: Ken McPeek

9) Meantime: Relatively inexperienced. 4 races on his sheet. Runner-up in the Grade 3 Peter Pan.

• Jockey: Mike Smith
• Trainer: Brian Lynch

10) Multiplier: Winner of the incredible Grade 3 Illinois Derby. Preakness - 6th. Debuted in January 2017, according to Belmont Stakes news.

• Jockey: Joel Rosario
• Trainer: Brendan Walsh

11) Epicharis: Japanese horse, won 4 out of 4 races (not in the UK though). Was 2nd in the UAE in March in Derby. An impressive racehorse, and has some wild cards (layoff and travel). It's definitely one of the most interesting names on the list in the horse racing news.

• Jockey: Christophe Lemaire
• Trainer: Kiyoshi Haghwara

12) Patch: He will start from the far outside post. Derby - 14th, so he's pretty popular among fans. Definitely, a must watch.

• Jockey: John Velazquez
• Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Is Approaching

If you're an avid fan of horse racing, then you must be following the horse racing news to see which runner will miss the start. The most important thing to remember for now is that Classic Empire will be absent, therefore you must choose your favourite from the list from above. Don't forget, we cover all types of sports at OddsDigger, make sure you stay close to get any updates or racing news that might arise!