2016 Belmont Stakes post time and positions: Exaggerator starting outside, top competition inside

When Exaggerator, the favorite for the 148th running of the Belmont Stakes, drew an outside post position at the 11th gate, the odds didn’t shift much away from him. After tracking down Nyquist and winning the Preakness Stakes, and especially after Nyquist was ruled out of the Belmont Stakes with a fever and a high white blood cell count, Exaggerator has been the consistent favorite to run to victory in the 1 1/2-mile Test of the Champion.

The 2016 Belmont Stakes can be viewed on NBC beginning at 5 p.m. ET or streamed using NBC Live Extra. The horses go to post at approximately 6:37 p.m.

A handful of horses expected to push Exaggerator, including Destin, Cherry Wine, Suddenbreakingnews, and Stradivari, all drew posts on the inside. The last horse on that list, Stradivari, was considered a potential pace-setter for the race, and comes in at 5-1 odds as the favorite to finish just behind Exaggerator. Stradivari will start from the fifth post and will be jockeyed by John Velazquez.

Destin, another front-runner candidate, is starting from post No. 2 and will be jockeyed by Javier Castellano. Both horses are trained by Todd Pletcher and the trainer was said to have the pace of the race in his hands, before late entrant Gettysburg joined the fray. Gettysburg, who was formerly trained by Pletcher but who is now trained by Steve Asmussen, is a hard-charging front-runner and will start from No. 6.

Cherry Wine will start from the third post while Suddenbreakingnews comes in at No. 4. Both horses are considered closers and stalkers, much like the well-rounded Exaggerator. It’s a long list of contenders in the top six, rounded out by Governor Malibu, ridden by Joel Rosario starting from the first post. A horse hasn’t won from the first post since 2003.

Winning from the outside is, as a rule, more difficult, but not unheard of. Tonalist and Palace Malice won the race in recent years, and started from 11 and 12, respectively. But American Pharoah, who won the Triple Crown last season, won from post No. 5.

The other notable horses on the outside in this race include Lani, a Japanese-trained horse that is the only other one in the field to compete in both the Derby and the Preakness alongside Exaggerator. Lani will start from No. 10. Creator, who has 10-1 odds to win, starts on the outside at post No. 13.