If you’ve never had a glass of cherry wine, then you really should hunt some down and give it a taste (may we suggest one of the many varieties at Chateau Grand Traverse).
Belmont Stakes 2016: Cherry Wine continues steady odds climb
After starting with a morning line of 8-1, Cherry Wine has seen some ups and downs in the odds department, though a steady climb to 7-1 shows the faith bettors have in the potential usurper.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
There’s no doubt that the owners of Cherry Wine, Frank L. Jones Jr. and William Pacella, will be popping the top off a few wines if their three-year-old colt manages to upset the field and win the 2016 Belmont Stakes, which has an official post time of 6:37 p.m. ET Saturday. While Cherry Wine may not have a big win to his name, his performance in the Preakness Stakes that earned him a second-place finish after passing Nyquist was quite noteworthy.
Cherry Wine came into the Belmont with a morning line of 8-1 and then bounced around a bit, falling to 9-1 before rebounding to the most recent odds of 7-1 (as of 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday), according to the odds tracker at BelmontStakes.com. Cherry Wine has $217,855 currently bet on him.
But it’s going to take more than a solid rise in the sportsbooks to give Cherry Wine the edge in the 148th running of the Belmont. Standing in his way is odds-on favorite Exaggerator, a three-year-old colt that took first in the Preakness and second in the Kentucky Derby behind Nyquist. Exaggerator has stayed atop the odds at 6-5 after a morning line of 9-5. As of 1:30 p.m., Exaggerator has $834,170 bet on him to win.
The forecast expecting the weather to bring rain showers to the track shouldn't hinder Exaggerator in the odds or in the race as three of his best career races have been on muddy and wet tracks, including the victory at the Preakness.
SB Nation horse racing expert Kurt Mensching isn’t sure Cherry Wine has the stamina to keep up with Exaggerator over the course of the Belmont Stakes, despite the strong performance at the Preakness.
Cherry Wine ran well and finished as runner-up to Exaggerator at Pimlico, but he doesn’t quite have the pedigree of a mile-and-a-half colt.
NBC will televise the Belmont Stakes beginning at 5 p.m. ET and provide streaming coverage at NBC Sports Live Extra. You can watch coverage of the undercard on NBCSN beginning at 3 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra will stream that, as well.
Most of the other horses, such as Stradivari (9-1), Suddenbreakingnews (5-1) and Lani (10-1) have kept steady odds since earlier in the day while others like Forever d’Oro (62-1) and Trojan Nation (67-1) continue to tumble in the sportsbooks.
Below are the current odds (as of 1:30 p.m. Saturday):
| Post Position | Horse | Morning Line | Current Odds |
| 1 | Governor Malibu | 12-1 | 22-1 |
| 2 | Destin | 6-1 | 12-1 |
| 3 | Cherry Wine | 8-1 | 7-1 |
| 4 | Suddenbreakingnews | 10-1 | 5-1 |
| 5 | Stradivari | 5-1 | 9-1 |
| 6 | Gettysburg | 30-1 | 46-1 |
| 7 | Seeking the Soul | 30-1 | 54-1 |
| 8 | Forever d'Oro | 30-1 | 62-1 |
| 9 | Trojan Nation | 30-1 | 67-1 |
| 10 | Lani | 20-1 | 10-1 |
| 11 | Exaggerator | 9-5 | 6-5 |
| 12 | Brody's Cause | 20-1 | 22-1 |
| 13 | Creator | 10-1 | 16-1 |
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