Justify is just one win away from winning the thoroughbred horse racing Triple Crown, and several experts are picking the three-year-old to win the third leg at the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. But perhaps most notably, several others are picking against the three-year-old favorite.
Belmont 2018 picks: Experts are split on Justify’s Triple Crown chances
Hofburg, Vino Rosso among others picked to challenge the Triple Crown contender.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Justify is trying to become the first horse since American Pharoah in 2015 to win the Triple Crown, and he’s already the first horse since then to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. The folks at Horse Racing Nation think Justify has a great chance to finish the job on Saturday, with seven of their nine experts picking Justify to win.
Jonathan Lintner explained his pick at HRN:
That Justify should get a fast track, and that he has run his best race over a fast track, isn’t being talked about nearly enough. I think he’s eligible to improve and finishes first or second, if the breeding or recent work load catches up to him in the stretch.
Among the seven pickers at America’s Best Racing, only two picked Justify to win the Belmont while three others picked Hofburg and two tabbed Vino Rosso to win.
Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert at the New York Times also went against the grain and picked Justify to finish third and second respectively, with Hoppert noting, “A sixth race since mid-February, especially with the past two coming on sloppy tracks, is a tall task.”
The 150th running of the Belmont Stakes is on Saturday, with a post time of 6:46 p.m. ET. Television coverage on NBC begins at 4 p.m., with online streaming available through NBC Sports.
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