Triple Crown Odds Stacked Against I’ll Have Another

He has beaten the odds twice already so you would think racebooks would start showing love to I'll Have Another.

He will get a shot at winning the first Triple Crown in horse racing since 1978 on Saturday, and he won't have to compete against his closest rival as he hits the track as the favorite at the sportsbooks to win the Belmont Stakes.

But I'll Have Another, while enjoying the shortest Belmont Stakes odds, is an underdog to complete the Triple Crown.

“The Triple Crown odds bet picking him to fall short is -160 at most racebooks, while the ‘yes’ is a +150 underdog position Saturday,” said Jack Randall of OddsShark.com. “It’s so much racing in such a short period of time and this race is just so much longer than the other two.”

He beat out race favorite Bodemeister to win the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, on May 5, and on May 19 he edged Bodemeister once again at the Preakness to become the 33rd horse to claim the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

And, with Bodemeister not in the field for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, I'll Have Another is listed as the 3/2 favorite ahead of 7/2 Dullahan – who finished third at the Kentucky Derby but didn't race in the Preakness. Creative Cause, third at the Preakness and fifth at the Kentucky Derby, will skip the Belmont Stakes as well.

Union Rags, seventh at the Kentucky Derby, is then at 4/1 odds, followed by Paynter at 8/1, and Street Life at 15/1. Atigun, Optimizer, and Unstoppable are all at 30/1, with Five Sixteen and Ravelo's Boy at 50/1, and Guyana Star Dweej the longshot at 60/1.

The prop wager asking whether I'll Have Another will win the Triple Crown currently pays out at +150 for Yes and -180 for No. The last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed back in 1978; Seattle Slew turned the trick in 1977, as did Secretariat back in 1973.

The Belmont Stakes takes place on a 1 1/2-mile dirt-surface track in Elmont, New York and is the subject of two free horse racing contests and the focus of all of America’s top horse handicappers.

Will I'll Have Another win the 2012 Triple Crown?

Yes +150

No -180

Odds To Win the Belmont Stakes [ updates at OddsShark.com during the week ]

I'll Have Another 3/2

Dullahan 7/2

Union Rags 4/1

Paynter 8/1

Street Life 15/1

Atigun 30/1

Optimizer 30/1

Unstoppable U 30/1

Five Sixteen 50/1

Ravelo's Boy 50/1

Guyana Star Dweej 60/1