The finale of this year's horse racing Triple Crown, the 2023 Belmont Stakes, is here, as the horses are at the gates. That means it's time for our Belmont Stakes Best Bet and Expert Picks, featuring superfectas, exactas, longshots and, of course, our horse racing betting experts' picks for the winner of the 2023 Belmont.
So far, our horse racing experts have picked the winner of both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2023. For the Belmont, we have Belmont Stakes best bets on No. 3 Arcangelo and on the current betting favorite, Forte, plus superfectas playing both horses, as well as Preakness winner National Treasure.
Can we come away with our own version of the Triple Crown on Saturday? Let's get to our Belmont Stakes Best Bets, Expert Picks To Win, Superfectas, and Longshots.
Belmont Stakes Best Bets: Expert Picks To Win, Superfectas, Longshots
2023 Belmont Stakes Best Bets: Expert Picks To Win the Belmont
Mike Conti: I am going to have No. 3 Arcangelo at 8-1 on top as my best bet for the Belmont. He has a win over this track at 1 1/8 miles, and Javier Castellano gets the mount for the third time in a row, after winning the previous two starts.
I think this horse, which is bred both top and bottom for this distance, is a really nice horse at a great price of 8-1.
To win: No. 3 Arcangelo (8-1)
Mike Somich: I'm putting No. 6 Forte (5-2) up top here in the Belmont. He's done absolutely nothing wrong, and he's a horse that loves to win. I picked Mage in the Derby because of the Florida Derby, which I think is the best prep race we've seen. I think Fort Bragg also validated that, running so well at Churchill Downs over Derby weekend, and that bodes well for Forte.
To win: No. 6 Forte (5-2)
For more analysis of the 2023 Belmont Stakes odds and predictions for Saturday's Triple Crown race and the full day of racing at Belmont on Saturday, check out Belmont Stakes Odds, Picks, Predictions: Belmont Winner Best Bet, Full Betting Card.
2023 Belmont Stakes Best Bets: Belmont Stakes Superfectas
How does a Superfecta work? Think of it like a parlay. In the first example below, we're betting on Arcangelo (No. 3) to win, then for any combination of National Treasure (No. 4), Forte (No. 6), Hit Show (No. 7) and Angel of Empire (No. 8) to finish second, third and fourth. The vertical line ( | ) between each set of numbers just represents which place we're betting on those horses — To Win | To Finish Second | To Finish Third | To Finish Fourth — and the commas between numbers represent that we are betting on multiple horses to potentially finish in that position.
Conti: I'm going to single No. 3 Arcangelo up top in my superfecta, and then underneath, I will be using No. 4 National Treasure, No. 6 Forte, No. 7 Hit Show and No. 8 Angel of Empire, all in all three of the remaining spots.
If you want to mix in an exacta, I'll pare that down and go with a cold exacta of No. 3 and No. 6 Forte.
Superfecta: 3 | 4,6,7,8 | 4,6,7,8 | 4,6,7,8
Somich: Beyond Forte up top, I agree with Conti here – I like Arcangelo, and I think that's a price you have to be using. Same with Hit Show, and I'm going to be playing Angel of Empire underneath. So I'm going to play the 6 over the 3,7,8 superfecta.
Then, I'm going to come back and play with just Arcangelo and Forte in those first two spots – so 3,6 | 3,6 – and I'll combine that with 4,7,8 | 4,7,8.
I'll play the first superfecta for $5, so it'll cost you $50 total, and I'll play the second for $1 or $2.
Superfecta: 6 | 3,7,8 | 3,7,8 | 3,7,8
Superfecta: 3,6 | 3,6 | 4,7,8 | 4,7,8
2023 Belmont Stakes Best Bets: Expert Picks for 2023 Belmont Stakes Longshots
Conti: Obviously, my top pick is a pretty square price in Arcangelo, but another longer-priced horse that's an interesting choice to use in your vertical exotics is No. 7 Hit Show (10-1).
The horse has really never run a bad race. Yes, he finished in the fifth in the Derby, but if there's such a thing as a "good" fifth-place finish, that's what we saw from Hit Show in that spot. He just missed, and he was playing bumper cars coming down the stretch late – and prior to that, he had rattled off two straight wins.
And I think Hit Show's running style, being a stalking style, will be an advantage for him in this spot.
2023 Belmont Stakes Odds
| Post | Horse | Closing Odds | Morning Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tapit Shoes | 20-1 | 20-1 |
| 2 | Tapit Trice | 5-1 | 3-1 |
| 3 | Arcangelo | 7-1 | 8-1 |
| 4 | National Treasure | 5-1 | 5-1 |
| 5 | Il Miraclo | 25-1 | 30-1 |
| 6 | Forte | 2-1 | 5-2 |
| 7 | Hit Show | 9-1 | 10-1 |
| 8 | Angel of Empire | 3-1 | 7-2 |
| 9 | Red Route One | 16-1 | 15-1 |
*Odds via TwinSpires at start of race.
