Belmont Stakes 2010 Main Contenders

There are three horses considered the main Belmont Stakes 2010 contenders:  Ice Box at +275 odds, First Dude at +400 odds and Fly Down at +465.  Each can be considered a favorite, but for the time being Ice Box is beginning to pull away.

"For wagering, Ice Box is a very obvious choice to include in all exotics," the Baltimore Sun suggests. "The pace may not be fast enough to suit him to a tee but it should be good enough for him to make a late run. Unfortunately, I expect his odds to drop by post time. The Belmont has historically been kind to long shots so look for someone to include at a price, and box your wagers. Interactif could be that horse if his odds float up to 15-1 or more. Stay Put is another deep closer who is bred to like this distance well. He could also get up for a piece."

Claire Novak of ESPN.com likes both Ice Box and First Dude as the lead contenders.

"Of the four Belmont starters with previous experience in the Triple Crown races, two -- Ice Box and First Dude -- have excellent chances at the ‘big sandy.' The former, trained by Nick Zito, is a tenacious deep closer whose second-place effort in the Derby last time out came after he was checked three times en route to the wire. The latter, a Dale Romans trainee who put in a career-best second to Lookin At Lucky in the Preakness after setting the pace and digging in deep in the stretch, is a big, solid runner whose best quality is to keep on grinding down to the finish. Make Music For Me and Stately Victor emerge from respective fourth- and eighth-place finishes in the Derby after bypassing the Preakness to tackle a Triple Crown Classic again."

Fly Down drew attention to himself with a 6 length win at Belmont Park in the Dwyer on May 8th. He then followed this up by working four furlongs in 49.40 seconds. The same day, Uptowncharlybrown, another contender in the Belmont Stakes ran that length in 50.16. Fly Down is trained by Nick Zito, who also is the trainer for favorite Ice Box.

Belmont Stakes 2010 odds available at SBG Global Friday night were as follows (you can place bets on the SBG Global website here)

Dave in Dixie

+2500

Spangled Star

+2100

Uptowncharlybrown

+1200 

Make Music For Me

+950 

Fly Down

+465 

Ice Box

+275

Drosselmeyer

+1250 

Game On Dude

+1200

Stately Victor

+1050 

Stay Put

+1750

First Dude

+400

Interactif

+1050

Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com