Looming Strike Won’t Stop Belmont Stakes, Triple Crown Opportunity

While workers at Belmont threatened to go on strike ahead of the highly anticipated Belmont Stakes race Saturday, officials confirmed the race will go on.  Betting on this year’s Belmont Stakes was especially brisk due to the prospects of favorite I’ll Have Another capturing the first Triple Crown in more than three decades. 

The union representing Belmont Park maintenance workers has been working without a contract since February. 

“There’s no way in hell the Belmont Stakes won’t be run,” Vincent McElroen, financial secretary for the IBEW Local 3, told The Post. “No matter what the guys do, that race is going to be run.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who recently engineered a state takeover of the troubled NYRA franchise, also assured the race would go on.

“This year’s Belmont Stakes has the potential to be a truly remarkable event, attracting worldwide attention and millions of dollars of economic activity for the New York metropolitan area,” the governor said in a statement. “It is simply unacceptable that a two-year-long labor dispute would imperil this special event. My administration has been in touch with NYRA and the unions, and we have urged both to resolve this dispute amicably.”

Here were your current Belmont Stakes 2012 betting odds courtesy of BetDSI.com

BELMONT PARK ELMONT, NEW YORK - 1½ MILES  (12 FURLONGS)

ODDS TO WIN THE BELMONT STAKES

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com