Belmont Stakes 2023 odds, top expert picks, post positions: Forte, Tapit Trice, National Treasure predictions

Nine horses drew into the 2023 Belmont Stakes, making up a talented field heading to the starting gates on Saturday. National Treasure went straight to the front and won a three-furlong fight to the finish to take the Preakness Stakes. He’ll give trainer Bob Baffert a chance at a fourth career Preakness-Belmont double on Saturday if National Treasure can emerge victorious from the 2023 Belmont Stakes horses. Also in the 2023 Belmont Stakes field, Forte will make his long-awaited Triple Crown debut after he was scratched from the Kentucky Derby as the favorite. Forte is the 5-2 favorite in the 2023 Belmont Stakes odds and will break from the No. 6 post, while National Treasure is 5-1. 

The 2023 Belmont Stakes post time is 7:02 p.m. ET. Before making any 2023 Belmont Stakes predictions, you’ll want to see elite horse racing handicapper Jody Demling’s 2023 Belmont Stakes picks and analysis.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling nailed the winner, trifecta and superfecta in the 2023 Preakness Stakes. Demling also enters the Belmont Stakes 2023 having nailed the winner of the final Triple Crown race four of the last five years, including an exacta in 2022 with Mo Donegal and Nest. He also called Flightline’s win at the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November.

Additionally, he has hit 10 of the last 15 Derby-Oaks doubles at Churchill Downs. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both races all but five times in the last 15 tries. Anybody following him in those races saw huge returns.

Now, with the Belmont Stakes 2023 approaching, Demling is sharing his picks and predictions over at SportsLine. Click here to see them.

2023 Belmont Stakes predictions for Tapit Trice, Angel of Empire, Forte, National Treasure

One surprise: Demling is fading Tapit Trice, even though he’s one of the top favorites at 3-1. He has the second-lowest odds to win the 2023 Belmont Stakes despite finishing a career-worst seventh in the Kentucky Derby in his most recent start. Bettors clearly believe that result is a one-off despite an extremely competitive field. The chestnut colt won four straight races, including the Blue Grass Stakes, before the Kentucky Derby. He will run from the No. 2 post position on Saturday.

Tapit Trice seemingly has the tools in place to be a strong horse in the Belmont Stakes 2023. He is trained by the well-respected Todd Pletcher and Tapit Trice is the son of Tapit, who has produced four previous Belmont Stakes winners. However, his pedigree has driven his price down too much to find value at 3-1 odds. At 3-1 odds, the risks may outweigh the rewards in backing Tapit Trice to win the 2023 Belmont Stakes. See who else to back here.

Demling has also locked in his 2023 Belmont Stakes picks for Angel of Empire, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby. He’s a son of Classic Empire, who won four graded stakes races, was fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and took second in the Preakness Stakes. Angel of Empire has racked up multiple graded stakes wins during his three-year-old season at the Risen Star Stakes and Arkansas Derby while also adding two wins during his two-year-old season.

That makes four wins in seven career starts and he’s had steadily progressing speed figures throughout his career. However, Angel of Empire is coming off a third-place finish after going off as the favorite at the Kentucky Derby. Even though he was closing hard at the finish line, there’s concern about regression. See Demling’s prediction for Angel of Empire here.

National Treasure (5-1) was deemed to be behind his stablemates as a two-year-old, but trainer Bob Baffert wasn’t worried. Last fall, Baffert said National Treasure would be a “really nice horse” by the spring, and he was spot on. National Treasure upset Kentucky Derby favorite Mage by winning the Preakness Stakes by a head.

With Red Route One as the only other Preakness horse in the 2023 Belmont Stakes field, that means just one other Belmont horse has attempted a race longer than 1 1/8 miles. That could be an advantage for National Treasure, who has proven he can sustain longer than 1 1/8 miles while nearly all others have not. See Demling’s prediction for National Treasure here.

Forte, who entered the Triple Crown season with perhaps more fanfare than any other horse, will return at the Belmont Stakes 2023. He was the morning-line favorite at the Kentucky Derby before he was scratched on race day to a hoof injury. That injury placed him on a 14-day veterinary restriction list that also kept him out of the Preakness Stakes.

He’s the 5-2 favorite and he was assigned stall No. 6 during Tuesday’s 2023 Belmont Stakes post draw. His five-race winning streak is the reason for his status as the favorite, but now he’ll have to prove that the injury didn’t disrupt his training or overall speed. He hasn’t raced since his win at the Florida Derby on April 1, so rust could be a factor as Forte tries to salvage what looked to be an elite 3-year-old campaign. See Demling’s prediction for Forte here.

How to make 2023 Belmont Stakes picks, bets

Demling is also high on a double-digit longshot who has “looked sharp in his return to the track.” Anyone who backs this horse could hit it big. Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected leaderboard, over at SportsLine. 

Who wins the Belmont Stakes 2023? And which huge double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2023 Belmont Stakes odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the 2023 Belmont Stakes, all from the expert who nailed the winner, trifecta and superfecta at the Preakness and called four of the last five Belmont winners.

2023 Belmont Stakes horses, odds