Bet Sports

In less than two weeks, the third and final stage of the Triple Crown, the 2011 Belmont Stakes betting race will commence. With close to 15 horses running in this year's Belmont betting event, sports handicappers from around the world will be enticed to discover that both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners will be a part of this year's Belmont field. Today we will be looking at the favorites for the Belmont Stakes.

Whether you are making a straight bet or a trifecta, chances are you will have one of Animal Kingdom, Shackleford or Derby runner up Nehro in your wager. Last week, when the Belmont Stakes betting lines opened, all three of the aforementioned horses, went off at the same odds of four to one to win the race. It comes as no surprise that Animal Kingdom and Shackleford would be considered identical favorites, but Nehro, really?

Nehro finished a narrow second in the Kentucky Derby, to winner Animal Kingdom. However, instead of racing in the Preakness Stakes, Nehro's owners chose to pull their horse out of the second stage of the Triple Crown, in order to train extra hard for the Belmont Stakes. Also comparable to Animal Kingdom, Nehro is a distance horse that has ridden at Belmont before. Yet, for the casual breeders cup betting fan, betting on Nehro probably won't happen, because the horse hasn't run a race in nearly a month.

Animal Kingdom is a horse that will be on all bettors' radars. After winning the Kentucky Derby as a 30 to one long shot, Animal Kingdom shocked the horse racing field, by coming out of seemingly nowhere to lose to Shackleford by less than a length at the Preakness Stakes. With the grueling one and a half mile track at Belmont Park, many horse experts feel this track was built for Animal Kingdom.