Irish War Cry Favored in Belmont
The 2017 Belmont Stakes runs on Saturday and as of now, Irish War Cry remains the clear favorite to win the event.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, Irish War Cry is 13/4 to win this weekend’s Belmont Stakes. Epicharis has the next-best odds of 4/1, followed by Gormley at 5/1. Tapwrit, meanwhile, is 11/2, Senior Investment at 15/2, and Lookin At Lee is 8/1.
Continuing with the odds, Multiplier is 9/1, followed by J Boys Echo, Meantime and Twisted Tom are all 15/1, respectively. Hollywood Handsome and Patch have the longest odds to win on Saturday at 25/1, respectively.
Irish War Cry is coming off a disappointing start in the Kentucky Derby on May 6. At one point during the lead up to the race, Irish War Cry was favored over the field. But he finished 10th behind Always Dreaming, Lookin At Lee, Battle of Midway and others, then was held out of the Preakness Stakes. With Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing, who won the Preakness, out of this weekend’s field, Irish War Cry has the best pedigree. He won the Wood Memorial earlier this year and also won the Grade 2 Holy Bull on February 4.
Epicharis, meanwhile, is a lightly-raced horse that is intriguing nonetheless. The Japanese contender has four wins in five starts, with his only loss coming in the United Arab Emirates Derby back in March. In the UAE Derby, he led for nearly the entire race before yielding to Thunder Snow in the final yards.