For months, Essential Quality was the talk of the horse racing world as he galloped to victory in his first five races. Then he entered the Kentucky Derby as the 2-1 favorite before carrying out wide around the first turn and never recovering. The horse suffered his first defeat, finishing in fourth place, and his connections elected to bypass the Preakness Stakes. But Essential Quality is back for the 2021 Belmont Stakes and he drew post No. 2 on Tuesday morning.
The Belmont Stakes 2021 will be held on Saturday with a 6:49 p.m. ET post time at Belmont Park. Essential Quality leads the 2021 Belmont Stakes odds at 2-1 as he looks to rebound after his first loss. Other 2021 Belmont Stakes contenders include Preakness winner Rombauer (3-1), Hot Rod Charlie (7-2) and Rock Your World (9-2). Before scouring the list of 2021 Belmont Stakes horses and making any predictions for the third leg of the Triple Crown, be sure to check out the 2021 Belmont Stakes picks from SportsLine’s Jody Demling.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling enters the Belmont Stakes 2021 after a major heater in 2020: At one point last year, he picked the winners of six straight races: the Saudi Cup, Gotham Stakes, Rebel Stakes, Louisiana Derby, Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes.
At last year’s Belmont, Demling said Tiz the Law was clearly the class of the field, and Barclay Tagg’s horse pulled away for a convincing 3 3/4-length victory.
In 2018, he was all over Justify, jockey Mike Smith, and trainer Bob Baffert to make horse racing history at Belmont Park. The result: Justify became just the 13th Triple Crown winner ever, and anyone who followed Demling’s lead cashed in too.
Demling is at his best in the biggest horse races in the world. He has hit nine of the last 13 Derby-Oaks doubles at Churchill Downs. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both races all but four times in the last 13 years. He’s also called nine of the last 17 Preakness winners, keenly understanding when the Kentucky Derby winner was poised for victory or a massive upset. Anyone who has followed him is up huge.
Now, with the 2021 Belmont Stakes field announced, Demling is sharing his picks and predictions at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2021 Belmont Stakes predictions
One shocker: Demling isn’t picking Rombauer to go two-for-two in his Triple Crown races by winning the 2021 Belmont Stakes. While the horse looked impressive at Pimlico Race Course, it was just his first career victory on dirt. His other two wins came on turf and a synthetic surface, and Rombauer failed to win his first three dirt races.
Demling also notes the jockey change with Rombauer going from Flavien Prat to John Velazquez. Despite winning the Preakness aboard Rombauer, Prat is leaving the horse for Hot Rod Charlie, who bypassed the race.
That says a great deal about what Prat thinks about his old horse compared to his new horse and Demling doesn’t even have Rombauer finishing in the money. With the short odds Rombauer is getting, Demling believes there are much better values for your 2021 Belmont Stakes bets.
How to make 2021 Belmont States picks, bets
Instead, Demling is especially high on an underdog who “will be in the mix again” at Belmont, giving his backers a huge payday. Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Belmont Stakes 2021? And which underdog is a must-back? Check out the latest 2021 Belmont Stakes odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Belmont Stakes.
2021 Belmont Stakes odds
| Essential Quality | 2-1 |
| Rombauer | 3-1 |
| Hot Rod Charlie | 7-2 |
| Rock Your World | 9-2 |
| Known Agenda | 6-1 |
| Bourbonic | 15-1 |
| Overtook | 20-1 |
| France Go de Ina | 30-1 |
