{"id":80034,"date":"2018-06-08T16:30:11","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T23:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=80034"},"modified":"2018-06-08T18:03:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-09T01:03:53","slug":"belmont-stakes-favorite-justify-will-vie-for-triple-crown-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/belmont-stakes-favorite-justify-will-vie-for-triple-crown-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"Belmont Stakes Favorite Justify Will Vie for Triple Crown Saturday, While Humane Society of US, ASPCA Shed Light on Dark Side of Horse Racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justify — 2018’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner — has already made horse racing history. Now he’s 1.5 miles away from becoming an industry legend.<\/p>\n

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While Justify (left) aims to become just the 13th thoroughbred in American history to garner horse racing’s Triple Crown, 75,000 former race horses, including one-time champions, face horrendous torture and death once their moneymaking days are over. (Image: Ron Garrison\/Lexington Herald-Leader\/TNS\/ontheroadin.com\/Casino.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The three-year-old colt is on a roll. He bested the field at a muddy and slippery Kentucky Derby before hanging on by a nose<\/a> to take the Preakness Stakes just two weeks later.<\/p>\n

Now the third leg of the Triple Crown — the Belmont Stakes — looms. The thoroughbred is in position to lock down his place in horse racing lore by becoming the 13th horse to win the most coveted prize in the sport.<\/p>\n

Bookmakers have Justify as a big favorite to complete the feat when the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes gets underway this Saturday on Long Island.<\/p>\n

Justifying the Odds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Win or lose, Justify has already put himself among the all-time greats.<\/p>\n

The Bob Baffert-trained horse is something of a prodigy, having made his first-ever start this February, a race he won. Justify never competed as a two-year old, making him the first such inexperienced winner of the Kentucky Derby since Apollo in 1882.<\/p>\n

He’s entered five races and has yet to lose.<\/p>\n

But that also means that Justify is no longer catching anyone by surprise. Most sports books have installed him as an even-money favorite for the Belmont Stakes, well ahead of the rest of the field. In fact, many outlets are paying less than even-money odds, with Paddy Power and Betfair both paying out 8\/11 on a Justify victory.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, if history is any indication, he might be less than even money to win. Thirty-five horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and only 12 have gone on to win the final race.<\/p>\n

Who has the best shot to hand the colt his first taste of defeat? That would be Hofburg at 7\/2, with a handful of horses paying off at closer to double-digit odds, according to bookmaker Ladbrokes:<\/p>\n

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