American Pharoah Big Favorite, but Science Is Skeptical

Will we get a Triple Crown winner today?
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 6, 2015 12:30 PM CDT
American Pharoah Big Favorite, but Science Is Skeptical
American Pharoah, gets a kiss from his owner, Ahmed Zayat after a workout at Belmont Park Friday.   (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

The latest odds ahead of today's Belmont Stakes have American Pharoah as the favorite to win and thus claim the Triple Crown. He's at 1-2, with the next best odds belonging to Frosted at 5-1 and Materiality at 7-1, reports the Courier-Journal. If Pharoah does win, the horse could be worth $100 million in future years because of stud fees, notes Fortune. Owner Zayat Stables sold the breeding rights last month for a figure estimated to be "north of $20 million," reports CNN, but that could prove to be a bargain for the Coolmore Ashford Stud farm with a victory today.

An analysis at Wired says not to start counting the money yet, however. There's a reason Triple Crown winners are so rare, writes Lexi Pandell: "There are two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness, and three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. That tight schedule—and the super-specific needs of racehorses—means horses competing in the grueling back-to-back-to-back Triple Crown races have a big disadvantage against fresh horses." On that note, the 5-1 Frosted sat out the Preakness and should be fresh indeed. The race is at 6:50 Eastern. (Click to read why the favorite's name is misspelled.)

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