Updated Belmont Stakes Odds: Animal Kingdom Favored In Morning Line

With the post position draw for the 2011 Belmont Stakes came the morning line odds, or the first official betting lines for Saturday's race. As expected, Animal Kingdom was installed as the favorite, with Nehro just a tick behind and Shackleford a close third. If the odds are to be believed, the Belmont is a three-horse race, as well as a grudge match between the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby winners.

Mucho Macho Man is also in the mix at 10-1, the same odds as Master of Hounds, who will start on the rail. The rest of the field holds 15-1 odds of worse, and Isn't He Perfect and Monzon were installed as the long-shots at 30-1.

Here are the morning line odds for Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

1 Master of Hounds 10-1
2 Stay Thirsty 20-1
3 Ruler On Ice 20-1
4 Santiva 15-1
5 Brilliant Speed 15-1
6 Nehro 4-1
7 Monzon 30-1
8 Prime Cut 15-1
9 Animal Kingdom 2-1
10 Mucho Macho Man 10-1
11 Isn't He Perfect 30-1
12 Shackleford 9-2

Look back on our 2011 Preakness StoryStream to get up to speed To look back at the Derby, check out SB Nation's 2011 Kentucky Derby StoryStream. Also, our horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come has two must-read resources for Belmont fans: A Beginner's Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.