After Vitruvian Man showed little promise over his first five starts, the connections chose not to nominate him to the Triple Crown in January. But after he finished third in the Santa Anita Derby, they decided to run the horse in the Belmont Stakes and pay the $50,000 supplemental fee to participate. On Saturday, the Doug O'Neill trainee will try to reward his connections' confidence in him when he leaves the starting gate at Saratoga Race Course. Bet Vitruvian Man and the entire Belmont Stakes at TwinSpires with promo code CBSSPORTS. You'll get a special $400 signup bonus, double the regular offer:
1 Vitruvian Man (30-1)
- Trainer: Doug O'Neill
- Jockey: Antonio Fresu
- Last race: Third in the Santa Anita Derby by 9½ lengths
- Career record: 6 starts: 1 win, 1 second, 2 thirds
- Career earnings: $142,345
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 86 (2026 Santa Anita Derby)
- Sire: Vino Rosso
Below, we'll dig further into Vitruvian Man as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 158th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.
1 Vitruvian Man | 2 Powershift | 3 Chief Wallabee | 4 Renegade | 5 Ottinho | 6 Growth Equity | 7 Commandment | 8 Emerging Market | 9 Golden Tempo
Now that you know who's in the field, you'll want to know how to bet the Belmont Stakes on the top horse racing betting apps. Get a $400 signup bonus with the TwinSpires promo code CBSSPORTS now:
What to know about Vitruvian Man
Co-owned by rappers Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty and Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, Vitruvian Man can upstage his more famous owners with a victory on Saturday. But this will be a tough task for this Doug O'Neill trainee.
He showed little life in five starts last year, winning only once when a pace collapse helped him squeak out a nose victory.
But a light turned on once the colt moved from Kentucky to trainer Doug O'Neill's base in California. The colt trained so well that O'Neill entered him in the Santa Anita Derby for his first start of the year. Sent off at 47-1, Vitruvian Man finished third. To be fair, he never was a threat to win that race and he only passed tiring horses while still losing by 9½ lengths. Also, the top two finishers of that race, So Happy and Potente, returned to finish ninth and 12th, respectively, in the Kentucky Derby.
Vitruvian Man enters the Belmont needing to get much faster. His career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 86 is the worst in the field and well shy of the favorites' best Beyers.
But O'Neill believes Vitruvian Man will thrive at the Belmont distance of 1¼ miles. He is certainly bred to do so, being by Vino Rosso out of a Bernardini mare.
The connections are showing lots of confidence in Vitruvian Man by paying the $50,000 supplemental fee and shipping the horse from California to New York when there are much easier spots for 3-year-olds on the horizon. Do they know something? Believers in Vitruvian Man will definitely get a good price on the longshot at DK Horse and 1/ST BET.
Post draw analysis
As an off-the-pace horse, Vitruvian Man can leave from any post without any issue so the rail draw should not have any impact on his chances. If anything, he should benefit from being drawn just inside Powershift, the lone speed horse in the race. Jockey Antonio Fresu and Vitruvian Man should be able to get a comfortable, ground-saving trip along the rail, which was very friendly to horses at Saratoga earlier in the week.
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