FanDuel TV’s Todd Schrupp Gives 5 Thoughts On The Belmont Stakes, Including His Top Pick

Post time for the 2023 Belmont Stakes is 6:50pm EST on Saturday, June 10th. With the final race of the Triple Crown almost here, LINEUPS.com conducted an exclusive interview with FanDuel TV anchor Todd Schrupp.

A member of the TVG crew for over twenty years as the channel transitioned to FanDuel TV, Schrupp has experienced some major moments in the world of horse racing, such as Zenyatta’s Breeder’s Cup win and American Pharaoh’s Triple Crown title. The longtime media personality was also awarded with the Eclipse Award in 2019. In anticipation of the Belmont Stakes, Schrupp shared his thoughts on the upcoming event and the sport as a whole, as well as provided his top picks for the race.

Choosing A Winning Belmont Horse

Todd Schrupp: “When it’s a mile and a half, because of the distance, it’s the longest distance most of these horses will ever go, it’s the longest distance in the Triple Crown series. People think the longer they go, they’ll want a horse that runs late. A come-from-behind horse. The opposite is actually true. You want a horse with some type of tactical speed.

In the first half mile of the race, they’re not going to be going at it very quickly. They’re going to be going at a pretty slow pace because the riders recognize just how long and difficult of a race this can be. Look for horses who are tactical, horses who are peaking, and truly pedigree does matter.”

What Makes Horse Racing Unique

Todd Schrupp: “When I give out selections, I don’t want to take away from the greatest aspect of betting on thoroughbred racing, and that is this: When you bet on a horse, that is your horse for two minutes. And that’s a big part of this, solving these races as you go along.

Handicapping these races, then coming up with your play, your horse, separates this sport and make it great from others. When you go to a baseball game, you sit in the stands and you cheer on your team, but when you go to a racetrack, that horse is yours for those two minutes. You are truly in the action.”

Horizontal vs. Vertical Bettors

Todd Schrupp: “I categorize horse players this way. You’re either a horizontal player or a vertical player. If you’re a vertical player, that means you’re looking at a horse to win and then you might look at an Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta. A horizontal bettor is someone that looks at multi-race wagers. Looks at the Daily Double, the Pick Three, Pick Four, Pick Five, and Pick Six. They all involve picking winners in a row. I categorize myself as a horizontal player.

What I’m going to be doing on Saturday, I’m going to playing Pick Fives into the Belmont, you’ve got to pick five winners in a row. The size of the ticket, it’s a 50 cent increment, then you multiply based on how many horses you use in each race.”

What FanDuel TV Offers Bettors

Todd Schrupp: “Because of all the platforms and the technical resources and the FanDuel brand, horse racing is in a position to take advantage of all of that especially in the ecosystem where we also offer sports wagering and all the product offerings that you could imagine in the gaming world, but when it comes to horse racing and coverage of the Belmont Stakes, horse racing gets the advantage of instant information.

Our coverage is about being instantaneous, getting important information to players, because at the end of the day, whether it’s sports betting, whether it’s horse race betting, information isn’t just knowledge, information is money.”

Todd Schrupp’s Belmont Stakes Picks

Todd Schrupp: “I do think you’re going to see, and to me this is kind of a wiseguy horse and I ultimately made him my pick, a horse called Arcangelo. Arcangelo most recently won the Peter Pan Stakes. To me, the timing of the Peter Pan actually fits with the Belmont.

Arcangelo last time out beat a horse called Bishop’s Bay, who many thought was going to be one of the best three-year-olds out there. Arcangelo took the race to him, was impressive in what he did, and I think he has another move forward. He’s listed at 8-1 on the morning line, but I really suspect he’s going to be one of those horses you see the odds come down on.

Arcangelo would be my top pick, and then an interesting longshot for second would be Hit Show, who ran a better than looked fifth place in the Kentucky Derby last time out for trainer Brad Cox who has a lot of horses in here. Then the other Brad Cox horse who I’d make my third pick would be Angel of Empire, who was the favorite in the Kentucky Derby and ultimately finished third. So, if you ask for my top three picks in order of preference, I’d be 3, 7, 8 in the Belmont, and my big stand is against Forte.”