Exaggerator 9-5 Belmont favorite from No. 11 post

Kentucky Derby runner-up and Preakness winner Exaggerator drew the No. 11 post position Wednesday in a field of 13 entered for Saturday's 148th Belmont Stakes.

The 3-year-old colt, trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden by his brother Kent, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite for the $1.5 million, 1 1/2-mile race in Elmont, N.Y. -- the final leg of the Triple Crown.

Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is not running after dropping out last month because of a fever from a high white cell count. Nyquist, who finished third in the Preakness, is back in California.

Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux has no concerns running on the outside. The 46-year-old rider returned to the track Tuesday after a brief stay in a drug and alcohol rehab center in Utah.

"I can't see any horse that would cross over on him," Kent Desormeaux said. "I'd like to establish position preferably without him getting a grain of sand in his face.

"I'm going to let Exaggerator get comfortable, wherever that is it's going to be. If I could have a dream run, he would be forwardly placed, and I would be able to dreamingly decide when to pull the trigger."

Stradivari, who ran fourth in the Preakness in his stakes debut, is the second choice at 5-1 from the No. 5 post and Destin, sixth in the Kentucky Derby, is the third choice at 6-1 from the No. 2 post. Both are trained by Todd Pletcher, a two-time Belmont winner.

Preakness runner-up Cherry Wine is 8-1 from the No. 3 post.

Last year American Pharoah won the Belmont to become thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

The field with odds and jockey:

1. Governor Malibu (12-1, Joel Rosario)

2. Destin (6-1, Javier Castellano)

3. Cherry Wine (8-1, Corei Lanerie)

4. Suddenbreakingnews (10-1, Mike Smith)

5. Stradivari (5-1, John Velazquez)

6. Gettysburg (30-1, Paco Lopez)

7. Seeking the Soul (30-1, Florent Geroux)

8. Forever d'Oro (30-1, Jose Ortiz)

9. Trojan Nation (30-1, Aaron Gryder)

10. Lani (20-1, Yutaka Take)

11. Exaggerator (9-5, Kent Desormeaux)

12. Brody's Cause (20-1, Luis Saez)

13. Creator (10-1, Irad Ortiz Jr.)