Hall of fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has two chances at this year’s Belmont Stakes to be the all-time leader in Triple Crown wins with 14. The former basketball coach called simply “The Coach” has Luv Gov and Flying Private, with both offering generous Belmont Stakes odds. Flying Private is a closer and with an easy pace set, he can easily end up in the winner’s circle. BetUS Sportsbook has Flying Private odds to win the Belmont set at +1200.

"Flying Private might seem fresh since it has been three weeks since his last race in Baltimore," stated OnlineSportsHandicapping.com Horse Racing Picks Expert Mike Jones when asked to comment on, "but it will be Flying Private’s ninth race this year. Eventually all this racing will catch up to him."

Flying Private is a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus out of the Unbridled mare Beautiful Treasure. After finishing 19th and beaten 43 ¾ lengths in the Kentucky Derby, the colt bounced back with a much better effort in a fourth place finish in the Preakness Stakes.

The colt had some traffic troubles and was only beaten four lengths for the top spot. His stable mate is Luv Gov, a son of Ten Most Wanted out of the Nepal mare City of Silver. The colt had trouble finding his way to the winners circle for the first time. The colt made six starts as a two year old, with just one in the money finish.

His three-year-old campaign started better, with three consecutive runner up finishes. He finally picked up his diploma in his tenth career start with a sharp win in the slop at Churchill Downs in May. The oddsmakers at BetUS.com have the Belmont Exacta Box wager on Luv Gov and Flying Private set at 32/1 odds.

Lukas then ambitiously stuck his recent maiden winner in the Preakness Stakes, where the colt was near the back of the pack, came with a eight wide run and passed a couple of tiring rivals to finish eighth. The colt certainly looks like he is overmatched in the field, but Lukas turned around Commendable, who checked in 17th in the Kentucky Derby and came back to win the Belmont Stakes, paying $39.60. Commendable did have a tougher three-year-old campaign, checking in fourth in three graded stakes before his Derby start.

If you are looking for a longshot to beat Mine That Bird, you could do worse than backing a D. Wayne Lukas runner in the Belmont Stakes. A win wager on each of his 19 starters would have returned a profit of 76%. While Luv Gov just does not look quick enough, Flying Private looks eerily similar to Commendable. They come into the Belmont with just one win, were in the mix in Derby prep races, and were outrun in the Kentucky Derby. The main difference is that while Commendable skipped the Preakness, Flying Private came back two weeks later with a good fourth. Can he move forward off that effort and compete with the likes of Mine That Bird and Charitable Man? That remains to be seen, but at least the odds will be generous and if you decide to back the colt, it does not hurt to have a hall of fame trainer with 13 Triple Crown wins in your corner.