It’s not just a two-horse race among the eight-horse field for Saturday’s 157th running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

The John Shirreffs-trained Baeza and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert’s Rodriguez are no throwaways among the other candidates.

“It’s a very evenly matched field,” said trainer Michael McCarthy, whose Journalism was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite after winning the Preakness and finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby by one-and-a-half lengths. “I think there are some horses here that are coming in fresh with big reputations.”

Sovereignty, skipped in the Preakness on May 17 by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, drew 2-1 odds, and the winners of the first two legs of the Triple Crown have understandably drawn much of the focus this week.

But the 4-1 Baeza and the 6-1 Rodriguez also likely will draw a lot of the bettors’ money, especially in exotics.

Betting aside, there’s evidence one or both will contend.

Baeza finished just behind Sovereignty and Journalism in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, only one-and-three-quarters lengths off the lead after breaking from the outside post in the 19-horse field. Baeza, ridden by jockey Flavien Prat, drew late into the Kentucky Derby as an also-eligible.

He also is the half-brother to Dornoch, the 17-1 shot that won last year’s Belmont Stakes in the first year it was run at Saratoga Race Course at a shortened 1 1/4 miles with Belmont Park undergoing reconstruction.

“He’s very light on his feet,” said Shirreffs, 80, a Hall of Fame finalist this year seeking his first Belmont Stakes victory. “Everything he does is effortless. I think he’s earned respect in his races. He ran a terrific race in the Kentucky Derby. He didn’t get the best of trips, had a little trouble and was stuck behind. He didn’t get out soon enough.”

But early traffic will not present the same problem for Baeza in the Belmont Stakes with less than half the horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby.

There were plenty of high hopes for Rodriguez, ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, as he drew 12-1 odds for the Kentucky Derby after winning the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5.

However, he was scratched because of a bone bruise. Baffert also skipped the Preakness as well.

“They all say he’s doing well and over the foot injury,” said Starlight Racing’s Jack Wolf, a co-owner of Rodriguez. “He’s kept some pretty good company before this race. He’s run against Journalism and Baeza. And Mike Smith’s not a bad rider.”

Smith has won the Belmont Stakes three times, the last time aboard Baffert’s Triple Crown-winning Justify in 2018. Baffert, too, is seeking his fourth Belmont Stakes victory and first since Justify.

“It would be disrespectful to the other horses to say they have no shot,” said jockey Umberto Rispoli, who will be aboard Journalism. “I think it’s going to be a heck of a race. I’m really excited for it.”