Triple Crown craziness begins to heat up

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Nothing ever comes easy in the nerve-racking weeks before the Belmont Stakes with a Triple Crown on the line.

Doug O’Neill, the trainer of I’ll Have Another, is learning just how difficult it is to avoid all the roadblocks as he prepares his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner for a chance to become the first Triple Crown champion in 34 years.

“Welcome to New York,” rival trainer Dale Romans said.

While I’ll Have Another has been a picture of perfection during his morning gallops around Belmont Park, oblivious to what’s going on around him, it’s been one thing after another for Team O’Neill.

Traffic jams. Suspensions. Nasal strips. Visas. Detention barns. Loose horses.

And it’s still nearly a week before the race.

“I’ve been looking under my car every morning before I start it up,” O’Neill kidded.

The 44-year-old trainer shrugs off — at least publicly — the criticism thrown his way for numerous drug and medication violations, including a 45-day suspension issued last week in California. He prefers to accentuate the positive, praising the talent of his chestnut colt and insisting he takes care of his horses as well as any other trainer. The other problems?

“It’s all about the horse. As long as the horse is going great, we’re all doing good,” he said. “As long as he’s doing good, everything else is just talk.”