Sunday, May 20, 2012
I’LL HAVE ANOTHER GOES FOR TRIPLE CROWN HISTORY AT THE BELMONT IN THREE WEEKS
Associated Press
BALTIMORE
I’ll Have Another did just that, winning another Triple Crown race with even more flash and dash than he did in the Kentucky Derby.
By surging past Bodemeister — again — this time in Saturday’s Preakness, all that stands in the way of racing glory is the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.
Win that and the smooth-striding 3-year-old will find himself in the company of Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, the last to win thoroughbred racing’s most coveted prize in 1978.
That’s heady company for a colt who has yet to be favored in any of his seven races. That should change in the Belmont.
“We’re thinking Triple Crown, baby,” elated winning trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He’s a special horse. We’ll see how he comes out of it, and if he comes out of it in good shape, we’re heading to New York, baby.”
I’ll Have Another won by 11/2 lengths in the Derby and by a neck in the Preakness — the same margins Affirmed posted in wins over rival Alydar in those two races 34 years ago.
But there’s one big storyline difference this time: Bodemeister is skipping the Belmont. “He’s getting off the bus here,” trainer Bob Baffert said.
The 13/16-mile Preakness unfolded the same way as the 11/4-mile Derby, with the speedy Bodemeister moving to the lead under Mike Smith and I’ll Have Another hanging back in fourth in the 11-horse field. The early fractions were slower than the Derby, but when it came time for Bodemeister to dig in, it was I’ll Have Another who found another gear under young jockey Mario Gutierrez and reeled in the tiring pacesetter in the shadow of the wire.
With a record crowd of 121,309 watching, I’ll Have Another was sent off as the second choice at 3-1, with Bodemeister the 8-5 favorite. The winning time was 1:55.94.
I’ll Have Another paid $8.40, $3.80 and $2.80. Bodemeister returned $3.20 and $2.80, and Creative Cause paid $3.60 to show.
Zetterholm was fourth, followed by Teeth of the Dog, Optimizer, Cozzetti, Tiger Walk, Daddy Nose Best, Went the Day Well and Pretension.
Baffert, a Hall of Famer and five-time Preakness winner, thought his colt — named for his 7-year-old son, Bode — would outlast I’ll Have Another.
“I felt really good about where he was,” Baffert said. “I really thought he was going to do it. The winner is a good horse. He should get the respect now that he deserves.”
The victory was worth $600,000, boosting his earning to $2,693,600.