I'll Have Another Arrives at Belmont Park

“We got kind of held up for about an hour and a half,” said Jack Sisterson, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill. “I have no idea where we were, but besides that the horse was happy. He was just looking out the window the whole time. He and Lava Man were together, they were just chatting away the whole time. We were at Pimlico almost two weeks and we shipped in a week before at Churchill, and now we’re here for the three weeks. So far, so good. It’s kind of working out for us, so we’re not going to change that. I think the sooner he gets over the track and gets familiar with the surroundings..... We’ll walk him tomorrow and then take it from there. One day at a time.”

Earlier in the day at Pimlico, O’Neill could hardly contain his excitement as he reported that I’ll Have Another appears to have exited his hard-fought neck victory over Bodemeister in Saturday’s Grade 1 Preakness in fine fettle.

“Bring it on! We’re ready to go. Super-pumped!” O’Neill enthused. “How he’s doing is going to dictate how we’re doing. This morning, he looks superb.

“The fact he’s still fresh and happy, to have done what he’s done in the past few weeks and then show up the day after the Preakness and see him lick his feed tub, have good energy, and be cold-legged and sound, that gives me the confidence,” O’Neill added. “Obviously there will be fresh horses; Union Rags and Dullahan come to mind. They’re fresh-legged and ready to go but we’re pumped our horse came out of this race in great shape. As long as he stays injury-free we’ve got a big, big chance.”

Owner J. Paul Reddam said he hopes he and everybody connected with I’ll Have Another will be able to enjoy what the next three weeks bring.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen between now and June 9,” said Reddam. “I am going to tell everyone to try and keep the tension down. Enjoy it. If you want to be in the spotlight, knock yourself out. If you started singing on David Letterman, you probably carried it too far. But this is supposed to be fun.”

I’ll Have Another would be the 31^st horse to head into the Belmont with a chance to win the Triple Crown, one of the most elusive prizes in sports.

Since 1919, when Sir Barton became the first to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont, only 11 horses have managed to sweep all three races, most recently in 1978 when Affirmed beat archrival Alydar by a head in the “Test of the Champion.” Five years earlier, Secretariat became the first horse since Citation (1948) to win the Triple Crown, with his 31-length Belmont triumph ending a 25-year drought, and in 1977 Seattle Slew became the first undefeated Triple Crown winner with his Belmont victory running his record to 9-0.

Completing the roster of champions are Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), and Assault (1946).

Beyond the 11 champions, the 1 ½-mile Belmont has tripped up 19 Triple Crown hopefuls, most recently Big Brown, who did not finish behind longshot winner Da’ Tara in 2008. There were consecutive Triple Crown tries from 2002-2004, with the Bob Baffert-trained War Emblem finishing eighth behind Sarava in 2002, New York-bred Funny Cide coming in third behind Empire Maker in 2003, and Smarty Jones being caught by Birdstone in the shadow of the wire before a record 120,139 fans in 2004.

In 1997 and 1998, Baffert-trained horses came up inches short of sweeping the series, with Silver Charm losing by three-quarters of a length to Touch Gold, and Real Quiet nosed out at the wire by Victory Gallop in a dramatic photo finish. In 1999, Charismatic finished third behind Lemon Drop Kid.

Pensive (1944), Tim Tam (1958), Carry Back (1961), Northern Dancer (1964), Kauai King (1966), Forward Pass (1968), Majestic Prince (1969), Canonero II (1971), Spectacular Bid (1979), Pleasant Colony (1981), Alysheba (1987) and Sunday Silence (1989) also fell short in their quest for the Crown. Burgoo King (1932) and Bold Venture (1936) won the Derby and the Preakness, but did not start in the Belmont.