Triple Crown hopeful I’ll Have
Another was a “very happy horse” Tuesday morning as he
continued to settle nicely into his new digs at Belmont Park,
where on June 9 he will attempt to become the 12th horse to add the
Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes to victories in the Kentucky Derby and
Preakness.
“He walked again this morning,” said Jack Sisterson,
assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill, of I’ll Have Another, who
arrived Sunday from Pimlico. “He looks great, fantastic. He’s a
very happy horse. The main thing with this horse is, we can ship him around,
and he settles right in. He just takes everything into stride.”
Sisterson said he remains impressed with how quickly J. Paul
Reddam’s colt rebounded from his hard-fought victory over favored
Bodemeister in the Preakness. Both horses earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure for
the 1 3/16-mile race, tops among 3-year-olds this year.
“Watching the replays of the race and looking at the numbers, you
would think it would have taken a lot out of him, but that’s not the
case,” he said. “He bounced back right out of the race in great
shape, ate everything up in the morning, the day after he shipped, and again
this morning, That’s the one thing you have to monitor after a race like
that. He’s doing everything we wanted to see, and more.”
Sisterson added that I’ll Have Another would return to the track
sometime later this week, and that O’Neill was scheduled to arrive early
next week to supervise the Flower Alley colt’s remaining training.