BALTIMORE – The horse fetched such a modest price, going for $35,000 at a Florida sale last year, that concerned owner J. Paul Reddam asked Dennis O'Neill, his buyer, what he had missed.
 By Evan Habeeb, US Presswire
Mario Gutierrez, aboard I'll Have Another, won the Preakness and Kentucky Derby the first time he ran on both tracks.
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By Evan Habeeb, US Presswire
Mario Gutierrez, aboard I'll Have Another, won the Preakness and Kentucky Derby the first time he ran on both tracks.
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The 25-year-old jockey, born into poverty in Veracruz, Mexico, was having so much difficulty getting quality mounts on the demanding West Coast circuit that he told Ivan Puhich, his 86-year-old agent, that he was beginning to abandon hope of establishing himself.
And yet, from such humble beginnings, I'll Have Another and Mario Gutierrez are mounting one of the most improbable charges in Thoroughbred racing history. They are one triumph away from combining for the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed and teenager Steve Cauthen accomplished the elusive sweep in 1978.
STORY: I'll Have Another wins Preakness PHOTOS: Images from Preakness Day Cauthen can envision I'll Have Another and Gutierrez making a historic run in the grueling 1½-mile Belmont Stakes in three weeks at New York's Belmont Park.
"Affirmed got it because he is tough and has heart. This horse is tough and has heart," Cauthen said. "When the battle is enjoined, it looks like he enjoys it."
I'll Have Another's gallant charge ran down Bodemeister by 1½ lengths in the Kentucky Derby. In the Preakness Stakes, with Gutierrez keeping him in reserve until he could wait not an instant longer, the Derby champ who was not favored dug deep again to overtake his rival by a neck. Eerily, the margins for Affirmed against archrival Alydar in the opening two legs were 1½ lengths and a neck.
Cauthen, who grabbed the national spotlight at 18, observes other similarities in the story lines.
Potential Belmont starters
The following horses are considered possible starters for the Belmont Stakes, to be run at a mile and a half on June 9 on New York's Belmont Park:
Alpha:Finished 12th in Kentucky Derby.
Atigun: Won allowance race.
Dullahan: Third at Kentucky Derby.
Five Sixteen: Fourth in allowance race.
Guyana Star Dweej: Second in allowance race.
I'll Have Another: Won Preakness.
Mark Valeski: Won Peter Pan.
Optimizer: Sixth in Preakness.
Paynter: Won allowance race.
Rousing Sermon: Eight in Kentucky Derby.
StealCase: Third in Derby trial.
Street Life: Third in Peter Pan.
Union Rags: Seventh in Kentucky Derby.
"They found this new kid like me in the day," he said. "They believed in him, and he can ride. He obviously fits the horse, and the horse responds to him."
Frontrunning Affirmed fended off Alydar by a head in the Belmont. I'll Have Another will not have Bodemeister blocking his path to becoming the 12th Triple Crown champion.
"I wasn't going to go on — win, lose or draw," trainer Bob Baffert said. "I've run him hard."
The Preakness marked Bodemeister's sixth start this season after he was unraced at 2.
I'll Have Another has swept his four starts this year, all of them coming since Gutierrez capitalized on the chance of a lifetime.
With Bodemeister having been dispatched, the horse most likely to get between I'll Have Another and racing immortality might be Dullahan. He made a determined rally to finish third in the Run for the Roses before trainer Dale Romans decided to skip the Preakness to target the Belmont.
"We've had that in mind for a while. We thought our best chance to win was the Belmont," Romans said. "We'll give him a run for his money.
"Only the great ones win the Triple Crown. Nobody is going to give it to you."
The June 9 Belmont marathon will provide the ultimate measure of I'll Have Another and Gutierrez. Does the horse have another heart-pounding rally left? How does Gutierrez react to his first venture to New York and a massive Belmont track that deceived the craftiest of veteran riders into making premature moves?
Jerry Bailey, a retired Hall of Fame jockey who analyzes racing for ESPN, pounds his heart in explaining why he thinks the chestnut son of Flower Alley can go the distance.
"I think the horse is awesome," he said. "No horse wants to go a mile and a half. None of them are bred to. But this horse stands as good a chance as any."
Gary Stevens, another Hall of Fame rider and three-time Belmont Stakes winner, who is working for NBC, suggests I'll Have Another is just beginning to show what he can do. "I've got a feeling we haven't seen the best of this horse yet," he said.
I'll Have Another was vanned about 200 miles from Pimlico Race Course to Belmont Park early Sunday morning to avoid traffic. Bailey and Stevens are encouraging Gutierrez to arrive at the track at least a week ahead and ride there as often as possible.
According to Stevens, the size of the oval makes it difficult for newcomers to get a sense of where they are in relation to the finish and how fast they are traveling. "I was lost the first five times I rode there," he said.
Bailey, who won the Belmont Stakes twice, thinks the Triple Crown attempts by Spectacular Bid (1979), Real Quiet (1998) and Smarty Jones (2004) all failed due to rider error.
"Early moves will be your undoing," he said.
Trainer Doug O'Neill is confident horse and rider will be as prepared as they can be to end the longest drought in Triple Crown history.
"I think we've got a horse and a team that can, with a little bit of luck, have an unbelievable time in three weeks," he said. |
