"And Ill have Another wins the Preakness"... as I heard those words on TV, I found myself nearly falling to my knees, in amazement of what I had just witnessed. A horse, who was 15-1 in the derby and 3-1 in the Preakness had just captured the first two jewels of the elusive Triple Crown that has evaded the racing world for 34 years. I admit, after the derby I was one of the many who left thinking " no crown this year, this horse is a fluke".. I was at the derby this year and I had picked Bodemeister to win... and Union Rags to challenge him but I guess things werent going in their favor that day. It was hot, but I think this horse , Ill Have Another was one of those talented athletes who was under the radar. I watched his Santa Anita Derby and I was impressed but I did not think this horse was a horse who could now be our hope for the Triple Crown. I picked Union Rags because he was huge psysically... he was nearly 17 hands, and that is a bit larger than the average thoroughbred... This horse who won? He looks to be around 16.2 hands,not that tall and I was one of those people who thought the larger the horse, the more likely he was to win. But I and others were oh so wrong... This horse proves the saying " Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog"... This horse , although not the largest physically has a huge heart, a strong will to win and compete and he is a champion. In the Preakness, I was torn between Bode and the derby winner, I loved Bode because he seemed special and fast but I had a gut feeling that this Preakness was going to be a special race, and even a match race between Bode and Ill Have Another. Boy was I right... As they rounded the far turn into the homestretch,it was a two horse race. Bode and Ill Have Another broke away from Creative Cause by 7 lengths, and everyone held their breath because it appeared for a few seconds that Bode was unstoppable.. He was ahead by 3 lengths , but Ill have Another would not let go and in the last furlong, he shifted into a second gear and beat him by a head.. I was not only stunned but I was amazed. For the first time since 2008 , the Belmont Stakes will be a race for the crown . Will he win it? I believe he will. This little gusty horse has a huge heart, a heart of a champion, a heart of a horse that WANTS to win. Even though he won the derby , he was still seen as ordinary, but in the Preakness he stepped out and did the extraordinary.
In the Belmont , he will be challenged... a very rested Union Rags and Dullahan will be waiting for him. I think it will be a duel between him and Dullahan with Union Rags chasing both of them. I think we will finally have a triple crown but it will be once again decided in the final 1-2 furlongs, but who knows? Mario may release Ill Have Another and we may witness another huge margin of victory... We do not know if the last 2 races have been his best, remember he did win his first race this year by a pretty decent margin. He may be a super horse but Mario may have been saving him for the Belmont. One of the things I remember one of the tv reporters saying has to do with this. I believe he was Jerry Bailey and before the Preakness , right after the derby, he said we do not know how talented this horse is, and its scary. That statement proved true and we are seeing he is really talented. And I believe that after this victory, he should be highly regarded as a true champion, and the real deal.
I will not make a call yet on my prediction until I see the rest of the field, but right now I am feeling a 3 length victory on our hands...
