Skip to footer

I'll Have Another scratched from Belmont Stakes

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner developed a front leg injury Friday morning and was pulled out of Saturday's potential history-making run for the Triple Crown.

|
Mark Lennihan/AP
I'll Have Another, left, with exercise rider Jonny Garcia, accompanied by stablemate Lava Man, trains at Belmont Park, Friday, June 8, in Elmont, N.Y.
  • By Richard Rosenblatt Associated Press

| New York

I'll Have Another's bid for a Triple Crown ended with the shocking news that the colt was out of the Belmont Stakes because of a swollen left front tendon.

According to Dennis O'Neill, brother of trainer Doug O'Neill, the horse galloped Friday morning and after a veterinary scan, the tendon seemed "kind of tender."

O'Neill told The Associated Press that, "the horse is sound and happy, but it's not worth it."

No one could immediately recall another instance when a Triple Crown contender pulled out the Belmont Stakes the day before the big race.

"It's not tragic, but it's a huge disappointment," Doug O'Neill said on "The Dan Patrick Show."

Asked if I'll Have Another has raced his last race, O'Neill said: "If I had to wager . I would say yes."

"It's devastating. I thought this was going to be one of the greatest races in history, and I wanted the opportunity to be part of it," said Dale Romans, trainer of second favorite Dullahan. "But this is bigger than that. This is terrible news."

Last September, I'll Have Another came out of a losing effort in the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga with shin problems and took the rest of the year off.

He returned to racing in February, and won the Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, putting the colt firmly on the Triple Crown trail.

Doug O'Neill and owner J. Paul Reddam immediately gave I'll Have Another two months off leading up to the Santa Anita Derby, which he won by a nose on April 12.

He followed with victories in the Kentucky Derby on May 5 and the Preakness two weeks later to set up a highly anticipated bid to become racing's first Triple Crown winner in 34 years.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to I'll Have Another scratched from Belmont Stakes
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0608/I-ll-Have-Another-scratched-from-Belmont-Stakes
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe