I'll Have Another: Derby Winner Will Have Hands Full vs Bodemeister in Preakness

I'll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby because he managed to run down Bodemeister in the final furlong. In the Preakness, when Bodemeister will have a shorter track to showcase his speed, I'll Have Another won't be so lucky.

Bodemeister entered the 138th running of the Derby as the 4-1 favorite and he looked entirely deserving of it throughout most of the race. He set a record for the fastest five splits in Derby history, but he couldn't hold on to his lead for the last leg of the race, which is when I'll Have Another came out of nowhere to win by 1.5 lengths.

I'll Have Another's triumph was impressive. He was the first horse to ever win the Derby from Gate 19, and he slipped way under the radar as a sleeper pick, despite the fact that his post position seemed tailor-made for his style as a horse that seeks out a good position and then charges at the very end of the race.

But what Bodemeister proved at Churchill Downs on Saturday was that if the race is just a little bit shorter, there is no other horse that can catch him. At Churchill Downs, he was dominant and led for most of the race. In the one-and-three-sixteenth-mile Preakness, he'll likely be dominant again.

And this time, he won't get caught. That track is made for his style.

At the Preakness, it will be hard not to root for I'll Have Another. He's the ultimate underdog that was commandeered by a jockey making his first run at the Derby, trained by an affable Californian who promised on national television to use his Derby earnings to buy a hot tub for his adolescent son.

He and jockey Mario Gutierrez somehow emerged victorious in the unlikeliest of races and though it would be exciting to see him get one step closer to becoming the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, it won't happen as long as Bodemeister is in the field in two weeks.

It's not that I'll Have Another will be any worse at the Preakness, it's just that Bodemeister's electric speed will be that much more lethal on a shorter track.

There is a bit of history on Bodemeister's side, too. He's trained by Bob Baffert, a three-time Derby winner and five-time Preakness winner who trained Lookin' At Lucky in 2010. Like Bodemeister, that horse was the favorite at Churchill Downs but came in sixth, then went on to win the Preakness two weeks later.

Just as the Derby seemed made for I'll Have Another, the Preakness will be Bodemeister's race to lose. And this time, having learned his lesson, he won't let it slip away in the final furlong.