I'll Have Another Horse: Triple Crown Dreams Will End at Preakness

Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another will undoubtedly be the favorite among fans watching Saturday's 137th Preakness Stakes, as the colt trained by the controversial Doug O'Neill and jockeyed by Mario Gutierrez attempts to win the second leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.

However, I'll Have Another will have his work cut out for him. Apparently the oddsmakers agree, as according to Bovada Derby runner-up Bodemeister, and not I'll Have Another, is the class of the field, checking in as the favorite at 3-2.

Bodemeister, ridden by jockey Mike Smith, set a blistering pace early in the Derby, running the first half mile in an incredible 45.39 seconds. Smith was concerned that such a pace might tire Bodemeister out down the stretch (which it did), but after the Derby Smith remarked to the Los Angeles Times that he had to let the horse run "his" race.

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"He didn't finish first, but he's still a winner," Smith said. "He's such a free-running horse that I couldn't take that away from him. At the top of the stretch, I really thought we had it, but I knew we were in trouble when I saw Doug's horse [Doug O'Neill's I'll Have Another] coming."

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There are a few reasons to believe that Smith and Bodemeister may get their revenge this Saturday. First, Smith all but surely learned a few things from his ride at Churchill Downs, and it's likely that his tactics, especially early, may be a bit different at Pimlico Race Course.

Also, Hansen and Trinniberg, two of the horses that pushed Bodemeister so hard so early at Churchill Downs, won't be running at the Preakness, which should aid Smith in insuring that Bodemeister doesn't wear himself out too quickly.

Finally, and most importantly, the Preakness is the shortest of the Triple Crown races. At the one-and-three-sixteenths miles mark at the Kentucky Derby (the length of the Preakness) I'll Have Another still trailed Bodemeister. On a track that's expected to be fast I'll Have Another may not have enough racetrack to put on the sort of late charge that won him the Run for the Roses.

I'll freely admit that I'll be rooting for I'll Have Another this week, if only for the drama of seeing another horse take a run at an accomplishment that hasn't been achieved since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978.

However, a short, fast track is usually one where the burners rule, and Bodemeister is just that. So, look for the horse that most people expected to win the Kentucky Derby to spoil the Triple Crown dreams of the colt who did.