Belmont Stakes 2012: I'll Have Another Will Shine in Triple Crown's Finale

Although recent history is not on his side, I'll Have Another will break through and shine at the 2012 Belmont Stakes this June in New York. 

The 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner is the 12th horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since 1979. The bit of history standing in the way of the late-charging thoroughbred this spring: All 11 of the previous two-leg winners fell short at Belmont Park.

Not since 1978 has horse racing had a Triple Crown winner. I'll Have Another would become just the 12th TC winner in history with a win at the Belmont on June 9.

Unlike recent two-leg winners Big Brown (2008), Smarty Jones (2004) and Funny Cide (2003) however, I'll Have Another seems to recognize exactly when to turn it on. With the help of jockey Mario Gutierrez, the three-year-old racehorse has made a surge twice now in the past two weeks to blow by odds-on favorite Bodemeister each time at Churchill Downs and most recently Pimlico.

The thought of I'll Have Another racing on an even longer track at the Belmont Stakes, a 1 1/2 mile race, creates an even greater sense of confidence that Gutierrez and his horse can pull it out for the third and final time. 

In the past two races, I'll Have Another has had no more than 1 1/4 mile of dirt track to chase down the leader on the final stretch. Although the longer track at Belmont Park will challenge his stamina as well as the fields', there is slightly more room for error considering he will have an additional quarter-mile stretch to hunt down finish line. 

Now, with word from trainer Bob Baffert that Bodemeister will not run in the 2012 Belmont Stakes, according to the New York Daily News, I'll Have Another's fiercest challengers will likely be Union Rags and Dullahan, who both ran in this month's 138th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

Union Rags finished a disappointing seventh in the Derby despite coming in with high expectations. Meanwhile, Dullahan showed third right behind I'll Have Another and Bodemeister. The two horses skipped out on the Preakness Stakes, but will be gunning for the money in June at Belmont Park.

It's not hard to imagine I'll Have Another outrunning the two though, as they were no match for him in Louisville, as he overcame incredible odds to win from the No. 19 post in a 20-horse field. Before this year, no horse had ever won the Derby from the No. 19 post. 

There's something special about I'll Have Another. The way he runs and the way he wins.

We'll have to wait three weeks before we find out if there will be a 12th Triple Crown winner in 2012, but for now, there is no reason to believe that I'll Have Another won't shine at this June's Belmont Stakes.

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