Belmont Stakes 2012: Obstacles Await as I'll Have Another Looks for Triple Crown

It's no accident that no horse has claimed the Triple Crown in 34 years and that, heading into the Belmont Stakes, there's as much reason for apprehension as for excitement with regard to I'll Have Another's chances of breaking that spell.

The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont are three of the most challenging and most grueling events in the world of equine competition. To have a horse fit enough to run in all three over a five-week span is an accomplishment in and of itself. To have a horse win one or two, or even finish near the front of the field, is an outstanding testament to his strength, speed and stamina.

To win all three...well, nobody ever said the path to immortality wasn't a treacherous one.

But, as far as anyone can tell, it's a path that I'll Have Another is game to traverse, perhaps even more so than the last 11 colts who cruised through the first two legs of the treble of American horse racing.

All of whom, by the way, came up short in New York.

That may well be the case for I'll Have Another. He won't have Bodemeister to chase down, which could be a blessing or a curse depending on whether you think the Bob Baffert trainee made I'll Have Another's path to stardom more or less likely. Dullahan and Union Rags, both serious contenders at Churchill Downs, will be back in action at Belmont Park, refreshed and re-energized after skipping out on Pimlico.

Then again, there's reason to believe that the story will be different for I'll Have Another, that he'll chase down the ghost of Affirmed in a three-part race for place in horse racing history. He has the pedigree and the gait to handle the mile-and-a-half track, particularly with his tremendous closing speed, and appears to be in excellent condition after two tough races. What's more, his jockey, 25-year-old Mario Gutierrez, has remained undaunted by the grandeur of the stages on which he's ridden, even without the benefit of the sort of experience boasted by the riders around him.

Finishing first in New York, after doing so in Kentucky and Maryland, will be no easy task for I'll Have Another, though that shouldn't come as any surprise. If it were, there would be more than 11 Triple Crown winners to speak of in horse racing history.

But if any horse is equipped to be the 12th, it might just be I'll Have Another, whose morning line odds when this chase began were (you guessed it!) 12-1.

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