Belmont 2012: I'll Have Another's Success Straight Out of Fairy Tale

I'll Have Another will become an icon if he is able to win the Belmont Stakes and secure the Triple Crown.

But his story to this point is already a living fairy tale.

He was bought in 2011 by J. Paul Reddam, for the relatively cheap (for a horse, that is) price of $35,000.

And no, his name isn't in reference to the common phrase you'll often hear at the local saloon—Reddam just really likes cookies.

Seriously.

His trainer Doug O’Neill is an affable, gregarious fellow. But don't get it twisted—he does have a controversial side. He's been accused of giving horses "milkshakes"—a mixture of baking soda, sugar and electrolytes that is prohibited in racing—on four separate occasions.

Perhaps I'll Have Another is his redemption tale.

And we haven't even gotten to Mario Gutierrez, who was finding little luck acquiring top rides as a jockey on the West Coast circuit and considered giving up entirely. Until Reddam and O'Neill happened to see him ride at Santa Anita, that is.

The two were impressed with a particular run, and O'Neill noted that he had heard of the kid from Gutierrez's time jockeying in Vancouver, noting he won 27 percent of his races there.

Reddam told O'Neill to introduce Gutierrez and I'll Have Another, who had an instant bond. The rest is history, as they say.

Or at least it might be, if I'll Have Another can end the Triple Crown drought that has hung over horse racing since Affirmed last achieved the feat in 1978.

And that, of course, is the last, though most important part of this fairy tale—the horse itself.

I'll Have Another was largely considered a second-tier contender heading into the Kentucky Derby, with 15/1 odds heading into the race. He won that, of course, but more folks talked about the second-place Bodemeister, who maintained a remarkable early pace and nearly held on to win the Derby.

Surely, Bodemeister would have enough left in the tank to prevail at the shorter Pimlico Track for the Preakness, where he was once again the favorite.

Except he didn't. Once again, it was I'll Have Another's amazing kick at the end of the race that prevailed.

That set the stage for history, and the fairy-tale horse has the chance to become the stuff of legends. Bodemeister won't even run in the race, leaving the disappointing Union Rags and the deep-closer Dullahan as the horses most likely to interfere with history.

But this magical run feels too fated to be interrupted, and all I'll Have Another needs to do is have one more winning run in him for the horse racing world to live happily ever after.

At least until next year.