Belmont Stakes 2012 Favorites: I'll Have Another Will Benefit from Longer Track

I’ll Have Another has proven to be a rousing success at both the long and short tracks, but has the skill set to destroy the field at the mile-and-a-half track at the Belmont Stakes.

After making a the furious comeback to skate past Bodemeister at the Kentucky Derby (1 1/4 miles), most experts believed he wouldn’t have time to make a big-time comeback on the shorter track at the Preakness Stakes (1 3/16 miles).

Bodemeister got off to another fast start, and once again I’ll Have Another blew past him coming down the stretch for the win at Pimlico.

Now at the final leg of the Triple Crown, endurance is the name of the game and I’ll Have Another is perfectly suited for it.

He may never win an all-out sprint, but his long strides allow him to effortlessly get stronger as the race goes on. He is going to be very comfortable at a long track like this.

This time around, Bodemeister won’t be there to set the pace, which means the only real completion in the event will come from Union Rags.

One of the Kentucky Derby favorites finished a disappointing seventh at the Derby after he failed to emerge from the middle of the pack early on. After skipping the Preakness and switching to jockey John Velazquez, there is far too many variables that have to go in his favor to knock off the ultra-hot I’ll Have Another.

One of the other big reasons you have to love I’ll Have Another is his jockey Mario Gutierrez. He has been able to navigate his colt through the traffic early and pick up the pace at the perfect time, ensuring that he doesn’t hit the final stretch too hard to avoid fatigue, and too late to catch the leader.

Gutierrez deserves a lot of credit for the success of I’ll Have Another. They have a chemistry together that can’t be taught.

Be excited, horse racing fans, we are on the brink of witnessing history. Not since 1978 has a horse won the Triple Crown, and with the incredibly long track at the Belmont, you have to love the odds of I’ll Have Another etching his name in the history books. 

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