Belmont Stakes 2012: Why New Race Rules Benefit I'll Have Another

With so much controversy surrounding Doug O'Neill, the best thing that could have happened to I'll Have Another prior to the Belmont Stakes were drastic rule changes that alter the way the horses are monitored. 

Ask and you shall receive. According to the Associated Press (via Boston.com), New York racing officials put an immediate plan in place to help prevent trainers from using illegal means to give their horses an unfair advantage. 

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New rules announced Wednesday call for all Belmont runners to be stabled in the same barn rather than spread out in stables around the track. Also, there will be out-of-competition blood testing and close scrutiny of the horses and humans attending them by board investigators and private security personnel.

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Since O'Neill is going to start his 45-day suspension after the Belmont Stakes, there were going to be a lot of questions surrounding I'll Have Another if he does end up winning the Triple Crown. 

While those questions might still pop up in some minds if I'll Have Another does win, at least the New York racing officials were able to recognize that putting new regulations in place now will make it easier for people to accept that he made it through this process cleanly.

If this was Major League Baseball, everyone would already assume that I'll Have Another was guilty, simply because he was associated with someone who was suspended for having a horse who had elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

O'Neill has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in the past, but it is difficult to change the perception of the public when a story like this is made available to everyone. 

By changing the rules, I'll Have Another will have the luxury of being tested and monitored closer than ever approaching the final leg of the Triple Crown. Much of the skepticism surrounding his run at the Belmont Stakes will be gone as a result of these new rules. 

It is a win-win-win for the horses in the race, the racing commission and the people watching who want to know that what they are seeing is real and not some artificial creation. 

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