Does this fairytale have a happy ending?
A jockey from a tiny Hastings racecourse in Vancouver to a mercurial rise to stardom after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown, Mario Gutierrez has been catapulted to stardom faster than any jockey that comes to mind.
I’ll Have Another and Mario Gutierrez are now the hottest couple in America, and the twists and turns of this amazing jockey leaving him on the threshold of winning the Triple Crown is just unreal.
Their journey began when Gutierrez rode, I’ll Have Another for the first time, and that was in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
In I’ll Have Another’s seasonal debut, the colt had absurdly high odds of 43 to 1, but that didn’t faze Mario Gutierrez, who compares I’ll Have Another to a sports car with lots of gears, found second wing on his ride, and blasted past Empire Way and Rousing Sermon to win the Bob Lewis Stakes.
Little Paul Reddam and Doug O’Neill knew at that point that the two of them will string together a four race win streak which will include the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
“I can’t be thankful enough to Mr. Reddam and Doug. They didn’t have to stick with me. They gave me this wonderful opportunity and I’m so happy I didn’t disappoint them. They didn’t listen to all the people who were knocking me down and telling them this was too big for me. Doug and Mr. Reddam are the coolest guys and they never put any pressure on me. They’re on my side and always have been supportive and give me confidence.”
Mario Gutierrez said that I’ll Have Another has always given the rider 100%, and that is the source of the rider’s confidence to take him all out whenever he can, just like it was time to reel down one of the fiercest colts in the 3-year-old crop these days, Bodemeister.
Riding in Quarter Horse races, Mario Gutierrez came to Hastings and now he has come a long way on the brink of winning the grandest prize in horseracing, the Triple Crown.
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