I’ll Have Another, the first Derby winner in years to arrive at Baltimore this early
I’ll Have Another, winner of the Grade 1, $2 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on 5 May, 2012, is ready to take on the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, and in many years, has become the earliest Kentucky Derby winner to arrive at Pimlico to contest the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
Doug O’Neill trained 3-year-old colt departed Churchill Downs on 7 May, 2012, and upon arrival at Baltimore the Derby winner will be received by the Baltimore City Police Department, and will be escorted to Pimlico where he will reside in Barn D at the backstretch of Pimlico.
Doug O’Neill took a different route and went to Santa Anita, where he will tend to his stable in South California, and meanwhile at Pimlico assistant Jack Sisterson will be looking after I’ll Have Another.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet," said Sisterson, a native of Durham, England. "Words can’t describe how I feel. Seeing him at the sixteenth-pole coming down the racetrack in front and crossing the finish line, I said, ‘Wow! We did it! Even the excitement getting to the race was a real experience in itself. On the walk-over, I said, ‘Wow! Here we go!’”
The Grade 1 Preakness Stakes reel in a field of 14, and with the first seven finishers of the Kentucky Derby earning an automatic berth in the race – which will build up to another I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister showdown while Creative Cause, Liaison and Went The Day Well will use the check from Kentucky Derby to make a place in the Preakness field.
To round out the top 7, Hansen and Union Rags have made the field as well, and they are expected to do well over the shorter distance from the Derby.
The son of Flower Alley, I’ll Have Another will be looking to extend his winning streak to four in the Preakness Stakes, and look to become the first Triple Crown winner in many years.
He is leading all Preakness prospects with the earnings of $2,060,600 on the graded earnings list, while other remaining prospects for the Preakness are Isn’t He Clever, Optimizer, Hierro, Tiger Walk, Pretension, Paynter, and Zetterholm.
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