I’ll Have Another breezed six furlongs ahead of the Kentucky Derby
The 3-year-old J. Paul Reddam owned colt, I’ll Have Another’s rapid ascension among the ranks of the top 3-year-old’s in the nation is remarkable and trainer Doug F. O’Neill fully credits the colt for his athleticism.
Against all odds, I’ll Have Another proved everybody wrong when he debuted his 2012 campaign in the Grade 2 Robert. B Lewis Stakes, and took down the highly favoured, Empire Way, and Rousing Sermon, who finished second and third respectively, to win a race
that opened many possibilities for the Flower Alley colt.
The test got a little tougher for I’ll Have Another, when he was sent for the most difficult race of his career, and equally important to keep his Kentucky Derby hopes alive, and the colt answered the call at every turn and stride when he won the Grade 1,
$750,000 Santa Anita Derby at about 1 1/8 mile at Santa Anita Park on 7 April, 2012.
Creative Cause was his biggest nemesis in the Santa Anita Derby, but I’ll Have Another was destined to grab one of the most highly regarded Kentucky Derby prep races at Santa Anita.
Now, it gets a lot more difficult and Doug O’Neill hopes that I’ll Have Another goes on to handle the gruelling 1 ¼ mile Derby distance. The Kentucky bred I’ll Have Another has the ability to down that much distance provided if he doesn’t get caught up in
a fast pace.
"I think with I'll Have Another, he's got an amazing stride, he's got a stride of a much taller horse," he said. "He can gallop high and you can't hear him go by. He's just got tremendous air and he's got that something that you can't pick out of a pasture.”
To ensure that it doesn’t happen on the Derby day, Doug O’Neill worked I’ll Have Another over the Hollywood Park’s cushion track on 19 April, 2012, where the colt breezed six furlongs in 1 minute and 13 3/5 seconds at Betfair Hollywood Park.
The work was the fifth fastest out of 18 over the distance, and he was accompanied by multiple stakes winner Lava Man, who serves as a stable pony for Doug O’Neill after retiring.
“He worked alone and went great,” O’Neill said. “He got stronger as he went. He’s spot on now. He’ll have one more work at Hollywood on the 27th, then leave for Kentucky on the 28th.”
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