I’ll Have Another had a shock wave therapy on his back
The winner of the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park on 7 April, 2012, I’ll Have Another, one of the favourite’s leading up to the Grade 1, $2 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on 5 May, 2012, has a back issue, which has a tendency
to tighten up a little.
Doug F. O’Neill trained 3-year-old colt, I’ll Have Another had an automatic visit to the vet for this particular issue, and got treated rightly when he underwent shock wave therapy on his back.
“It’s just a pulse that brings blood to an area,” Reddam said. “The horse had absolutely nothing wrong with him. Doug (trainer Doug O’Neill) just did it because he could do it, and his owner will pay for it. He’s just leaving no stone unturned. In California,
you can’t use it within 10 days of an upcoming race, so you have to report it and go on the vet’s list.”
J. Paul Reddam’s Kentucky bred, I’ll Have Another didn’t put up a good show in his juvenile season, where he broke his maiden at first asking over at Hollywood Park’s cushion track going five and a half furlongs, and then finished second to his Derby rival,
Creative Cause in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar’s synthetic surface going over a distance of six and a half furlongs.
Introduced on dirt for the first time, a vital decision in terms of his Derby pursuits, I’ll Have Another didn’t react to the surface all that well, as he fell away to finish sixth in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga to winner, Currency Swap, to cap
off his juvenile season.
However, as a sophomore, I’ll Have Another is a different deal altogether.
He is a perfect 2 in as many starts, and the stretch in distance over dirt track has been relished by the Flower Alley colt, as he kicked off proceedings for the new season at Santa Anita Park with a 1 1/16 mile long win in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes
on 4 February, 2012, where he defeated Empire Way in second and Rousing Sermon in third.
If that wasn’t enough for the experts to put him into contention for the Kentucky Derby, than his undeniable performance in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby made him one of the starts on the Derby trail.
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