I’ll Have Another to lock horns with Bodemeister yet again
Trainer Bob Baffert did not confirm after the Kentucky Derby that his speedy colt, Bodemeister, will run in the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on 19 May, 2012, because the trainer wasn’t sure whether Bodemeister could handle the quick two-week turnaround.
When it was decided that the Kentucky Derby runner-up is ready to try his luck in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, than the build-up toward the greatest clash started between I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister, as the former stole the show from the latter to win the Derby on 5 May, 2012.
“He never took a step backward (after the Derby),” Baffert said May 17. “He bounced out of it pretty well. He’s a pretty tough horse. He filled out nice and seems to be doing good. I think if he was going to bounce he would have bounced in the Kentucky Derby off the Arkansas Derby. He is a pretty fit horse so he can handle what we have thrown at him.
“The horses that ran in the Derby are going to be the biggest threats. I really don’t know that much about the new shooters. I really haven’t looked at it. But when your horse is one dimensional it is hard to worry about your rivals.”
The son of Flower Alley has a solid shot at the Triple Crown, but Bodemeister will be in his way. Fans will be hoping that I’ll Have Another wraps up the Preakness Stakes and go all out in the Belmont Stakes on 9 June, 2012, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 1978.
Bodemeister has been declared the favourite for the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes for all the right reasons, because the Ahmed Zayat owned colt will be the one to beat.
Though, I’ll Have Another ran him down in the Derby, Bodemeister set a wicked pace in the Derby, and he is expected to do the same this time around, but only this time there aren’t any speed burners to target him, and consequently I’ll Have Another will have his work cut out if he has to bid for a Triple Crown glory next month at Belmont Park.
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