I'LL HAVE ANOTHER got post 19 of 20 in the Kentucky Derby and 9 of 11 in the Preakness. Completing the outside, away-from-traffic posts, the colt going for the Triple Crown on Saturday in the Belmont Stakes drew post 11 of 12 Wednesday morning.
“Being in the 11-hole, we're able to see how the pace sets up,'' trainer Doug O'Neill said. “If they're crawling, we'll be hopefully leading the crawl. And if they're flying, we'll be sitting in behind the horses flying.''
I'll Have Another was made the 4-5 morning line favorite. In his eighth career race, this will be the first time he will be favored.
The other major contenders, Union Rags (3), Dullahan (5) and Paynter (9) hopefully will have no excuses. In a mile-and-a-half race, once around the massive Belmont Park oval, there is plenty of time to sort out all the horses and give all of them a clear run.
After being sick enough over the weekend to miss Union Rags' final work Sunday morning, owner Phyllis Wyeth was at Belmont for the draw.
“Obviously, we've been a little disappointed [with the 2012 results], but we still feel that Union Rags hasn't been able to run his race as a 3-year-old,'' she said.
Now, they have a new jockey in John Velazquez.
“We're all very positive,'' she said.
It is 2 days from the race now. The Belmont Stakes will take a bit less than two and a half minutes. Then, everybody will know.
Contact Dick Jerardi at jerardd@phillynews.com
