Mike Watchmaker

Handicappers who have an appreciation for good work by trainers have to love the way Doug O'Neill has handled I'll Have Another. I’ll Have Another didn’t lose a thing when he took a planned, but very unconventional two-month break smack in the middle of the Triple Crown prep season. And when he returned with what could have been viewed as a draining victory in the Santa Anita Derby, I’ll Have Another didn’t regress in his next start. Instead, he moved forward in the Kentucky Derby, and moved forward form-wise yet again in the Preakness.

What shouldn’t be completely lost in I’ll Have Another’s attempt at racing history Saturday is the strong Belmont Stakes undercard of four graded stakes. I have some preliminary opinions on them –preliminary, because no handicapper should be locked into initial opinions made 96 hours in advance – so let’s take a look.

The security measures that Belmont Stakes entrants will be subject to starting next Wednesday, announced today (Wednesday), seem unnecessarily heavy handed. In fact, they seem about as unnecessarily heavy handed as last week’s stewards decision to not allow the use of equine nasal strips was unnecessarily arbitrary.

Without taking anything away from the way Shackleford refused to concede late in the Met Mile, Caleb’s Posse’s inability this year to close the deal has become an issue.

Since Affirmed became the 11th and last to sweep the Triple Crown in 1978, 11 horses were denied a Triple Crown sweep in the Belmont Stakes. As it turns out, the majority of the winners of these Triple Crown-denying Belmonts had something in common: They were already experienced under Triple Crown fire. The 11 since Affirmed who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness but came up short in the Belmont, and the winners of those Belmonts, were: Spectacular Bid – Coastal (1979)