Belmont Stakes 2012: I’ll Have Another shows good energy in gallop

Susie Raisher/NYRA

I'll Have Another, with exercise rider Humberto Gomez up, gallops one mile in the rain on Friday at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – I’ll Have Another, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, went for a one-mile gallop in the rain Friday morning at Belmont Park where on June 9, in the Belmont Stakes, he will attempt to become Thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner.

Friday marked the first day I’ll Have Another galloped since his neck victory over Bodemeister in the Preakness Stakes on May 18. He returned to the track Wednesday and jogged for two days.

[I’LL HAVE ANOTHER: Derby, Preakness winner runs for Triple Crown]

I’ll Have Another came onto the main track accompanied by his stable pony, Lava Man. Shortly after he came onto the track, it began to rain heavily, but it didn’t seem to faze I’ll Have Another.

Under exercise rider Humberto Gomez, I’ll Have Another left Lava Man at the six-furlong pole and broke into a gallop. While kept beyond the center of the spacious Belmont main track – which would have been labeled good – I’ll Have Another gradually picked up the pace and displayed good energy as he came through the stretch. He was pulled up at the 1 1/4-miles pole, joined up with Lava Man, and then walked back to barn 9, which is about 50 yards from the gap.

[BELMONT STAKES: Video updates, expected field, early odds]