Kids & Family
I'll Have Another Out of Belmont, Triple Crown Hopes Dashed
The locally owned horse was scratched from the Belmont Stakes Friday after veterinarians found tendonitis in one of his legs.
The Triple Crown wait will last at least one more year.
"I'll have another is officially out of the Belmont," trainer Doug O'Neill told the Dan Patrick Show Friday morning, crushing the Triple Crown hopes of the horse who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
"This morning he looked perfect," O'Neill told Patrick, describing the horse before he was taken out Friday morning for training. "After that training, the swelling came back...He's not 100 percent and we aren't taking any chances."
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The horse had tendonitis in one of his front legs, O'Neill said.
O'Neill's brother, Dennis O'Neill, lives in Monrovia and scouted the horse for owner J. Paul Reddam.
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Doug O'Neill addressed the media in a press conference and said the horse had "been a little quiet" lately and trainers noticed "a loss of definition" in his left front leg.
"This is extremely tough for all of us," O'Neill said. "It's extremely disappointing and I feel so sorry for the whole team. We've had such an amazing run."
O'Neill and his owners also decided to retire I'll Have Another because of the injury, he said.
"It is a bummer but again, far from tragic," he added.
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