I'll Have Another

After winning on his racecourse debut in July 2011, I'll Have Another finished second to Creative Cause in the Grade II Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar in August.[7][8] He ran sixth of the ten runners behind Currency Swap in the Grade I Hopeful Stakes on a sloppy track at Saratoga.[9]

I'll Have Another (#19) crosses the finish line at the 2012 Kentucky Derby ahead of Bodemeister (far left)

I'll Have Another began his three-year-old season by winning the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on February 4, as a 43/1 outsider.[10] In April, he won the Santa Anita Derby, staying on gamely[11] to beat the favorite Creative Cause by a nose.

I'll Have Another's lead pony in the Kentucky Derby post parade on May 5, 2012 was the retired gelding Lava Man, whom Doug O'Neill had trained previously. As of Derby Day 2012, Lava Man was the 27th-leading Thoroughbred money earner of all time, having won $5,268,706 in his racing career. Lava Man had also accompanied I'll Have Another to the post for his win in the Santa Anita Derby, the colt's final Kentucky Derby prep.[12] Lava Man led I'll Have Another to the post again at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland on May 19, 2012 for the Preakness Stakes.

In the Kentucky Derby on May 5, I'll Have Another started at odds of 15–1 in what was considered an unusually strong field.[13] In front of a record crowd of 165,307,[14] I'll Have Another produced a strong finish to catch the front-running Bodemeister in the closing stages and win by one and a half lengths in a final time of 2:01.83 for 1 1/4 miles.[15] He is the first horse in the history of the Kentucky Derby to have won from post position 19.[2][16] It was the Derby debut for his 25-year-old jockey Mario Gutierrez, who had not previously ridden in any of the Triple Crown races.[2][17] After the race, Gutierrez described I'll Have Another as "an amazing horse", and said that "from the first time I met him, I knew he was the one".[18]

In the Preakness Stakes on May 19, I'll Have Another was sent off at odds of 3–1 with Bodemeister starting favorite at 8–5. Gutierrez settled the colt in fourth place as Bodemeister set the pace from Creative Cause. On the turn into the straight, I'll Have Another passed Creative Cause to move into second place, and caught Bodemeister in the final strides to win by a neck, finishing the 1 3/16-mile race in a final time of 1:55.94.[19]

I'll Have Another was drawn to run from the eleventh post position of the twelve runners, meaning that he would start on the outside of the field.[20] On the Friday before the Belmont Stakes was to run, trainer Doug O'Neill indicated that the horse was officially out of the race due to a tendon injury, ending his hopes of a Triple Crown.[21] At a news conference, the track veterinarian described the injury as slow-healing, requiring up to three to six months for recovery, and if the horse had raced, the risk of a bowed tendon would be very high.[22] Thus, trainer O'Neill announced that he and Reddam decided to retire the horse from racing.[23] He became the third horse, after Burgoo King in 1932 and Bold Venture in 1936, to be scratched from the Belmont Stakes after having won the first two legs of the Triple Crown.[22]

On July 11 the New York Times carried a report on the veterinary records of I'll Have Another, which O'Neill had been required to submit to the New York racing authorities. The records showed that the colt had been suffering from osteoarthritis. Three veterinarians interviewed by The Blood-Horse magazine, stated that the medications used were phenylbutazone, dexamethasone and polyglycan, a glucosamine-based medication, all of which were routine and appropriate.[24]