After winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes I’ll Have Another now has chance to become horse racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner and the first since Affirmed did it in 1978.

The Triple Crown is one of the most grueling tasks in all of sports.  To win a horse must win three races over a five-week stretch and at distances they’ve never seen before. Horses of today are simply not bred and train to endure such challenges.

There have been 45 horses who won two out of the three Triple Crown races, but only 21 who won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to fail in the Belmont Stakes. The list below gives those horses along with where they finished in the Belmont and who beat them. Seven of the 21 were in the last 12 years:

Triple Crown Near Misses (Derby/Preakness doubles)
Year	Horse	Belmont finish
1932	Burgoo King	(Did not start)
1936	Bold Venture	(Did not start)
1944	Pensive	2nd (Bounding Home)
1958	Tim Tam	2nd (Cavan)
1961	Carry Back	7th (Sherluck)
1964	Northern Dancer	3rd (Quadrangle)
1966	Kauai King	4th (Amberoid)
1968	**Forward Pass	2nd (Stage Door Johnny)
1969	Majestic Prince	2nd (Arts and Letters)
1971	Canonero II	4th (Pass Catcher)
1979	Spectacular Bid	3rd (Coastal)
1981	Pleasant Colony	3rd (Summing)
1987	Alysheba	4th (Bet Twice)
1989	Sunday Silence	2nd (Easy Goer)
1997	Silver Charm	2nd (Touch Gold)
1998	Real Quiet	2nd (Victory Gallop)
1999	Charismatic	3rd (Lemon Drop Kid)
2002	War Emblem	8th (Sarava)
2003	Funny Cide	3rd (Empire Maker)
2004	Smarty Jones	2nd (Birdstone)
2008	Big Brown	DNF (Da'Tara)
**Won on disqualification.

Horse Racing 2012 triple crown, i'll have another, kentucky derby, preakness stakes, winners

Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another kept his Triple Crown hopes alive by edging out Bodemeister for the second time in two weeks to take the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes.

The race had a very similar setup to the way the Derby unfolded two weeks earlier at Churchill Downs with Bodemeister charging out to an early lead only to have I’ll Have Another come charging back to win under the guidance of 25-year old jockey Mario Gutierrez.  The pace wasn’t as fast as the Derby and I’ll Have Another was able to stay a bit closer as he was fourth in the 11-horse field at the quarter pole.

Creative Cause, who I backed at the betting window in each of his last two races, finished third behind two horses that he had previously beaten.

I'll Have Another became just the fourth horse to win the Preakness from the No. 9 post, and first since Funny Cide in 2003. He was the first-ever horse to win the Kentucky Derby from the No. 19th post.

With the win I’ll Have Another will now have a crack at winning horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown. Since Affirmed won the last Triple Crown 34 years ago 11 horses have had a shot going into the Belmont but fell short, including the most recent try by Big Brown in 2008.

Giving that I’ll Have Another’s style suggests he has closing ability and the ability to get stronger as the race progresses the 1 ½ mile “Test of a Champion” Belmont Stakes might be his type of race. It will be interesting to see the field of challengers that will show up to try and dash the colt’s hopes of making history.

RACE RECAP

ORDER OF FINISH
1. (9) I'll Have Another
2. (7) Bodemeister
3. (6) Creative Cause
4. (4) Zetterholm
5. (2) Teeth of the Dog
6. (10) Optimizer
7. (11) Cozetti
8. (1) Tiger Walk
9. (8) Daddy Nose Best
10. (5) Went the Day Well
11. (3) Pretension

PAYOUTS
I'LL HAVE ANOTHER - $8.40 $3.80 $2.80
BODEMEISTER - $3.20 $2.80
CREATIVE CAUSE - $3.60

$2 Daily Double 3-9 38.20
$2 Daily Double SPECIAL/PREAKNESS 8-9 45.00
$2 Exacta 9-7 18.60
$1 Superfecta 9-7-6-4 424.30
$2 Super High Five 9-7-6-4-2 3,667.60
$2 Trifecta 9-7-6 70.80
$0.50 Pick 3 5/9-3-9 (3 correct) 24.60
$0.50 Pick 4 2-5/9-3-9 (4 correct) 233.10
$0.50 Pick 5 6/7/9/10-2-5/9-3-9 (5 correct) 1,485.05

Horse Racing 2012 triple crown, preakness stakes 137, preakness stakes, i'll have another, bodemeister

After coming up short in the Kentucky Derby was disappointing, but did not come as a surprise.  There are so many elements that make it a tough race to handicap and none bigger in my eyes than combatting a 20-horse field.

During my year’s of handicapping the Preakness, I’ve always have had a tough time of breaking up with my Derby loser and that will likely be the case again with Creative Cause.  The colt ran a respectable fifth in the Derby and won’t have to contend with as fast of a pace. At 6-1 on the morning line the price is right.

There’s no arguing that Bodemeister is worthy of being installed as the 8-5 favorite after just missing going wire to wire in the Derby. He’s a must play in all exotics, but it isn’t worth the money betting him straight up. This marks his third race in five weeks, leaving questions about how much he has left in the tank.

The general public will be behind Derby Winner I’ll Have Another and for good reason. The horse shows up. Derby winners have taken 7 of the last 14 Preakness Stakes and after letting his post position (No. 19) scare me away in the Derby I won’t forget him at the window this time around.

Value Pick: Went the Day Well

Longshot: Cozzetti

MY BETS
$10 WP #6 Creative Cause (total $20)

$1 TRI BOX (total $60)
--#6 Creative Cause
--#7 Bodemeister
--#9 I’ll Have Another
--#5 Went the Day Well
--#11 Cozzetti

Horse Racing 2012 triple crown, preakness stakes 137, bodemeister, i'll have another, creative cause, went the day well, cozzetti

Derby winner I’ll Have Another will attempt to keeps its Triple Crown aspirations alive against a field of 10 challengers in Saturday’s 137th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimilco.

The Kentucky Derby winner as made the 5/2 second choice. He breaks from post 9 in the field of 11 entered for the Preakness.

Bodemeister, who ran the third fastest opening mile in Derby history two weekends ago, is entering the face as the morning line favorite at 8/5 odds.

Four of the top five finishers in the Derby are in the field. Six Derby contestants were entered for the second jewel of the Triple Crown with five newcomers.

Here is complete summary of Wednesday’s post-position draw:

Preakness Stakes (G1), Post Time: 6:05 ET Saturday

Purse: $1,000,000; 1 3/16 miles

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	ML
	Tiger Walk	I. Correas	K. Desormeaux	30-1
	Teeth of the Dog	M. Matz	J. Bravo	15-1
	Pretension	C. Grove	J. Santiago	30-1
	Zetterholm	R. Dutrow, Jr.	J. Alvarado	20-1
	Went The Day Well	H. Motion	J. Velazquez	6-1
	Creative Cause	M. Harrington	J. Rosario	6-1
	Bodemeister	B. Baffert	M. Smith	8-5
	Daddy Nose Best	S. Asmussen	J. Leparoux	12-1
	I'll Have Another	D. O'Neill	M. Gutierrez	5-2
	Optimizer	D. Lukas	C. Nakatani	30-1
	Cozzetti	D. Romans	J. Lezcano	30-1

Horse Racing 2012 triple crown, preakness stakes, field, preakness stakes 137, i'll have another, bodemeister

The post postions for the 138th Run For the Roses were drawn on Wednesday for Saturday's race. With 20 horses in the field where a horse falls in the gate could have a huge impact on the race based off the horse's natural style of running.

Churchill Downs' Mike Battaglia has set the morning lines for the race, installing Bodemeister, the  winner of the Arkansas Derby, as the 4-1 morning line choice for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. The son of Empire Maker from the barn of three-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert will break from post 6.

Here's the complete field for Saturday's race:

Post Position, Horse, Jockey, M-L
1. Daddy Long Legs, Colm O’Donoghue, 30-1
2. Optimizer, Jon Court, 50-1
3. Take Charge Indy, Calvin Borel, 15-1
4. Union Rags, Julien Leparoux, 9-2
5. Dullahan, Kent Desormeaux, 8-1
6. Bodemeister, Mike Smith, 4-1
7. Rousing Sermon, Jose Lezcano, 50-1
8. Creative Cause, Joel Rosario, 12-1
9. Trinniberg, Willie Martinez, 50-1
10. Daddy Knows Best, Garrett Gomez, 15-1
11. Alpha, Rajiv Maragh, 15-1
12. Prospective, Luis Contreras, 30-1
13. Went the Day Well, John Velazquez, 20-1
14. Hansen, Ramon Dominguez, 10-1
15. Gemologist, Javier Castellano, 6-1
16. El Padrino, Rafael Bejarano, 20-1
17. Done Talking, Sheldon Russell, 50-1
18. Sabercat, Corey Nakatani, 30-1
19. I’ll Have Another, Martin Gutierrez, 12-1
20. Liaison, Martin Garcia, 50-1
AE – My Adonis, Elvis Trujillo, x-1 

*Stay tuned to GetSportsInfo.com over the next couple of days for complete race coverage

Horse Racing 2012 triple crown, kentucky derby 138, bodemeister