Tips For Betting On Triple Crown – I’ll Have Another Aiming To Make Triple Crown History
It’ll be a busy sports betting day on June 9th, when the final jewel in thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown goes off at Belmont Park in New York and the Belmont Stakes is called the “Test of the Champion” because of a grueling 1 ½-mile distance which causes the best horses in the world to fold. There will be a ton of pressure on I’ll Have Another as he heads into this race after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and history won’t be on his side, but you never know; this horse wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.
I’ll Have Another won his maiden race last July at Hollywood Park with Joel Rosario in the saddle, and then the two ran to a second-place finish at the Grade-2 Best Pal Stakes a month later at Del Mar, but owner J. Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill looked to make change and put Julien Leparoux. While Leparoux is a talented jockey in his own right, horse betting sharps know that some combinations just don’t work and with Leparoux in the saddle, I’ll Have Another finished sixth at the Grade-1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga in August, which led to some big decisions for the horse’s handlers to make.
Eventually, it was decided that Mario Gutierrez would take over the reins and I’ll Have Another stormed to the win at the Grade-2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita in February, and the horse showed a lot of promise against a strong field. But his performance in the Grade-1 Santa Anita Derby is what really sparked his rise in the betting world as he held off such horses as Creative Cause (a horse betting favorite in his own right) and Blueskiesnrainbows to win one of the most important prep races on the Kentucky Derby prep trail.
In one of the most wide-open Derby fields in years, I’ll Have Another came in with horse betting odds of +1100 at Churchill Downs, and only really knowledgeable players gave him much of a chance. Things looked grim as Bodemeister looked like he was going to run away with the biggest race among thoroughbred horses, but Gutierrez showed a brilliant piece of skill to pace I’ll Have Another, and then the two stormed down the backstretch to catch up to and pass a fatigued Bodemeister to win the first leg of the Triple Crown and he was immediately shipped to the Preakness Stakes.
The “Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” was basically a shorter version of the Kentucky Derby as Bodemeister, once again, showed his outright speed in setting pace, but Gutierrez knew what he had with I’ll Have Another and kept the horse patient until the final turn, when he came down the backstretch like he was shot out of a cannon and just like at Churchill Downs, Bodemeister couldn’t close out a race as I’ll Have Another tracked him down and edged him out at the wire to complete another fantastic comeback.
Now, I’ll Have Another stands on the edge of history as he is the first horse since the great Big Brown in 2008 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and he is aiming to become the first since Affirmed in 1978 to complete one of the toughest things in all of sports. He is also trying to do it at arguably the most difficult event in horse racing as the Belmont Stakes is more of a war of attrition than it is a battle of speed. The distance is a mile and a half, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is an eternity for a horse and if rain makes the track muddy, it can be dangerous.
However, you have to like I’ll Have Another’s chances as he comes into the race as a +200 horse betting favorite after his stirring wins in the first two legs, and he won’t have to deal with Bodemeister, which definitely wasn’t cut out for the length of the Belmont if he tired down the stretch at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. You also have to feel good about the way Gutierrez handles the horse and he has paced him beautifully throughout the first two races. That is going to be even more important at Belmont Park on June 9th as it is a long race, and we know I’ll Have Another has the closing speed to chase down any horse. This is going to be a very interesting day for online betting sharps around the world.
