I’ll Have Another out of Belmont
The three-year-old was aiming for racing immortality after his victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, but has been taken out of the mile-and-a-half contest in New York after reportedly suffering a leg injury.
Quoted on www.danpatrick.com, O’Neill told the Dan Patrick Show: “I’ll Have Another is officially out of the Belmont.
“Pulling him isn’t tragic but it’s a huge disappointment.”
I’ll Have Another would have been aiming to become only the 12th American Triple Crown winner of all time, and the first since Affirmed in 1978.
O’Neill said: “We scanned his left front leg and he’s got the start of tendinitis going on in his front leg.
“He’s not 100% and we ain’t taking any chances.
Asked whether I’ll Have Another had run his last race, the trainer said: “If I had to wager, I would say yes.”
He added: “I’d love to see him back in my barn in a few months but realistically he’ll probably be seeing a lot of beautiful mares and smoking a lot of cigarettes.”
O'Neill later confirmed in a press conference that I'll Have Another would be retired to stud.
He said: “After all he has done, I think this is enough.”
Frankel meanwhile has been given an invitation by the Moonee Valley Racing Club for the Sportingbet Cox Plate on October 27.
It is unlikely Henry Cecil will follow in the path of Black Caviar’s trainer Peter Moody by taking his superstar to compete on the other side of the world for the $AUS 3m contest, but the Australian authority are trying to attract major names.
MVRC chairman Bob Scarborough said: “Just as Black Caviar has accepted the challenge to step out of her comfort zone and travel halfway around the world to prove that she is without peer in the sprinting ranks at Royal Ascot, I am hopeful that the connections of Frankel will accept our invitation to travel to Melbourne.”
