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I'll Have Another is out of Belmont

By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY
Updated

Update: Doug O'Neill joined the Dan Patrick Show to break news on Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another.

"I'll Have Another is officially out of the Belmont," O'Neill said.

O'Neill talked about what a let-down it is. "It's not tragic, but it's a huge disappointment," O'Neill said.

O'Neill said he looks fine. He said he will walk the horse in front of the news media at his 1 p.m. ET press conference to show everyone that the horse is doing well. But he has the beginning of a tendon injury in his leg and they can't run him.

"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,
O'Neill said. "It's not tragic, but it's a huge disappointment. I'm just so bummed for the horse, obviously, and then for the the whole team."

O'Neill said the immediate treatment will be "three months of a whole lot of nothing."

"And then we can start back with him. But he's valuable, and I know he's going to have tons of options with different breeding farms to have him stand somewhere. … 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."

Patrick asked O'Neill if I'll Have Another has raced his last race. "If I had to wager … I would say yes," O'Neill said.

UPDATE: O'Neill and owner J. Paul Reddam have called a press conference for 1 p.m. today. It is unclear what the subject matter will be.

BELMONT, N.Y. – Seeking to escape the clamor of dormitory style living in the security barn required for all 12 entrants in Saturday's Belmont Stakes, trainer Doug O'Neill beat the rush and took Triple Crown contender I'll Have Another to the track at 5:30 a.m. Friday for his gallop.

In a new measure this year, the New York Racing and Wagering Board required the entire Belmont Stakes field to move into the security barn by noon Wednesday.

Amid questions in racing about illegal performance enhancement, the board cited racing integrity. On the day I'll Have Another moved to the new barn, he galloped at 8:45 a.m. That was advanced by more than three hours today.

"It's been very hectic the last few days, so we thought we would take him out when it's quieter," O'Neill said in a statement released by the New York Racing Association.

"The detention barn (a.k.a. security barn) setup with all 12 horses going out at the same time has been a little bit hectic. The simple thing of just trying to find a place to bathe your horse has been kind of congested. We thought we would come out early, and it would be quieter.

"Hopefully he will be back resting in his stall when 8:30 rolls around and a lot of the hectic activity starts. We want to get him in the quietest frame of mind leading up to the biggest race of his life."

Dale Romans, trainer of potential spoiler Dullahan, has been the most point-blank critic of the security barn requirement. Horses at Triple Crown races typically stay in the barns of their choosing. Here this week, all entrants into the security barn are monitored and all treatments and feedings of the horses are logged.

"The barn is ridiculous," Romans said Thursday.

"There's too many horses in there doing the same things at the same times. There's too many people in there. There's three or four people for every horse, and everybody trying to walk in the afternoons and graze. It's just ridiculous.

"They could have found such an easier way to accommodate the horses, and I don't think anybody who set that barn up or made the rules was thinking about the horse."

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