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HANDICAPPING CHAT
Florida Racing Fans
Will We Have Another Triple Crown Champ?
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PREAKNESS STAKES
Friday, May 18 at 8:00 PM
Covering all races on the
undercard through the Preakness
After a colt wins the Kentucky Derby, the question on everyone's lips is,
"Can he become the next Triple Crown Champion?" Racing is certainly
overdue for a Triple Crown hero, but first, I'll Have Another has to
endure and win the Preakness Stakes.
Many consider the Preakness Stakes as the more speed favoring contest
of the Triple Crown Series. Since 2000, only one horse, the super filly
Rachel Alexandra ,has wired the field. Four Preakness winners pressed
the pace and one rated in third. The remaining six winners sat between
fourth and seventh place. Further, the race isn't kind to pace setters.
Other than Rachel Alexandra, the 2010 place horse First Dude was the
only pace setter to finish in the money since 2000. Only three horses
that didn't race in the Kentucky Derby have won the Preakness in the
last eleven years.
I'll Have Another
These facts favor the Kentucky Derby Champ I'll Have Another. The colt often prefers to press the pace, but
proved in the Derby that he can sit mid-pack and unleash a solid stretch run. The Preakness Stakes favors his
running style over the pace forging Bodemeister and the one run stalker Dullahan, the second and third place
finishers in the Kentucky Derby.
I'll Have Another surprised many who discounted the colt's chances because no Santa Anita Derby hero has won the Kentucky Derby since Sunday
Silence in 1989. Yet, I'll Have Another's race record and pedigree proclaimed him as a logical Kentucky Derby contender.
I'll Have Another's sire Flower Alley was a slow maturing colt. He raced only once as a juvenile placing
third in a maiden race in mid-December of his two year old season. A son of the top stallion Distorted
Humor, Flower Alley showed promise at three, winning the Lanes' End Stakes and placing second in the
Arkansas Derby. In the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Flower Alley was near the torrid pace set by Spanish
Chestnut. He had to steady and wound up finishing ninth. His connections elected to bypass the other
two Triple Crown jewels for a shot at the summer and fall contests. The chestnut colt blossomed in the
summer and fall of his three year old season, reeling off wins in the Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes. He
was fourth against older horses in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, then placed second in the 2005 Breeders'
Cup Classic, beaten only a length by eventual Horse Of The Year Saint Liam. Flower Alley tailed off at
age four. He was victorious in the Salvador Mile, but was winless in the handicap division, placing
seventh in both the Whitney and Woodwood Stakes and concluding his racing career with a dismal
eleventh place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Flower Alley
Similar to his racing career, the third crop sire Flower Alley was off to a slow start at stud. His first babies to hit the track include two graded stakes
winners, but they didn't earn their blacktype victories until their three year old season. Overall, the majority of Flower Alley's offspring are slow
maturing, although his progeny with win-early distaff families can be more precocious. Flower Alley won only once at 1 ¼ miles and placed once at
the distance, but his progeny have shown their appreciation for two turns.
I'll Have Another's dam won her one and only start at six furlongs over the dirt and his two half siblings
won their maidens within two starts, so I'll Have Another's win-early nature is typical for his immediate
distaff family. His first few distaff generations are light on black type and he's the first graded stakes
winner in three generations. The Grade 1 winners Into Mischief and Roanoke are distant relatives.
Arch, the damsire of I'll Have Another, is a young broodmare sire. Besides I'll Have Another, Arch is
represented at the classic distance by a French Listed Stakes winner at 1 1/4 miles over the turf. Many of
Arch's daughters' progeny haven't raced at classic distances. His daughter's offspring include Champion
Juvenile Uncle Mo and Contested, recent heroine of the Eight Bells Stakes. Arch's pedigree and record at
stud indicate that his daughters could pass along stamina influences, but it is too soon to make a
definitive factual statement that Arch will be a stamina-oriented damsire.
Arch
So can I'll Have Another become the fourth Derby/Preakness champ in 11 years? What about his Triple
Crown Chances? I'll Have Another is a powerfully built colt and resembles his sire in conformation. I'll
Have Another has already proven his fondness for 1 ¼ miles, so the shorter Preakness Stakes is within
his scope. He's shown that he can press the pace or win from farther back. His Brisnet speed figures
aren't as high as those of Bodemeister, but I'll Have Another did pop a 117 mid-race figure in the Derby
and his numbers are improving. As he was going into the Kentucky Derby, I'll Have Another is a logical
choice to win the Preakness. His stamina-oriented pedigree indicates that he could handle the Belmont
Stakes grueling 1 ½ mile distance as well. From a pedigree standpoint and running style, I'll Have
Another is a Triple Crown Champ waiting to happen. Now it's up to his trainer, jockey and racing fortune
to determine if we'll have another Triple Crown hero.
I'll Have Another as a yearling
Want to know more about the new players in the Preakness?
Which Derby contender has the best running style to win the Preakness?
Find out in the 2012 Triple Crown Contender Pedigree Profiles E-book!