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‘I’ll Have Another’ makes a name for himself with Kentucky Derby win
by yahoo sports
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At Churchill Downs, the alcohol flows copiously and
continuously. Mint juleps, champagne and high-end beer lubricate the
Kentucky Derby, and for a race run this year on Cinco de Mayo, it seems
utterly appropriate that a horse apparently named for drinking to
excess would win.Only problem with that too-perfect scenario? The
origins of Derby winner I’ll Have Another’s name are far more innocent.
J. Paul Reddam, the horse’s owner, named him in honor of his wife’s
cookies – more specifically, his response every time she asks if he’d
like one more cookie. It’s optimism combined with satisfaction, and
it’s exactly what everyone associated with the horse is feeling.
Before a record crowd of more than 165,000, I’ll Have Another ran down
a favored and thoroughly dominant Bodemeister to cap an unlikely rise
to racing’s pinnacle. Bought for $11,000 in 2010 and $35,000 in 2011,
the 15-1 shot brought the first-ever Derby win to Reddam, trainer Doug
O’Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez. He was also the first horse in the
138-year history of the Derby to win from the 19th post.
“To win a race like this you need a plan,” Reddam said. “And since this
winter, pretty much everything has gone according to plan.”
O’Neill’s brother, Dennis, spotted the then-two-year-old horse at a
training sale in Ocala, Fla., in 2011. And while the horse wasn’t the
most heralded of that lot, it wasn’t exactly Charlie Brown Christmas
tree material either.
“Honestly, when he went through the ring, I said, ‘This is a perfect
horse,’ “ Dennis O’Neill said. “I thought he would be $60,000 or
$80,000. When he went for 35, I was surprised.… He goes the same way
now that he did then – a beautiful, long stride on him.”
I’ll Have Another paid immediate dividends after the purchase, defying
43-1 odds to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February at Santa Anita.
Two months later at the same track, the horse took down the Santa Anita
Derby, then rested for four weeks in preparation for the Derby.
The horse began the Derby in the 19th post, just one spot from the
outside. But right from the start, Gutierrez knifed the horse into the
pack and had him in the mix in sixth at the quarter-mile mark. He
dropped back to 7th, 2½ lengths back, at the half-mile pole, but then
steadily began a climb through the ranks.
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