Rick Snider: With Derby win comes fame for I’ll Have Another trainer

The trainer of Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another brought 11 assistants for Saturday’s 137th Preakness Stakes when most stables might have three. They’ve learned to eat crabs and had lunch with Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh while watching minicamp. O’Neill even ran the last two blocks because of heavy traffic to throw out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game.

“I’ve met so many cool people and come to realize so many people love horse racing,” O’Neill said. “Hopefully, we can win some new fans to come out.”

O’Neill is a likeable guy whose increased success has elicited skepticism. His horses tested positive for illegal drugs more than a dozen times over O’Neill’s 14-year career. Two 2010 cases for “milkshakes” that provide energy earned a 15-day suspension with another six-month sanction looming if found guilty during a July hearing.

“We’ve gotten used to all the daggers thrown at you when you win a big race,” he said. “It’s been a distraction, but we play by the rules. We’re fighting the previous allegations. I’ll Have Another, along with every horse in our barn, goes through intense physical exam, blood and urine exams. We run pure horses.”

More disturbing were too frequent breakdowns by his horses. The New York Times reported O’Neill’s stable averaged 12 breakdowns per 1,000 races during a 2,300-race career. Conversely, Maryland trainer Graham Motion, whose Animal Kingdom won the 2011 Derby, averages 0.5 breakdowns per 1,000.

O’Neill said his willingness to help racing secretaries fill races caused some breakdowns.

“I’ve been guilty of running horses to help races fill,” he said. “As I’ve grown as a person and a trainer, I’ve learned to be more relaxed with placing horse. I have places I can grow and do better. Anybody who spends time with us knows we love the horses.”

Training a Derby winner washes away bad times. O’Neill now has the best nation’s three-year-old colt.

The key will be the early and late pace behind expected front-runner Bodemeister. O’Neill plans for I’ll Have Another to press Bodemeister early, preventing the latter from running a slow opening half mile to save some energy for the stretch. Come the three-eighths pole, O’Neill will have jockey Mario Gutierrez move I’ll Have Another once more to the front, hoping to run down Bodemeister in the final sixteenth mile just like the Derby.

“Somewhere around the three-eighths we’ll have to go after [Bodemeister],” O’Neill said.

A victory will send I’ll Have Another to New York for the Belmont Stakes on June 9 seeking the sport’s first Triple Crown championship since 1978.

“I think he’s the type of horse who can do it,” O’Neill said. “We’d love to check out New York.”

Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].