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| (Al Bello/Getty Images) |
AP - I'll Have Another, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness
winner, will not run in Saturday's 144th Belmont Stakes, trainer Doug O'Neill
announced, ending the colt's bid for a US Triple Crown sweep.
The chestnut horse, a 4-5 oddsmakers' favorite, was retired
on Friday after O'Neill chose to scratch him from the race following a
veterinarian inspection that found left front leg swelling, a sign of
tendinitis, after a workout.
"We didn't want to take any chances," O'Neill
said. "This is extremely tough for all of us. Though it's far from tragic,
it's extremely disappointing. I feel so sorry for the whole team. We have had
such an amazing run."
The decision doomed I'll Have Another's chance of becoming
the 12th horse to win all three US flat racing classics in the same year.
Not since Affirmed in 1978 has a horse completed the treble
sweep, with 11 other hopefuls in the 34 years since then unable to win at
Belmont, the longest of the three races at 1 1/2 miles.
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