# OH NO! No Triple Crown!



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

I just saw this -- interesting -- hope it's not serious.


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

I just saw that. O'Neil says it is possibly a career ending injury... How sad for everyone involved and the hope of a Triple Crown for all of us.


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

My work PC is crawling today so I've not yet found details. But I do hope that it's not serious.


----------



## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

Just saw this ... well poo! I hope he'll be ok.


----------



## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

And that's it. I give up on horse racing...


----------



## Hedgie (Mar 18, 2012)

That's terrible! Will we ever get another Triple Crown win? but it is interesting after the information that was released about the drugging of some of Doug O'Neill's previous horses...


----------



## Sunny (Mar 26, 2010)

I was SO hoping for a TC winner tomorrow! It's my birthday. :-(
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

> I’ll Have Another was scratched from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, trainer Doug O’Neill said Friday on The Dan Patrick Show.
> O’Neill said the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner had tendinitis in a front leg.
> O’Neill said he’d likely rest I’ll Have Another for three months, and there was a chance the 3-year-old will never race again.
> I'll Have Another was scheduled to break from the No. 11 post Saturday in his bid to complete the Triple Crown.
> ...


A little more info


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

Thanks themacpack. I've also heard they will be holding a press conference at 1.00 pm EST so we should possibly find out more then.

I am glad they've scratched him.


----------



## Jewelsb (May 8, 2012)

Awwwe makes me sad!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)




----------



## DressageDreamer (Feb 29, 2012)

Very sad news but he wasn't my pick and beat out the horse I picked at the Kentucky Derby. I missed the Preakness. HOWEVER, I do not wish ill will on any animal and I do pray for his recovery. At least he can be a good stud if he can't race. 

Get Well Soon I'll Have Another!


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

DressageDreamer said:


> Very sad news but he wasn't my pick and beat out the horse I picked at the Kentucky Derby. I missed the Preakness. HOWEVER, I do not wish ill will on any animal and I do pray for his recovery. At least he can be a good stud if he can't race.
> 
> Get Well Soon I'll Have Another!


Pretty sure that won't work---far as I know he's a gelding :wink:


----------



## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

I can't find where he's a gelding ..? Everywhere has hiim listed as a 3-year-old colt. 

*off to do more research*


----------



## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

"With the superstar colt already worth millions *as a stallion*, O'Neill said "if he was a betting man" he would wager that the son of Flower Alley will not race again."

From: Trainer: I'll Have Another scratched from Belmont Stakes - News | FOX Sports on MSN


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Stand corrected- the artcle I had scanned was referencing another failed TC contender, not IHA -- he is still intact.


----------



## DressageDreamer (Feb 29, 2012)

Thanks Texasgal.....I didn't think he was gelded. If I owned racehorses, I wouldn't geld them while they were still racing. Too much money to be made in stud fees should they be successful racehorses.


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

I'll Have Another is not a gelding, he is a stallion.
Five/Sixteen is the only gelding entered this year.


----------



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

How sad.

I hope that this decision was based on this tendon issue only, and doesn't have anything to do with his noseband ban.


----------



## redpony (Apr 17, 2012)

There are no words for how disapointed I am :'( I am glad that they are doing what is best for the horse. Hopefully, he will recover and live a full life even if he doesn't race again


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

Oooh! I'd not heard about his noseband ban. **rushes off to find out what that is all about**


----------



## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

Hmm. Nothing on it in the paper I'm readin...two full pages too....that's not going to be easy to fix.


----------



## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

I am very sad that there will be no Triple Crown winner this year 
If the horse has an injury. they take that seriously and don't want to take a risk 
that the horse will break down 
I feel bad for every one involved


----------



## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)

It is the nasal strips which hold the nostrils open that have been banned. Performance enhancig???/. We use them in eventing all the time.

Personally, I don't think they are all that effective and that people using them are, well.....suckers.


----------



## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

http://www.horseforum.com/horse-riding/stewards-rule-against-ihas-flair-strip-124959/


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Somehow this is all my fault......according to my husband, lol. This morning GMA opened with a bit about the race, his chances, etc and there was a teaser clip of the trainer saying, "As long as we don't have any injuries or anything, I think our chances are great" -- and I said, "Well, way to go, dumbass - now we'll have the injury announcement by noon....."
All I got from DH when the news broke was, "See what you did..............."


----------



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Yes. The nasal strips were banned about 2 weeks ago. It's supposed to prevent bleeding in the lungs and allow better airflow. He wore them in the Derby and Preakness then they banned it for the Belmont for him. But they are able to use INJECTIONS to prevent lung bleeding, just not a non-invasive product that is way safer to use. *headdesk*

Just seems odd that they scratch him now. I just am wondering if he's not working the way he was with the nasal strips, so they are pulling him to prevent embarrassment and blaming it on an injury.

Plus from what I've read and heard...it "could be" tendinitis. There is no definite answer to whether he actually HAS it right now. I'm watching HRTV right now...Which is where I'm hearing this stuff about him.

I tend to be a pretty skeptical person anyways. ;-)


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

Gee thanks themacpack!


----------



## redpony (Apr 17, 2012)

:shock:Oh my gosh, Mac, I can't believe you did that!:evil: 

:rofl:


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Jake and Dai said:


> Gee thanks themacpack!


:lol: :lol: :lol: - sorry!!!


----------



## palominolover (Apr 28, 2010)

Wow. How dissapointing . At least they did the right thing by the horse. It would definitely be more tragic if he broke his leg.


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

More details/info Trainer: I'll Have Another scratched from Belmont Stakes - News | FOX Sports on MSN


----------



## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

Despite O'Neil's drugging issues, I like him as a trainer. He is taking IHA's health and well being into consideration instead of it being about the money. He cares about the horse, which is a plus in my book.


----------



## omgpink (Aug 16, 2008)

So very disappointed that he has been scratched. It was the first thing I read this morning and it pretty much ruined my day. 
The thing about it is, I don't truly believe it has anything to do with an injury. I think it has to do more with a trainer that doesn't want to get in more trouble involving drugs. I read he will be on 45 day suspension after tomorrow due to earlier drug charges. 
Press conference is on now, so I will be watching!!


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

Why would you think that? If IHA had won the Preakness, it would not have mattered what had has done before, he could have retired on his earning from bing IHA trainer. I don't like trainers who do doubtful things, but as far as California, he is on suspension, but it was never proven he did anything wrong.
I give him credit, actually. Even in the press conference, he said" could he run? yes.. Would it be good for him to run? No. If O'Neil was as bad as they say, he would have shut up, bandaged the horse and let him run, probably to a horrific injury. Tendons that are slightly injured are known to let loose at anytime. Would you have wanted to watch him break down like Barbaro?
Even the vet from Rood and Riddle, who consulted with the track vet said the injury is there and not to run the horse.


----------



## Casey02 (Sep 20, 2011)

Just read he could have had 3-6 months off and then tried to race again, but they retired him  
(not that its a bad thing if they horse has an injury) just kind of sad


----------



## RunSlideStop (Apr 21, 2012)

Subbing. What a disappointment. If horses were bred to be horses and not whisps of air with a tail, we would see a lot less of these breakdowns. 

People seem to forget Ruffian... Barbaro was all about publicity after the initial breakdown. Poor horses. Don't even want to get started on Lasix. 

Cheers,
RSS


----------



## Mstar (Nov 26, 2011)

The horse had been not right for several days, it has nothing to do with the nose strips. I'm glad they decided to scratch instead of run but I can't help but wonder if all this media scrutiny hadn't been on O'Neil would he have taken the chance and run anyways? They even said the horse could have run but they didn't want to chance it.


----------



## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

It's a gamble .. he's worth millions now ... could have been three time that IF he won ... but he's worth NOTHING dead.

I'm sure the owners had some say in the decision. I believe it was the right one.


----------



## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

texasgal said:


> It's a gamble .. he's worth millions now ... could have been three time that IF he won ... but he's worth NOTHING dead.
> 
> I'm sure the owners had some say in the decision. I believe it was the right one.


 maybe some day they will realize that young horses 2-3 year olds with their growth plates still open just shouldn't be pushed so hard...tread mills, grueling schedules..I liken it to having a 7 year old kid training & running 3 25 mile marathons...crazy world ..but yep big business with him alive..his semen is what will bring them a lot of money...ironic that Secretariat won the triple crown..his semen was what the people invested in & his off spring have never produced a big winner ever...glad they scratched him (protecting his semen sales or not) it def would have been horrible to see another horse put down on the track with a bad fracture!


----------



## Mstar (Nov 26, 2011)

eclipseranch said:


> ...ironic that Secretariat won the triple crown..his semen was what the people invested in & his off spring have never produced a big winner ever...


Although Secretariat never produced a horse as great as him, he's had plenty of good foals including Horse of the Year Lady's Secret, Preakness and Belmont winner Risen star, and has been one of the top broodmare sires in the world, his daughters producing horses such as Horse of the Year AP Indy. 

But I agree on the rest of your post, there are so many things wrong with the racing world, so many reasons why might never see another Triple Crown winner again. Very sad.


----------



## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

Mstar said:


> Although Secretariat never produced a horse as great as him, he's had plenty of good foals including Horse of the Year Lady's Secret, Preakness and Belmont winner Risen star, and has been one of the top broodmare sires in the world, his daughters producing horses such as Horse of the Year AP Indy.
> 
> But I agree on the rest of your post, there are so many things wrong with the racing world, so many reasons why might never see another Triple Crown winner again. Very sad.


 I did not know about these thanks for the update


----------



## enh817 (Jun 1, 2012)

I really dislike Doug O'Neil and have for quite a while now. More than the repeated drug violations (because let's face it, you'd be hard pressed to find any top race trainers without at least one drug violation), I have a real problem with the fact that the breakdown rate of horses trained by him is TWICE the national average. There's something very wrong there, in my opinion. He's been under a lot of scrutiny these past 5 weeks, so I believe he had no choice but to scratch IHA. I have a feeling though, if this weren't a triple crown horse we were talking about, the horse would still be running. 

I do find it pretty messed up that a trainer can be facing suspension in one state, but they can just cross state lines and continue to race elsewhere.

In my opinion, Doug O'Neil represent everything that is wrong with the racing world. I am very glad he won't have a chance at the Triple Crown this year.

Not that I though IHA was going to pull it off anyway. As soon as I watched Dullahan barreling down the stretch, like a freight train, in the Derby, I knew he was my pick for the Belmont. 

I'm just disappointed that I won't get to see Doug O'Neil's face when he lost.


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I do hate it that the horse won't have a chance to prove whether or not he really had it, but I truthfully wasn't expecting a triple crown sweep this year anyway.


----------



## Mstar (Nov 26, 2011)

enh817 said:


> I really dislike Doug O'Neil and have for quite a while now. More than the repeated drug violations (because let's face it, you'd be hard pressed to find any top race trainers without at least one drug violation), I have a real problem with the fact that the breakdown rate of horses trained by him is TWICE the national average. There's something very wrong there, in my opinion. He's been under a lot of scrutiny these past 5 weeks, so I believe he had no choice but to scratch IHA. I have a feeling though, if this weren't a triple crown horse we were talking about, the horse would still be running.
> 
> I do find it pretty messed up that a trainer can be facing suspension in one state, but they can just cross state lines and continue to race elsewhere.
> 
> ...


I hate to say it, but I think this was a giant Karmic bitchslap for horses like Berna Dette. I totally agree that he would have ran the horse had he not had so much media scrutiny caused by his own bad behaviour, or had this been any other race with any other horse. Hopefully he has learned a lesson here.


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

So I hear now that IHA will be leading the post parade today as some sort of tribute. I actually discussed this a bit with my farrier yesterday. 

Why, if he has a tendon injury, would they ride or lead him out there? I would think, if he were ridden, he might think he was racing and be all excited and prance-y and whatnot, making him susceptible to injuring himself further. Even being led, with all the excitement around him and being such an athletic and fit animal.

I don't think I would do it. Seems to be a bit over the top narcissistic on the part of the trainer/owner/whoever.


----------



## enh817 (Jun 1, 2012)

Jake and Dai said:


> So I hear now that IHA will be leading the post parade today as some sort of tribute. I actually discussed this a bit with my farrier yesterday.
> 
> Why, if he has a tendon injury, would they ride or lead him out there? I would think, if he were ridden, he might think he was racing and be all excited and prance-y and whatnot, making him susceptible to injuring himself further. Even being led, with all the excitement around him and being such an athletic and fit animal.
> 
> I don't think I would do it. Seems to be a bit over the top narcissistic on the part of the trainer/owner/whoever.


yeah, that's weird. If I were the owner (which CLEARLY I'm not, as my horse wouldn't even be with O'Neil for training), I would not be down for that. Seems like it would just rub the disappointment, of not being able to race today, in even further.


----------



## redpony (Apr 17, 2012)

http://http://cs.thehorse.com/blogs...e/2012/05/28/Medication-Follies.aspx#comments


I think everyone should give this a quick read, as things are as black and white as they seem. No one hates "doping" more than I. We race Standardbreds and have raced against those who do it (at county fairs the state is not *always* present to test, at paramutuals they are) and it is infuriating to say the least. On the other hand, however, it is frightening to be held to a guilty until proven innocent standard. O'Neill was not found guilty of anything and Pena never had a single positive. Circumstanially, they seem guilty but I would like evidence before I convict someone.


----------



## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

So, now that the triple is out, who is gonna win it?

I'll have to admit that Dullahan was a threat when IHA was in, and I still think he's a contender. He mowed down toward the end of the derby and had it been loner, he probably would have won. So I guess my pick is Dullahan and Union Rags being 3rd or further.


----------



## enh817 (Jun 1, 2012)

redpony said:


> http://http://cs.thehorse.com/blogs...e/2012/05/28/Medication-Follies.aspx#comments
> 
> 
> I think everyone should give this a quick read, as things are as black and white as they seem. No one hates "doping" more than I. We race Standardbreds and have raced against those who do it (at county fairs the state is not *always* present to test, at paramutuals they are) and it is infuriating to say the least. On the other hand, however, it is frightening to be held to a guilty until proven innocent standard. O'Neill was not found guilty of anything and Pena never had a single positive. Circumstanially, they seem guilty but I would like evidence before I convict someone.



Your link doesn't work.


Like I said though, whether or not he is in fact guilty of 'doping', still doesn't change the FACT that he has a breakdown rate twice the national average. I don't care if he has 100 drug violations to his name or none. There's something seriously wrong, if you have a breakdown rate that high, in my opinion.


----------



## redpony (Apr 17, 2012)

Medication Follies - Horses and the Law


Maybe that will work, I think it had the http twice. I agree that his breakdown average is very disturbing but I wasn't addressing that in my post


----------



## Mstar (Nov 26, 2011)

redpony said:


> http://http://cs.thehorse.com/blogs...e/2012/05/28/Medication-Follies.aspx#comments
> 
> 
> I think everyone should give this a quick read, as things are as black and white as they seem. No one hates "doping" more than I. We race Standardbreds and have raced against those who do it (at county fairs the state is not *always* present to test, at paramutuals they are) and it is infuriating to say the least. On the other hand, however, it is frightening to be held to a guilty until proven innocent standard. O'Neill was not found guilty of anything and Pena never had a single positive. Circumstanially, they seem guilty but I would like evidence before I convict someone.


O'Neil was not found guilty of milkshaking, this time. He WAS found to have higher CO2 levels in his horses which was explained can occur because of getting a "bullet" which is basically a milkshake but not quite. Has NUMEROUS medication violations and is the only trainer in California with more than one CO2 overage (I believe this was his 4th overall CO2 overage....that is far more than suspicious).


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Jake and Dai said:


> So I hear now that IHA will be leading the post parade today as some sort of tribute.


:? If that's true, that is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Nothing against the horse, but what makes him so deserving of a "tribute" on the last leg of the triple crown. It's not like he's done something miraculous like come back from a catastrophic injury to take 2 out of 3.

IMHO, they are making a huge deal out of this whole thing to try to make the industry look better after all those horrible years with the injuries and breakdowns with Barbaro and Eight Bells.


----------



## wyominggrandma (Nov 4, 2009)

Union Rags did a great job, ... Let's be glad that IHA did not end up like Giant Ryan in another race at Belmont today. He will be having surgery for a broken ankle/sesmoid in front leg. 
At least at this point, they feel Giant Ryan will be good for breeding...


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

I was happy to see Union Rags win. What a joy for his owner and Michael Matz!

And I agree with you smrobs on the tribute thing. That's the word that was used in the article I read and I thought, while a lovely talented horse, but I don't think he deserved a 'tribute' at this stage in his career.

I think they reason they did that was so that all the attendees at the track who came for the potential Triple Crown winner at least got to see him. I only started watching the coverage at 5.00 pm and they didn't really make a big deal out of it from what I saw.


----------



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

I know a lot of people went there just to see IHA. So I think it was nice that they incorporated him into the Belmont, even though he wasn't going to run. Did he deserve a "tribute"? No. I think not. But so many people traveled so far to see him run, and then him not running...I can see the reasoning for it.

I mean, he's not even really injured...

Anyways...I missed the race. But I watched it on youtube. Union Rags did great. Paynter did really good too. Just couldn't hold on... Union Rags was my original pick to win the Kentucky Derby and was my T.C. hopeful.


----------



## Mstar (Nov 26, 2011)

He didn't have a "tribute", he had a retirement ceremony in the winners circle between races. It was absolutely fitting, he deserved it, and yes he WAS really injured.


----------



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

HRTV said they were having a tribute to him. That was the exact word they used.

And he has the ON-SET of tendinitis. He doesn't HAVE tendinitis.

Also HRTV's words...Actually, it was the VET's words...the one that worked on him. One of the newscasters for HRTV knows the vet personally and they were able to get the vet directly on the phone to explain what was going on.


----------



## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

smrobs said:


> IMHO, they are making a huge deal out of this whole thing to try to make the industry look better after all those horrible years with the injuries and breakdowns with Barbaro and Eight Bells.


Exactiy
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------

