I'll Have Another will not get the chance to beat Bodemeister a third time on the way to a rare horse racing Triple crown, as Bodemeister's trainer Bob Baffert said the horse will not race in the upcoming Belmont Stakes.
Bob Baffert, winner of five Preakness Stakes and trainer of Bodemeister, said I'll Have Another's win is good for the sport and good for the Belmont.
"The winner's a good horse," Baffert said. "He'll get the respect now that he deserves. I'm proud that as a trainer my horse showed up and he ran his race. He just got beat."
Baffert said he will not send Bodemeister to the Belmont Stakes. "I wasn't going to go, win lose or draw," he said. "I've run him pretty hard."
It has been 34 years since Affirmed won the Triple Crown, with I'll Have Another now the 12th horse since Affirmed to capture both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The previous 11 have failed to win at Belmont, most recently Big Brown in 2008.
The 2012 Belmont Stakes will take place in three weeks, on June 9th at Belmont Park in New York.
For more on the Preakness Stakes and the race for the Triple Crown, stay with this StoryStream and check out SB Nation's horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come. There, you'll also find a A Beginner's Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.